DHN - a formidable force in distribution

Wetumwene Shikage

DHN distributes to every single town in Namibia, every day. The print material distributed includes the Republikein, Namibian Sun, Allgemeine Zeitung and the Namibian newspapers. Additionally, commercial pamphlets and printing work on a ad hoc basis are distributed.

The Newsprint mailroom and circulation team consists of 30 employees who complete the packaging, labelling and dissemination of packages.

Distribution and circulation manager Etienne Kotze says the process is a never-ending job with great effort, but has a peak season from November to May.

Challenges and achievements

Kotze says the biggest challenge is time pressure. “We work with products which lose value within a few hours; thus, it is important to get the newspapers and products out in time for the public.”

Achievements mentioned by Kotze are that the business delivers newspapers and products without fail every single day. Another achievement is that that the business has launched a parcel service this year which will run hand in hand with the newspapers and printed products being delivered at an extremely affordable rate and with some of the best delivery times offered.

DHN stands firm on the importance of valuing its customers. Kotze says the company tries to maintain customer relationships to the best possible standard.

“In these trying times, one unfortunately needs to resort to other forms of communication rather than my preferred method: face to face. We try to always satisfy the needs of our customers without exception,” he says.

To maintain a smooth and easy distribution process, Kotze says staff alignment, vehicle checks, circulation adjustments, print orders, delivery lists and labels and on-time printing are the most important measures to have in place.

The flow of distribution and circulation

According to Kotze, circulation works on past sales trends and supply forecasts to determine the future supply. The team communicates the number of newspapers to be printed via a print order to Newsprint. The supply for every subscription, street sales action or retail customer is altered and entered into a tailor-made system to match the print quantity ordered. For every customer circulation, DHN then prints a label with the delivery details on and also delivery and route lists dictating which quantity should go onto which route.

These labels and lists are provided to the printers to package and disseminate the newspapers according to routes after printing and as per the circulation planning. After packaging, distribution comes into play and loads the newspapers and products into the different vehicles to be delivered across Namibia to every segment and customer. The deliveries are automated on a tablet where customers sign for supply and where distribution enters the number of unsold copies. DHN distribution agents have up to 320 delivery points on some routes and deliver every item with utmost perfection and to the satisfaction of customers. They are able to deliver more products due to the systems and procedures in place such as combining products per customer.