Innovation, restructuring and decisions in logistics, from analysis to implementation.
Some decisions cannot be postponed: processes that no longer keep pace with growth, a product whose margin is shrinking, an organisation in which good ideas peter out. Berling Consulting supports logistics providers, parcel carriers and retailers, from mid-sized companies to corporate groups, in analysing such situations soberly, calculating options properly and setting the company up more robustly for the years ahead.
The experience behind this comes from efficiency programmes and the realignment of the international parcel product at Hermes, from the innovation management that Daniel Berling built there together with his manager, who led it, and from business cases and decision papers for management and board, at Fiege, at Hermes and in his own engagements.
Increasing efficiency, steering innovation, preparing decisions
Typical situations
Costs per shipment are rising even though volumes are growing. A logistics product no longer earns what it should. Processes in the warehouse, at the hub or in delivery have grown over years and depend on individual people. Or several options are on the table and management needs a sound basis on which to decide.
Efficiency and restructuring
It starts with recording the processes on site, followed by the question of where costs and quality are actually created. This becomes a programme with clear measures, owners and KPIs. At Hermes, Daniel Berling contributed to process programmes in delivery and distribution centres that achieved efficiency gains of up to 75 per cent, and to the realignment of the international parcel product.
Innovation that decides
New ideas are assessed in a stage-gate process with clear criteria: go, hold, rework or stop. A decision tree clarifies whether a solution is built in-house, bought in or accelerated with start-ups. The result is a portfolio that directs resources to where they pay off.
Result
A decision paper with business case, options, assumptions and risks, fit for management, board, shareholders and banks, and on request support with implementation until the impact shows in the KPIs.
References
Fruugo.com
2022 to 2025
Design and build of a proprietary shipping solution for an online marketplace active in 40 countries, product management towards the engineering team, development of the international partner network. Analysis of shipping and tracking quality across the entire carrier network and handover of 43 action areas.
European
logistics provider
2021 to 2022
Design of an e-commerce logistics unit for a European freight forwarder, from feasibility study to decision paper for top management, including an import solution from China to Germany. The board approved the concept. Projected revenue potential of around 15 million euros. Client confidential.
Hermes
2018 to 2020
Contributed to the realignment of the international parcel product, with a double-digit improvement in margin. Set up the flow of goods between Europe and China together with the group's customs specialists and agencies in China. Process programmes with clearly measurable efficiency gains. Innovation management: start-up scouting with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, concepts and simulations for autonomous driving with Einride, Waymo and Mercedes.
Fiege Logistik
2016 to 2018
Development and management of one of the first end-to-end cross-border logistics products enabling European companies to sell on Chinese e-commerce platforms. Growth to double-digit million revenue.
Profile
Daniel Berling is a logistics consultant and owner of Berling Consulting in Ingolstadt. He combines experience from senior roles in business development, innovation and quality management at Fiege, Hermes and home24 with the ability to design planning and analysis tools himself and implement them with AI. At Fiege he led a cross-border logistics product that enabled European companies to sell to China from concept to go-live, and at Hermes he worked on preparing the China expansion and in central innovation management. Since 2021 he has advised logistics providers, retailers, online marketplaces and public authorities in Germany, Hungary, Romania and the United Kingdom on market entry, new business areas, network planning and KPI systems. Since October 2026 he has also been completing a part-time hybrid MBA at the Ingolstadt School of Management of KU Eichstätt-Ingolstadt.
Contact
Berling Consulting
Daniel Berling
85049 Ingolstadt
daniel@berling-consulting.com
+49 176 31151299
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