Germanischer Lloyd Reorganizes Operations

Germanischer Lloyd (GL) has restructured its business operations, dividing its two main operating areas into maritime services and industrial services. In a press meeting in Hamburg on March 4, executive board members Dr. Hans Payer and Consul Rainer Schondube said, “The new structure advances our policy of continually adding value to services, and enables us to better control and adapt our operations." Of a total group turnover of $160.4 million in 2000, about 80 percent was provided by maritime services and 20 percent by industrial services. Maritime services, whose main operation is ship classification, is comprised of tightly-focused central services coupled to the decentralized field service. The organizational structure runs along the value-adding chain with only three divisions: classification and flagstate affairs, ship technology and advanced engineering and strategic research. The technical functions have been concentrated in a unit based in Hamburg to generate the best possible synergies. The introduction of ship type managers within the ship technology division, who will be responsible for individual ship segments on a project basis, is intended to assure shipowners, yards and also GL’s own field service the highest degree of specialist support from recognized experts. Ship type managers have been established for the segments of container ships, multi-purpose ships, bulk carriers, panamax and post-panamax ships, RoRo ships, high speed craft, tankers and naval vessels.

The Society is taking the opposite route in respect of the Field Services where maximum decentralization enables services and sales to clients to be tailor made. These services will be provided by the four existing Field Service Divisions, which are part of the Maritime Services function: Central Europe (Hamburg); East Asia (Singapore); Mediterranean / Middle East / Black Sea / Africa (Piraeus); and Americas (Mexico City). All activities outside of Maritime Services were grouped together to form the Industrial Services, which integrates Germanischer Lloyd Offshore and Industrial Services GmbH (GLO); Germanischer Lloyd WindEnergie GmbH (GLW); Germanischer Lloyd Prüflabor GmbH (GLP); and Germanischer Lloyd Certification GmbH (GLC). Central services supporting the operating areas have now been concentrated in Corporate Services. These include Financial Affairs and Administration; Human Resources Management; Information Technology and Organization; and Business Development and Control, as well as the staff departments Legal Affairs and Insurances and Internal Quality Management. An organigram of the new structure is available on the Internet at www.germanlloyd.org, navigation: News & Events.