Welcome to the latest episode of the Beyond Threads podcast! In this edition, we speak to Joachim Gund, Chief Transformation Officer at Scandinavian luxury travel gear brand DB Journey. Check it out now to hear Joachim’s take on the impact that your choice of fashion logistics partner can have on your long-term success – and some of the key lessons that DB Journey has learned about working with external partners to grow its thriving business.
Why selecting the right fashion logistics partner matters
If you’ve decided to outsource your fulfilment operations, the right fashion logistics provider can make a big difference to your brand’s operational efficiency and growth trajectory. “Db Journey wouldn’t be where it is today without the right partners to help us in our development”, explains Joachim. “That’s why it’s critical to choose your partners wisely – those who have an approach that aligns with your company’s goals and values.
So, what defines a successful third-party logistics (3PL) partnership? The most effective fashion logistics partners are more than just service providers – they’re proactive strategic partners, as Joachim explains. “We value clear and consistent communication with our 3PL, often talking on a daily basis,” he says. “Such openness and transparency is essential because it creates a space where we can challenge each other to drive continuous improvement initiatives that enhance the customer experience and accelerate growth.”
Know your operational needs, optimise your logistics
When it comes to choosing the right third-party logistics partner for your brand, it’s crucial to approach the selection process with care. “When it comes to making such an important decision, it’s worth making the selection process as detailed as possible,” adds Joachim. “It’s essential to be clear on your objectives and exactly what you’re looking for from the partnership. This will make it much easier to evaluate potential fashion logistics providers.”
Once you’ve chosen a 3PL provider, it’s always a good idea to have a test-and-learn period to assess how the partnership will work in practice and to address any teething problems. “During the trial period, your 3PL should provide accurate data to demonstrate progress against key performance indicators and service level agreements,” continues Joachim. “This phase is therefore essential to identify and iron out any potential issues that need to be resolved to ensure service excellence. What’s important at this stage is that your logistics provider approaches these problems with a proactive, solution-orientated mindset. That’s the foundation of a successful fashion logistics partnership.
Want to discover more insights from Joachim about the benefits of working with an expert fashion logistics partner? Press play on the podcast to get the full story! You can also get in contact for a free consultation with a Bleckmann expert.
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Transcript
Erik Janssen Steenberg: Hi there, and welcome to another Beyond Threads Podcast by Bleckmann. As always, we will be taking a deep dive into trends and developments in our sector fashion and lifestyle, with the emphasis on logistics and fulfilment. Today we're going to talk about B2B partnerships together with representation from DB Journey. Today I'm joined by Joachim Gund and he is the Chief Transformation Officer at DB Journey. Hi Joachim, thank you very much for joining us.
Joachim Gund: Hi, Erik. Thanks for having me. It's great to be here.
Erik Janssen Steenberg: Absolutely, thank you. To kick things off, can you give us a brief introduction of yourself and of course what you do in your day-to-day at the company?
Joachim Gund: Sure. My name is Joachim, I'm a German-Mexican guy living in Madrid working for a Norwegian company called DB Journey, as you mentioned. I've been with DB for 5,5 years and that's kind of like the midway. I mean, DB was founded 12 years ago, so I joined kind of like midway. When I joined, it wasn't what it is today. It was still a very small team. And I came in to develop the supply chain department. And after a couple of years, like 2,5 more or less, we decided to develop it a little bit further. And what we did was basically split the operational tasks from the strategic tasks and everything that is operational, like the day-to-day business which, in supply chain, there's quite a lot to do that went over to my colleague, the Chief Operations Officer, and his team and I took over everything that is a little bit more into the future and kind of developed the transformation department. So what I do there, is basically look into the supply chain development from end to end work with, not necessarily with our suppliers, but try to find like alternative sourcing possibilities which is a very relevant topic these days. And on the other end of the supply chain, I work on developing our distribution network to make it more efficient. So that's kind of what I'm doing. I'm also developing, that's a project I'm very proud of and excited about, our circularity programme which is a programme we're developing together with Bleckmann and since we're going to be talking about partnerships and good partnerships I think that's a very good example of a good partnership.
Erik Janssen Steenberg: So it most definitely sounds like I'm talking to the right guy, that's for sure. Can you inform our listeners and viewers why establishing a business relationship is so critical for brands like yours?
Joachim Gund: I think it's critical because, simply put, through the lens of DB I can say that we wouldn't be where we are without the right partners. We're still a very young company and to get to where we are today would not have been possible without them. And for those listeners that don't know DB Journey let me just give you a little bit of context, a little bit of history about DB so you kind of know what I mean when I say we wouldn't be where we are. As I mentioned, we were founded twelve years ago. Back then it was two people, the two founders, and that has developed to around 75 today so that's quite good. Fortunately, we've been very successful, year by year two-digit growth are now present originally from Scandinavia, but then expanded to Europe, US, Canada, Asia-Pacific, South Africa so it's quite a lot of markets and that obviously comes with a lot of challenges. And the latest achievement has been that we have now received some funding, an investment from LVMH Luxury Ventures Fund and that's super exciting of course, because that's another great partnership, I think that's going to boost our growth in the future. But that's what I mean when I say we wouldn't be where we are. I mean, it's quite thrilling for us to be on LVMH's radar and we would not have made it thus far without having the right partners supporting and guiding us in these last twelve years.
Erik Janssen Steenberg: Okay, thanks for that. But making sure that you have the right partners do you have a short list of aspects or services or characteristics for a partnership that brands that are currently looking for the right partnership should prioritise?
Joachim Gund: I think, specifically talking about partners in the supply chain or logistics or 3PLs, I don't I think you're right by saying a list, right. I don't think you can sum it up to one factor, one priority. It's difficult, because supply chain is complex and it's connected to quite a lot of different departments, different stakeholders so there's a lot of interests that have to be taken into account when making a decision or when looking for a new partner. So I think it's creating that balance of: What is it that you actually need when looking for a new partner and having very clear objectives. I think that's clear. I mean: Why are you looking for a new partner? Are you dissatisfied with the current one? Is it that your business has shifted geographically? What is driving you to be looking for someone new?
Erik Janssen Steenberg: Yeah. And of course, I hope I don't sound too biased but looking at the 30 years of experience that I now have in our sector or close to 30 years I, for one, would always be on the lookout for that partner that wants to be a partner, not a supplier and deliver even though he or she is going to deliver on your every need that's something else than a partner who proactively comes to you and says: Are you sure? Or who works with the same energy of bringing the pristine product to your customers. So that's kind of the buy-in that I want to see. That's what I would say.
Joachim Gund: Yeah, I agree with you. This kind of partnership, especially with 3PLs, I mean it's important to understand that with a 3PL you will be talking on a daily basis. So that collaboration is not like: we talk sporadically and No, you'll be talking to them on a daily basis. So I think it's important that you challenge each other. If you want this partnership to flourish and to develop into something bigger then it's important that you are transparent, constructive and of course challenge each other because if everyone is just complacent, then there's no real development in that.
Erik Janssen Steenberg: I agree. And then in that case, you would be talking to a supplier instead of a partner. Yeah, no I agree. I agree. Okay, so have you by any chance experienced any flaws in your own selection process or mistakes that you have seen others make when deciding for a certain 3PL or a partner or a supplier?
Joachim Gund: I've made them myself, so I think I'm in a good position to answer that question. However, I've also learned from them, from these mistakes, which is good. I think... first of all, one common mistake especially if you're in smaller companies, maybe like DB or even smaller where you've got limited resources. It's super important to understand that a 3PL, it we're focusing on 3PLs is going to be very impactful to the whole business. So it's not because this kind of selection is being driven by the supply chain team or the logistics team or the operations team. It's not that it's only going to impact operations, it will be impactful to the whole business. And that said, it kind of emphasises the amount of time and energy you need to invest into selecting the right partner which is not going to be an easy and quick process. So making this too quick and trying to bypass all the hustle of figuring out: who is the right partner is I think one common mistake. You have to go through the process. It makes sense, because you're going to learn a lot not only about your requirements, if they're realistic or not but also about... you know, you're going to have different proposals on the table which is obviously a good position to be in instead of only having one option. So I think it's that and it's also going to help you to learn the potential partner much better before even signing a contract, which is a good thing. So I think it's a lot about really making that thorough assessment and having clear objectives, as I mentioned earlier. Yeah.
Erik Janssen Steenberg: So we can conclude you have done the legwork you've done the due diligence and you went with Bleckmann. So if it was me, I would conclude you've made the right choice but how did you conclude after, let's say, the first couple of months: Yes, we have made the right decision. This partnership works. How does that materialise?
Joachim Gund: Well, I think to answer that question, you kind of have to start with the previous question. If you invest the time into making a proper assessment, a thorough assessment on the one hand, obviously, you're going to check numbers like: What's being offered in terms of cost, in terms of service levels? You know, these metrics, the hard facts, the objective part. Exactly, so that's what you're going to be looking at. Obviously you should try as well to look into the soft facts, like: How likely is it that these two companies are going to work well together like from the values perspective and then also from the team's perspective, like: Will the teams be working well together? But doing all that assessment is really going to lay the groundwork for that future collaboration. And if you do all that, I think you've got 50% already done. And then, how will it show if it's the right partnership? Well, start looking at the data first. By going through this assessment, you're going to clearly say: This is what I expect. And the partner is going to tell you: Well, we can or we cannot fulfil. So the expectations are going to be clear. But then once you start operating, you will be able to figure out through the data if the partner is actually sticking to what they promised they could deliver. So that's a good starting point. And then the other aspect of this is if issues appear and I mean, you and me, we are from these logistics fields so we know issues will appear sooner or later, there's no way around it and that's not really the problem, because you can expect them it's how they are approached, these issues. And if what you get from your partner is a proactive, solution oriented approach towards these issues then that's a clear sign. So if you've got the objective part with the data and you've got the approach from the partner, which is proactive and solution oriented then I think: bingo, you've got the right one.
Erik Janssen Steenberg: Yeah. First emphasise on the solution, limiting the spin-off. You can always bicker on cost, but first you want to make sure that the end customer is happy. After that you need to be happy and then the 3PL needs to be happy. Yeah, I agree. So proactiveness, open communications and always solution oriented. Yeah, I agree.
Joachim Gund: And as you said with the customers, it's. Very easy example: If you move from a bad performing partner to a good performing partner obviously your team will notice, but your customers will too and they will let you know. So that's another super relevant indicator. And it's going to come. Especially when you do a big move from a bad performer to a good performer, they notice.
Erik Janssen Steenberg: Yeah, and that is the key performance indicator. That should be prioritised at all times. So indeed, it's your customer that determines if you and I are doing a good job.
Joachim Gund: Yeah, I agree. Sure. It would be great to exchange experiences with other people.bSo I think the easiest is just if they drop me a message on LinkedIn, they'll find me there.
Erik Janssen Steenberg: Perfect. Again, thank you very much for your help and I hope to see you soon in the future. Thank you, Erik, and thanks again for having me. And for you, the viewers, the listeners of this podcast, thank you for being here today. Keep your eye out for the next and I'll see you then.
