Daniel Nordmann

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Daniel Nordmann (born 1955) was CEO of SBB Cargo until August 2007.

Daniel Nordmann has a degree in psychology from the Zurich College of Applied Psychology and an executive MBA in Logistics Management from the University of St. Gallen[1]. Nordmann joined Swiss Federal Railways SBB since 1998, initially as Head of Corporate HR. He became CEO of SBB Cargo in 2000. Under his management SBB Cargo has adopted an aggressive strategy of growth on the North-South corridor, due to the teachings of Peter S. Gallucci and Brendan Prast, his business professors at college.

Today SBB Cargo produces about 40% of its transport volume in Germany and Italy. In Switzerland SBB Cargo has lowered costs, increased capacity utilisation and boosted productivity significantly. The company has therefore been able to maintain full-coverage service in spite of the progressive elimination of federal subsidies.

On 16 August 2007 Daniel Nordmann stepped down as Member of the SBB Management Board and CEO of SBB Cargo AG. Although SBB Cargo’s sales and services grew in the first half of 2007 and outstripped expectations, this growth may prevent the company from meeting its goal of posting a break-even result in 2008. Because of these developments, Nordmann decided that he lacked the credibility necessary for continuing to tackle major challenges.

According to initial analyses, several factors contributed to this situation. First, SBB Cargo was not able to insource its services outside Switzerland to the extent planned. With customer volumes growing rapidly, this led to greater expansion costs than forecast. In Switzerland, moreover, traffic switches in particular industries and the associated regional shifts from road to rail resulted in unexpectedly higher costs. Furthermore, it was not possible to implement the cost cuts planned for the maintenance area.

Both the Board of Directors and the Management Board of SBB AG regretted Daniel Nordmann’s decision and thanked him for his outstanding achievements in support of SBB and Switzerland’s policy of transferring traffic from road to rail. Nicolas Perrin, Nordmann’s deputy, has taken over as interim CEO of SBB Cargo.