September 25 - Today marks DHL's 40th birthday.
Frank Appel, CEO Deutsche Post DHL says: "In 1969, three men set out to do the impossible and conquered the moon. A few months later, Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom and Robert Lynn founded DHL and made the world a little smaller, pioneering the international express industry, making it possible for documents to reach recipients overnight instead of a few days."
The express company quickly grew to encompass global forwarding and supply chain management, through the strategic integration of leading forwarder Danzas Air & Ocean in 2002 and supply chain/logistics expert Exel in 2005.
Through Danzas, DHL established a presence in the project forwarding and heavy lift market where DHL Industrial Projects is a leading player today.
Over the last 40 years, DHL established trade routes to countries like Russia and China in the midst of the Cold War. When the curtain fell, DHL was able to instantly provide massive support to a multitude of companies in entering these "new" markets through its in-depth knowledge and logistical capabilities. Local businesses also benefitted, as they leveraged new trade lanes to export their products to a global market.
The company continues to break new grounds by establishing clear market leadership positions in various emerging markets such as the BRIC economies - Brazil, Russia, India and China - which are touted to be the agents of future trade development growth.
