Together with my team, I'm responsible for operational customer service relating to every aspect of transporting pulp and paper. That means we're in constant contact with our German and international clients, 365 days a year. Our work starts with the wagon order and its processing, then goes on to scheduling, planning and monitoring, all the way to providing regular status updates and coordinating arrival at the destination. At the same time, we're also the people who notify clients of any unusual occurrences. Our job is also to offer alternatives, initiate transhipment and plan fallback transport routes when necessary. If a paper delivery arrives late at the printing works, the customer could miss printing deadlines for newspapers or brochures. If a pulp transport arrives late at the paper factory, this can put production at risk.

Competency teams
We are able to guarantee competent service only if we have comprehensive knowledge of transport flows, interfaces, workflows and, of course, the transport routes themselves. This is why I created what we call competency teams in pulp and paper. The goal for employees from sales, customer service and wagon management is to analyse processes, coordinate with others and optimise cross-unit workflows in a sustainable way.

“If I’ve learned one thing in my position, it’s this: paper is anything but patient.”

Stefan Kaufmann Head of Customer Service Pulp and Paper in Duisburg.