water features to ensure we meet global safety standards for noise levels and create a conducive work environment. DALI lighting adjusts lighting levels to what is required at a particular time, and environmentally friendly air conditioning coolants and solar panels all help reduce our CO2 footprint. The warehouses contain many features to maximise sustainability, including: •
•
•
Forklifts which can be charged from electrical sockets or battery charging stations, installed inside the warehouse. The shrink-wrapper which reduces the amount of plastic used and so supports our ongoing sustainability initiatives. There are fewer floor joints to reduce damage from forklifts.
The cross-dock facility’s Fives cross-belt sorter maintains a high level of reliability and redundancy is built into the system so operations will not be affected by a single failure. Benefits include: • • • •
Scalability – we can add to its capacity to handle further growth Flexibility – it processes both conveyer and out-of-gauge Accuracy – 99.9% final sorting acceptance Reduced turnaround times
•
– for freight processing and dispatch windows – design balances inbound and outbound parcels and minimises time on the sorter Accommodates a wide range of vehicles – with optimised staging and travel spines.
The conveyor throughput currently sits at 12,800 sorts per hour, and out of gauge at 2,300 parcels per hour. Again, it is scalable, as with other features in both the warehouse and cross dock facility. To add to the aesthetics, we have planted only indigenous plants around the park which, once established in 18-24 months, will flourish almost entirely off rainwater. BUILDING COMMUNITIES DSV is committed to strengthening its connection to communities and does so through a number of programmes and projects. The Enterprise Development programme has invested in excess of R38-million to support and upskill nearly 300 black entrepreneurs over the last five years. The DSV Empowerment Trust was established to support and promote tertiary education amongst black youth, and has awarded 1 040 education bursaries since 2005. Completed courses include Medicine, Law,
Engineering, IT, Accounting and Marketing, and beneficiaries do not necessarily need to be connected to DSV. Some 1 700 learnerships have been completed through our Skills Development Programme, in 18 years, and many are absorbed into DSV while others, now qualified, are better placed to seek employment elsewhere. The learnerships promote access to education and training, providing employment whilst candidates further their formal qualifications. Subjects include accounting, business administration, management, IT, various aspects of logistics, and project management. There is a mainstream programme, and programmes for disabled and deaf candidates. At a different level, the DSV Shift Academy is helping develop responsible young adults by focusing on life skills, academic support and cycling training. DSV has partnered with Lange Sports to launch the academy, a natural progression for the company’s involvement in cycling and is aligned with other company youth development initiatives. n
CONTACT Tel 0861 462 884 www.dsv.com/en-za
Public Sector Leaders | April 2022 | 27
