To fulfill this role, DB Schenker invests millions of dollars annually in Information Technology. Look to DB Schenker to provide exciting and innovative E-commerce applications that will define the future of logistics.

Systems Infrastructure: DB Schenker uses highly available and redundant open UNIX servers from industry leaders such as IBM, SUN & HP, and Intel-based desktop workstations running the latest Microsoft operating systems.

Network Infrastructure: A private global frame-relay network, complemented with VPN technology, and built using components from leading vendors such as CISCO and Checkpoint interconnects virtually all country organizations.

Standardization of Systems: Our systems are developed and maintained centrally and deployed regionally or at the country level. Our SWORD network achieves tight integration between the various worldwide systems. SWORD stands for DB Schenker's Worldwide Online Real-time Data Network and is comprised of standards-based EDI message formats and routing protocols and communication servers. Each of our standard applications is built to communicate via SWORD.

Disaster Recovery: Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and diesel generators protect our hardened data center. Redundant fiber-optic connections for networking and Internet are in place. We use advanced data backup and storage management systems, media rotation and daily off-site storage. A disaster recovery contract is in effect and tested annually providing a fully equipped alternate physical data center site.

Email: Virtually all DB Schenker employees worldwide are reachable via Internet mail.

Business Process Support: We maintain a dedicated staff of business analysts with extensive transportation industry experience within our IT department and thereby are able to react quickly and effectively to business and customer requirements.

Information Systems Solutions: As a logistics provider, it is imperative that we capture our customers order and item level information and associate it with the internal data structures that support our services. This customer information can take the form of Purchase Order details or Sales/Delivery Order details. We accomplish this through a variety of mechanisms depending on the complexity of the service we are providing and the information hierarchy.

• Our standard Air and Ocean Freight system provides this capability by combining an event based architecture enabling event recording at the shipment and order line level with the ability to capture our customer's reference numbers. Events serve as milestones and enable us to measure performance.
• Our own "Integrated Logistics System" (ILS) further extends this basic capability and event-based architecture. Designed for vendor order management, ILS has features such as a project profile defining up to 7 levels of customer reference numbers and a shipping window time-line concept. ILS also provides functionality for material receipt processing and consolidation of orders into commercial invoices right through the shipping order, which is fed electronically into the Air and Sea Freight system as a shipment.
• Using SAP R/3, we have successfully implemented highly automated, time-sensitive manufacturing and distribution logistics support applications. We have found that customizing a pre-existing R/3 client can be more effective and efficient than writing complex applications from scratch. As an R/3 customer ourselves, DB Schenker's IT staff has years of functional, developmental and technical experience with the SAP R/3 system.

EDI: Using state-of-the-art tools from Axway and GXS, we can support high-volume, lights-out messaging applications based upon standards ANSI X.12 and EDIFACT as well as proprietary and flat-file formats. Our VAN connections are dedicated and redundant. We are embracing Internet FTP and other means to control messaging costs.   EDI offers the following advantages:

• Saves time and money
• Eliminates paper invoicing and many other manual functions
• Saves hours of manual auditing
• On request, eliminates the posting of invoices since invoices can be pre-audited prior to billing
• Many other applications available:  order entry, shipment tracking, remittance advice, requests for pickup, payment/receipt, freight management reports, plus daily, weekly and monthly service performance reports.
• Our EDI implementation guides are available for you to download below: