Detthold Aden
Detthold Aden: leading managerial figure and a key source of stimuli for modern logistics
Detthold Aden is one of the outstanding managerial figures and sources of stimuli for logistics. He has played a key role in shaping the nature of modern logistics. He can claim to have paved the way with new business ideas and innovative logistics concepts, thereby making a major contribution to the professionalisation of logistics and the leading status of Germany as a logistics location. In recognition of his efforts in the service of logistics, Detthold Aden was inducted into the Logistics Hall of Fame in 2011.
Field | associations, management |
Current position | person of independent means, Bremen/Brazil |
Born | February 21 1948 in Wilhelmshaven, Germany |
Induction into the Logistics Hall of Fame | 2011, Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development, Berlin, Germany |
Congratulatory speaker | Hartmut Ostrowski, CEO of Bertelsmann AG, Gütersloh, Germany |
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Vita
1948 Born on February 21 in Wilhelmshaven
After leaving secondary school in 1963, apprenticeship as a freight forwarding assistant and several years of hands-on experience in various companies
1976 Founding Managing Director of the private UPS United Parcel Service in Germany
1982 Sole Managing Director of Bertelsmann subsidiary VVA, later to become Bertelsmann Distribution GmbH (1987 winner of the German Award for SCM presented by Bundesvereinigung Logistik e.V. (BVL))
1988 Chairman of the Managing Board of the Union-Transport Group
1990 Chairman of the Managing Board of Thyssen Haniel Logistic GmbH
1995 Member of the Management Board of Thyssen Handelsunion AG
1999 CEO of BLG LOGISTICS GROUP
2013 Aden retires
2011 Induction into the Logistics Hall of Fame
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Merits
- The son of a haulage contractor in Wilhelmshaven, Detthold Aden began his career as a freight forwarding trainee after leaving secondary school, and his career became one of the most successful logistics careers in Germany. Aden is considered an astute strategist and brilliant speaker, and his achievements as a logistics manager both in front of and behind the scenes are virtually unrivalled. But his name is not connected with a single invention or innovation; in recent decades, he has had a lasting influence on many areas of the logistics sector. Many innovations were driven by his initiative and he was instrumental in putting many of these innovations into practice. His opinion is sought by the key players in politics, business and society.
- As founding Managing Director, he played a major role in the development of the private UdPS United Parcel Service in Germany. It was through his initiative that the Unitrans franchise cooperation came into being, followed by the merger with the Nedlloyd Group. In 1990, he was responsible for the merger of the Thyssen Trans companies with those of the Haniel Spedition freight forwarder as Chairman of the Managing Board of Thyssen Haniel Logistic GmbH, and he transformed BLG into a modern logistics service provider.
- One of the highlights of his achievements was being presented with the German Award for SCM by Bundesvereinigung Logistik e.V. (BVL) during his time as Sole Managing Director of Bertelsmann Distribution GmbH. Other logistics awards can also be traced back to his initiative, such as the Tchibo central warehouse strategy.
- Aden's name is a byword for modern and intelligent logistics; in the era of the German energy transition, his initiatives and activities in the creation of offshore wind farms have underlined his status as a pioneer in the development of new business fields for logistics service providers.
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Gala Reception 2011