Dachser promotes CFO to top office, adds Panalpina executive to team

Global logistics provider Dachser is rotating some of the top chairs in the corner office, promoting its chief financial officer to the CEO role and replacing him with an outside hire from Panalpina.

Current CFO Burkhard Eling is slated to become CEO on January 1, when he will be replaced by Robert Erni, who plans to join the company on September 1.

Eling will replace CEO Bernhard Simon, who has worked at the Kempten, Germany-based firm for 31 years and will now join its supervisory board. Dachser provides transport logistics, warehousing, and customized services in two business fields: Dachser Air & Sea Logistics and Dachser Road Logistics.

“At the end of 2020, Michael Schilling and I will pass on our responsibility on the Executive Board to the next generation of management. This joint move, which has been in the planning for a long time, will create new impetus for the company’s future,” Simon said when the company announced its succession plans in March. As COO of the firm’s Road Logistics division, Schilling is Simon’s top deputy. “The coronavirus crisis is certainly a great challenge for the entire management team, but it does not call our long-term strategy into question. What’s important now is to pass the company on to a new generation, starting at the top. We are convinced that we can steer Dachser well through the coming months. By keeping our own network stable and the supply chains running, we will continue to serve our customers with reliability and quality.”

Erni, 54, began his career at logistics company Kühne+Nagel and was most recently CFO at logistics provider Panalpina, where he headed the company’s merger with Danish logistics group DSV.

“Robert Erni is an extremely experienced CFO who has spent more than 30 years working in the logistics sector,” Eling said in a release. “We are delighted to have him on our new Executive Board and look forward to working with him to address future challenges in a way that creates value and growth."

Robert Erni to become DACHSER #CFO! Effective #January 1, 2021, 54-year-old #Swiss citizen Robert #Erni will take over as CFO from Burkhard Eling, who will become #CEO of the family-owned #company: https://t.co/zdDZSkBHm3#logistics #transport pic.twitter.com/JeGvfGc4i1

— DACHSER (@dachser_news) June 23, 2020