Dive Brief:
- DHL Supply Chain announced Tuesday it has acquired IDS Fulfillment, a logistics provider for e-commerce and retail shippers, for an undisclosed sum.
- IDS ships more than 50,000 packages daily from its four facilities in Atlanta, Indianapolis, Plainfield, Indiana, and Salt Lake City. DHL Supply Chain will operate these locations, which total over 1.3 million square feet, under IDS' existing local leadership, according to the release.
- "We get a tremendous amount of talent that has been living in this space and knows how to operate in these multi-customer and multi-node concepts that we have not played in," said Kraig Foreman, president of e-commerce for DHL Supply Chain North America, in an interview with Supply Chain Dive.
Dive Insight:
By purchasing IDS, DHL Supply Chain advances its efforts to expand its U.S. customer base beyond larger enterprises, Foreman said. The company will bring on more than 50 customers — weighted toward small and medium-sized e-commerce brands — through the deal.
"If we really want to continue to grow and get into all of the aspects of the e-commerce fulfillment market, we really need to open up our capabilities” to reach medium and small shippers, Foreman said.
New customers will benefit from DHL Supply Chain's technological muscle and continued investments in IDS network assets, Foreman said. Smaller shippers tend to not have the enterprise systems that large organizations do, meaning they need more support as far as technology goes. He added that legacy IDS customers can expect a smooth transition, with about 500 IDS employees joining DHL as part of the deal.
"They can remain confident that their same points of contact and same people they've been working with, and the same people that they trust day in and day out, are still going to be there," Foreman said of IDS customers. "They're just going to have a little bit more fuel to drive growth and to drive enhancements in their business [to] support their customers better."
Beyond its employees and warehouses, IDS also has a "ProParcel" shipping capability that selects the most efficient carrier and delivery method to transport shippers' packages. Foreman said the solution is helpful for smaller customers who, unlike larger businesses, may not already be using a similar type of parcel shipping technology.
"This is a material capability enhancement of reselling parcel that we have not had as well, and again, something for us to continue to invest in and continue to drive and grow the business with," Foreman said.
The IDS purchase marks another acquisition this year for DHL Supply Chain. The company acquired Inmar Supply Chain Solutions, the reverse logistics business of Inmar Intelligence, in January to strengthen its returns capabilities.
