Success story 
Austrian Post

At a glance 

Customer: Austrian Post

• Austria’s leading logistics and postal services provider 

• Active in over 15 countries, with growing volume in all markets

• About 30,000 employees across all regions

• 500+ million parcels handled yearly in Austria, Southeastern Europe and Turkey

Project scope: 

• Transportation network optimization using 4flow vista® in multiple country networks, including full as-is analysis, scenario simulation and redesign of optimized, cost-efficient structures

Results: 

• Frequent savings on transportation spend

• Enhanced agility in the face of rising demand and market disruption

• Optimal hub network for improved service and cost-efficiency

• Repeatable optimization process now performed in all countries serviced by Austrian Post Group

How Austrian Post and 4flow optimized transportation networks in Central Eastern Europe and Turkey 

As Austria’s leading postal, logistics and delivery service provider, Austrian Post offers high-quality parcel, mail and logistics services in Austria and the surrounding region through its subsidiaries. With almost 30,000 employees and operations in more than 15 countries, Austrian Post processes more than 500 million parcels annually across Austria, Central and Southeastern Europe, including Turkey and beyond. 

To continue supporting its growing footprint in key markets such as Turkey and Bulgaria, Austrian Post partnered with 4flow to increase network transparency, simulate new network designs and cost-optimize transportation using the network design software 4flow vista®. 

Improving visibility to enable smarter network planning 

Following accelerated parcel volume growth after the COVID-19 pandemic, Austrian Post faced multiple challenges in key markets in Southeastern and Central Eastern Europe. In general, network planners face constant cost pressure and strong competition due to high cost sensitivity in their markets. Beyond that, the networks in individual countries each posed their own specific challenges. For example, in Turkey, a large, complex hub network was put under pressure by both high volumes and market disruptions such as inflation and unforeseen regional incidents like earthquakes. In Bulgaria, growing e-commerce demand drove the need for out-of-home delivery services (OOH) like parcel lockers and pickup points.

 Austrian Post sought a scalable, data-driven way to react to the needs in these markets. The organization and their decision makers wanted to improve visibility into their transportation networks, reduce reliance on subcontractors and simulate long-term investment scenarios. 4flow’s proven experience with multi-country network design and the optimization and planning capabilities of 4flow vista® made them the ideal partner. 

Building a future-ready transportation network 

Each project began with an assessment of the existing network in each market. 4flow vista® helped the planning team at Austrian Post visualize network flows, pinpoint inefficiencies and identify hidden cost drivers using historical operational data. 

Once transparency was established, planners used the software’s scenario modeling features to gain 360°-clarity on the impact of new hub locations, different service levels and demand shifts. 

In Turkey, optimization focused on reconfiguring hub locations and improving capacity utilization at over 28 high-volume sorting centers. These large-scale facilities required careful consideration due to the high operating costs. Austrian Post used 4flow vista® to create detailed simulations based on historical parcel flows to evaluate alternative network configurations and long-term investment scenarios.

In contrast, the Bulgarian market required a highly granular, local-level approach. Here the focus was on evaluating site-level delivery options to support the growing volume of out-of-home deliveries. The goal was to identify optimal locations for parcel lockers and pickup points that aligned with consumer behavior, geography and seasonal demand patterns. 

For both markets, the Austrian Post planning team modeled the impact of each scenario on costs and service with 4flow vista®. A team of central planners and local operations leaders selected optimal scenarios in collaborative workshops. With this data-driven transparency, 4flow vista® enabled the team to move from analysis to optimization quickly and ensure scenarios reflected real-world constraints. Austrian Post benefited from a streamlined and flexible approach across regions, using the same software platform for both strategic and operational planning.

“4flow vista® helps us handle both strategic and operational planning at Austrian Post. Our planning team has the flexibility to simulate network scenarios with different levels of granularity across multiple regions, all within one platform,” said Jonathan Schiller, Industrial Engineering Manager CEE Parcel and Turkey at Austrian Post.

Visibility, agility and efficiency: Austrian Post’s network, reimagined 

By leveraging 4flow vista®, Austrian Post achieved significant improvements in network planning and strategic decision-making across Turkey, Bulgaria and other countries. 

The software’s advanced scenario modeling and optimization capabilities delivered measurable benefits:

• Increased planning security: The ability to model various future scenarios helped Austrian Post compare alternatives and confidently select the most effective network strategy for each market. 

   

• Stronger decision support: 4flow vista® provides Austrian Post with both high-level strategic insights and granular, location-specific analyses. This gives stakeholders a clear understanding of the impact of network changes on KPIs.

   

• Accelerated planning processes: Network planning that was previously time consuming and complex became faster and easier to manage, enabling Austrian Post to respond with agility to market changes. 

   

• Frequent savings on transportation and networks: The optimization reveals substantial potential for Austrian Post to reduce logistics expenses without compromising service quality. 

   

• Cross-functional alignment: The intuitive and transparent approach to network optimization made it easy to involve operational leaders, ensuring that planning outcomes were practical, accepted and ready for implementation.

These outcomes strengthened Austrian Post’s ability to adapt its parcel network to dynamic market conditions in Central Eastern Europe and Turkey while maintaining excellent service, enhancing transparency and optimizing resource allocation. 

With 4flow vista®, Austrian Post now has a more agile, cost-efficient and transparent network planning process. Regular simulation and optimization of regional networks now provide a foundation for future expansion and resilience in volatile markets. The partnership with 4flow will continue as Austrian Post scales its strategy across countries in the Central Eastern Europe region.