Shrinkage costs reduced to zerofrom the outset: Emons Battery digitizes the management of expensive transport containers with Logistikbude

Every lost hazardous goods container costs money: Emons Battery uses special containers for transporting lithium-ion batteries, which can cost tens of thousands of euros. To avoid losses, the Cologne-based company has brought Logistikbude GmbH on board as a partner. With the digital platform for container management, Emons Battery keeps track of its high-value load carriers at all times – and has eliminated material loss from its supply chain. At the same time, customers also benefit, because Logistikbude enables day-specific rentals, which saves costs.

Emons has been offering comprehensive and diverse logistics and transport services since 1928. With its latest division, Emons Battery, the international logistics company is now entering a new field of logistics: battery logistics. Founded at the end of 2023, the division benefits from the powerful network and decades of experience of its parent company and offers environmentally friendly transport and disposal services for lithium-ion batteries and lead-acid batteries – internationally and throughout the entire life cycle of a battery.

Expensive special containers: How Emons Battery enables access to safe hazardous goods transport

Batteries are considered dangerous goods and must be transported in approved, fireproof containers in accordance with ADR guidelines (European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road), among others. What is special about handling batteries is that the person who puts them on the market, i.e., sells or ships them, is responsible for their transport and compliance with safety regulations. However, the expensive special containers and proper battery disposal pose major challenges for many companies.

Enrico Hermanny, Head of Emons Battery, explains: “Depending on the intended use, the cost of special containers can run into tens of thousands of euros. For many companies, these costs are difficult to bear.”

This is where Emons Battery comes in: the company offers its customers a complete package for battery transport. If, for example, a defective battery needs to be disposed of, Emons Battery provides the appropriate safety container, organizes transport, and ensures smooth delivery to the disposal site — whether it's a car battery or a battery for e-bikes.

“In many cases, the container can be delivered to the customer within 24 hours” adds Hermanny.

The focus is on maximum safety and reliable operation.

“For Emons, battery handling plays a central role in our sustainability strategy,” adds Hermanny. “With our new business division, we are making the safe transport and recycling of batteries more accessible, thereby contributing to more sustainable processes.”

Container pooling with Logistikbude: Digital transparency prevents high shrinkage costs

When establishing the new business division, Emons relied on Logistikbude as an experienced partner for digital container management. The software solution makes all special containers transparent and enables automated management.

“We needed a system that would allow us to know where our containers were at all times,” explains Nico Möllers, Project Manager for Recycling and Waste Management at Emons. “That's why we introduced Logistikbude — as a preventive measure to avoid losses in the first place.”

At the start of the collaboration with “Bude” at the end of last year, ten containers were initially equipped with QR codes. During transport, the code is simply scanned using the Logistikbude app. The location, condition, and duration of use are automatically recorded. This enables seamless tracking without any additional effort. Emons Battery now digitally manages large numbers of different containers, including 50 newly arrived special containers for transporting critical batteries to P911.

“We were particularly impressed by its simplicity,” says Möllers. “The software was ready to use right away, didn't require a lengthy implementation phase, and thus met our requirements perfectly.”

For Philipp Hüning, co-founder and CEO of Logistikbude, this demonstrates the decisive advantage of the software developed in-house.

“With Logistikbude, we provide customers such as Emons Battery with an existing system that can be used immediately thanks to standardized processes and functions. At the same time, we can flexibly adapt the software to individual requirements” explains Hüning.

To this day, Emons Battery has not recorded any loss of load carriers thanks to the Logistikbude.

The cooperation also enables Emons Battery to stand out from the competition. Thanks to the software solution, containers can be rented on a daily basis — a clear advantage for customers.

Hermanny explains: “With conventional long-term rentals, you often pay for periods when the containers are not even being used. Thanks to the software, both we and our customers know exactly how many days the load carriers are in use.”

Emons Battery also offers the option of tracking the special containers in real time.

Growing together

Looking to the future, Emons remains open to further areas of application: “Pooling is a huge field with a wide range of requirements. At the moment, our inventory is 100 percent geared toward batteries, but in the future we could also extend the concept to other special containers, such as gas cylinders, contaminated textiles, or other sensitive goods” explains Hermanny.

In the future, the pooling provider would like to intensify its cooperation with Logistikbude, as there is potential to further automate the management of load carriers — moving away from scanning individual containers to quantity booking.

Möller: “In five years, thousands of our containers will probably be in use. Then scanning with a cell phone will become too time-consuming.” But the software of the Logistikbude is growing with the project. “We already have ideas and approaches that we can implement in the future” says Möller.