It's been a busy 12 months for Arne Heinold. Since graduating with a master’s in global logistics from KLU in October last year, he has worked in a warehouse in Hamburg and at the Frankfurt Airport, spent time in Singapore, visited Malaysia and Indonesia, returned to Germany and worked in distribution, customer service and purchasing.
It’s all part of his one-and-a-half-year logistics traineeship at Gebrüder Heinemann, a global company in the duty free sector. “That’s the good thing about working for an international company,” the 26-year-old said. “I was able to spend three months in Singapore and work in Malaysia and Indonesia, setting up warehouses for new airports and making sure that the local processes and IT systems align with those of Heinemann.”
A native of Hardebek, a village of just 400 inhabitants an hour north of Hamburg, Heinold says he was attracted to doing his master’s at KLU because he wanted to live in a big city and see businesses and organizations in practice. “I grew up in a small village, and then did a gap year in Gore, a small town in New Zealand. Afterwards, I studied economics for three years in Kiel,” he explains. “I wanted to see production and warehouses, to see Airbus, go to Tchibo and see coffee being made – all the practical things.”
After completing his studies at KLU, which included an internship at the supply chain services firm Hermes Fulfilment and a semester studying at Tongji University in Shanghai, Heinold says that his desire to get hands-on experience in the logistics industry was as strong as ever. “I did my thesis on outsourcing. It was a very scientific, academic paper concentrating on statistical outcomes,” Heinold said. “I thought about doing a PhD, but after five years at university, I wanted to get some practical experience.” Something, he says, that he has had plenty of at Gebrüder Heinemann.
Despite his busy schedule, he maintains strong ties with KLU. “I stay in touch with alumni, and was elected treasurer to the Alumni Association board,” he added. “I also go to the alumni presentations at the university as often I can. My continued association with KLU helps me to stay in touch with the academic world and is a source of new ideas that I can transfer to my daily business."
By Jeff Kavanagh