Caption: 4PL Central Station-founders Alexander Bauer (left) and Olivier Bauer in 2004.

New York's Central Station is not only known far beyond the city limits and the backdrop for numerous Hollywood films such as “The Invisible Third” and “Ghostbusters,”but also a logistical highlight. With 67 tracks, the station in Manhattan holds the record for the largest number of tracks worldwide. What name could have been more fitting for a logistics company with which founder Alexander Bauer had big plans from the very beginning? The idea behind it: numerous trains arrive at the station with passengers and goods, everything is reorganized and bundled and then leaves the station again. The place where everything comes together.

Twenty-five years ago, Central Station quickly became 4PL Central Station, because although the company has its roots in operations, experienced logistics expert Alexander Bauer wanted to do more than just transport things from A to B. Creating real added value was his goal from the very beginning. The strategic approach of 4PL services, the optimization of logistics processes along the entire supplychain, and savings of up to 30 percent make the business model crisis-proof. Because savings are always in demand.

However, the coronavirus pandemic has shown that even 4PL business reaches its limits when transport capacities become scarce. This is another reason why the 3PL approach, which focuses on operational business, naturally continues to have its strengths. Especially in times of increasingly fast and complex logistics processes, it ensures resilient supply chains.

As it is so often the case, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. 4PL and 3PL business are not contradictory, but complementary, according to the pragmatic approach of 4PL Central Station, which has never completely severed its operational roots and has thus demonstrated foresight. In the wake of the coronavirus crisis, 3PL competencies were even further strengthened, with the successful result that, despite extreme shortages in freight capacity, no customer's supply chains were disrupted. Absolute transparency ensures that the great strength of the 4PL business, namely its ability to operate independently on the market and rely on best-in-class solutions, remains unaffected by any 3PLactivities.

Supplychain resilience as the foundation for real value creation: the success of 4PLCentral Station, regardless of all challenges, confirms this approach. What started as a start-up based just outside Basel, where the company founder and his son, now CEO Olivier Bauer, initially assembled the office furniture and set up the computers themselves, has now become a global company based in a prime location in the old town.

The initial focus on industry and plant engineering has long since been expanded to include in-depth knowledge of numerous sectors, including chemicals, rail, and retail. In addition to logistics experts, 4PL Central Station also employs engineers and economists and has long since moved beyond simply organizing warehouse management, packaging, and shipping to digitizing the entire process and working with big data applications and artificial intelligence. Thanks to successful M&A activities, the company has not only gained important locations in Poland and Sweden, but also has its own transport management system software solution and has once again significantly strengthened its control tower activities, thus creating the basis for further growth. This, in turn, has made it possible to handle ever larger customer projects and to tap into new regions beyond the core European market. Except for Africa, 4PLCentral Station is now active on all continents.

The death of founder Alexander Bauer, who sadly did not live to see this year's anniversary, was a turning point, especially on a personal level. However, the company he founded, now run by his son Olivier Bauer, is thriving as ever and looking forward to a successful future. 25 years is just the beginning!

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