The customer is at the center of our actions
We are working on issues that are material to us and our stakeholders. You can find an overview of our material sustainability topics in the chapter “To our stakeholders.”
There are a number of levers to increase product quality, but for us, improving punctuality is the most important starting point. Internal punctuality controls are based on lost units (number of delayed trains). To measure punctuality, we compare the target arrival time to the actual time for every train run. A stop is considered on time if the scheduled arrival time is exceeded by less than six minutes in passenger transport or less than 16 minutes in freight transport. We summarize the arrival of trains on schedule or up to a defined maximum delay using a degree of punctuality. The figures are recorded daily and are made available to executives and employees together with the reasons for the current faults and other management key figures, allowing measures to be taken to manage the situation. In addition, punctuality data, together with the associated indicators, are prepared regularly and used by the Management Board to determine what currently needs to be acted upon and where decisions are required. Punctuality is the key indicator of product quality and is a determining factor in calculating the variable remuneration amount for executives at DB Group.
Other important levers for increasing product quality include the use of modern vehicles, reliable and comprehensive customer and transport information, the quality and reliability of services offered, as well as reasonable travel and transport times. That is why we continually invest in our fleet and infrastructure and optimize cooperation with our suppliers and sector partners. We place a strong emphasis on tapping into the opportunities of digitalization. Our initiatives for increasing product quality and improving customer satisfaction are an important part of the plan to implement the new Strong Rail strategy. Customer satisfaction is therefore the most important indicator for our service quality. It provides us with the insights we need to determine concrete measures for improvement.
In addition to the various aspects of product quality, continuous optimization of the price-performance ratio and product innovations, especially in the context of digitalization are the main levers for increasing customer satisfaction. We work extremely hard to provide a high-quality basic service and focus on optimizing product and service quality. We offer our customers comprehensive services for their information needs. Our goal is to provide our mobility and logistics solutions at a reasonable price-performance ratio in order to meet the expectations of our customers. The focus is on measures that increase the quality of our services and the efficiency of our processes. In order to assess the success of our measures from the customer’s perspective, we use direct indicators such as revenues and the number of customers. In addition to this we use the results of regular surveys to measure our success and find potential areas for improvement.
