Joining forces for great sustainability in logistics: Messe Frankfurt and logistics company DSV are expanding their long-standing partnership and, from next year, DSV will be the exclusive logistics partner on the Frankfurt exhibition grounds.
The Danish logistics provider will optimise the set-up and dismantling processes at events, speeding them up and improving the environmental performance on the Frankfurt exhibition grounds.
Wolfgang Marzin (pictured), president and CEO of Messe Frankfurt, said continuation of the long-standing partnership with DSV would mean continuing to work on making trade fair logistics sustainable. “We are very happy to take this successful co-operation to the next level and to optimise the complex processes on our site – which will benefit our customers, local people and our environment.”
Bart Peeters, vice-president of DSV Solutions Deutschland, added: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to further expand our partnership with Messe Frankfurt and to be its sole official logistics service provider for the next five years, beginning on 1 January 2025. Together, we will look at a wide range of innovative and sustainable ways of meeting the logistics requirements on the Frankfurt exhibition grounds.”
DSV has been developing customised logistics concepts since 1976 and with 5,300 employees throughout Germany and decades of experience in transport and warehouse logistics, the company will be exclusively responsible for organising and carrying out the complex set-up and dismantling processes as of next year. This includes an annual total of up to 3,600 orders and 8,000 packages, which will be processed by DSV in Messe Frankfurt’s own Cargo Center. At peak trade fair times, the logistics provider uses up to 200 forklifts and deploys as many as 240 employees on the Messe Frankfurt exhibition grounds (figures from 2023).
As part of the Last Mile Delivery project, the gas- and diesel-powered forklifts that have been used to date are being replaced by fully electric models. This means that carbon and noise emissions in and near the exhibition grounds will be reduced.
Similarly, the Advanced Warehouse project planned for 2026/2027 lowers the logistics-related carbon emissions by minimising vehicle movements around the exhibition grounds. In future, shipments up to a specific size will be delivered to an external DSV warehouse and transported from there using carbon-neutral trucks. Instead of sending individual packages with different trucks, fully loaded vehicles will deliver a maximum number of shipments at the same time. This should significantly reduce waiting times for the vehicles as well as helping to avoid traffic congestion in front of the entrance gates.
