Lynn C. Fritz

1942: Born in San Francisco as the son of a logistics entrepreneur
1967: Graduated with a Juris Doctor from Lincoln University School of Law and joined the family business Fritz Companies Inc.
1992: Fritz Companies goes IPO
1995: Awarded a Juris Doctor degree from Pepperdine University for outstanding merit in the public interest
1997: Fortune 1000 status for Fritz Companies
2001: Fritz Companies sold to UPS for US$ 450 million
2001: Founding of LynnCo Supply Chain Solutions and the Fritz Institute
2005: Citizen Diplomat Award from the International Diplomacy Council
2008: Change of residence to Lynmar Estate and expansion of wine production
2008: California Prize for Service of the Common Good from the University of San Francisco

Positions
Member of the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Exploratorium and the University of California Department of Viticulture and Enology
Inducted into the Logistics Hall of Fame 2021

Lynn C. Fritz was born in San Francisco, California, in 1942. After school, the son of a logistics entrepreneur does not immediately decide to join his father's business. He studies law and graduates with a Juris Doctor degree from Lincoln University School of Law. He then joins the company and becomes CEO of Fritz Companies after his father retires. The Californian is a successful entrepreneur. In the more than 30 years since Fritz has been running the company, he transforms it from a small customs brokerage organisation into a stock-listed international logistics service provider with more than 11,000 employees in 120 countries. The company goes IPO in 1992 and is given "Fortune 1000" status in 1997. Fritz is Chairman and CEO of the service provider until May 2001, when he sells it to UPS. Only a few months after the sale of Fritz Companies, he founded LynnCo Supply Chain Solutions and the Fritz Institute. The Institute is still dedicated to logistics for humanitarian organisations.

The Fritz Institute is designed as a non-profit organisation that works in partnership with governments, humanitarian organisations and companies around the world to develop solutions and facilitate the adoption of best practices for rapid and effective crisis management and disaster response. Fritz recognised during his time as an entrepreneur that effective frontline humanitarian operations need to be supported by strong behind-the-scenes competencies: effective operational processes, appropriate use of assistive technologies, well-trained logistics staff, objective performance metrics and institutionalised learning across the humanitarian sector. All initiatives in the field of humanitarian logistics are based on its pioneering work.

Experts in the field of logistics for humanitarian organisations emphasise several of Fritz's achievements. He has designed and developed the free web-based logistics software HELIOS at the Institute, which is now used as a worldwide free standard for humanitarian organisations. The tool was developed based on the needs of humanitarian aid organisations in the emergency phase of a catastrophe. The technology allows real-time, up-to-the-minute tracking of food and non-food items, non-cash and cash donations and financial information about goods in the supply chain. Institute staff interviewed more than 3,000 hours of Red Cross and Red Crescent staff to develop the tool, as Fritz recognised that humanitarian supply chain software differs from that of commercial chains: Humanitarian aid is a cyclical and often unpredictable business, he says, and that is why his institute invested so much time and effort in developing this software.

Experts emphasise other merits of the entrepreneur: for example, he founded the first association for humanitarian aid workers in the USA. And he founded a consortium of companies that lend logistics experts or donate cash. To ensure that theoretical concepts were quickly put into practice, Fritz personally made contact with many humanitarian organisation executives in the USA and abroad to effect change in their minds. When it comes to expertise in the efficient distribution of aid, one name usually comes up in humanitarian organisations: Lynn C. Fritz.

Fotos: LHOF/Sebastian Gabsch

Laudation for Lynn C. Fritz on the occasion of her induction into the Logistics Hall of Fame on November 25, 2021.

Laudator: Steffen Bilger, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure

Distinguished awardees of the past years,
- Ladies and Gentlemen,
- Dear Lynn Fritz,

I am very pleased to be standing in the festive ambience of the Allianz Forum this evening and to be allowed to hold this laudation, because the new member of the Logistics Hall of Fame is a very special logistics expert and a very special person. And I am also delighted that Lynn Fritz has flown from California to Berlin with family members to be present in person at this time marked by the corona pandemic.

Dear Mr Fritz, welcome to Berlin!

Lynn Fritz has been an experienced logistics entrepreneur for many years. Actually, Lynn Fritz was already an award-winning logistics entrepreneur in 2001, when he sold his company Fritz Companies to UPS. With just 40 employees, he had in 1969 taken over his father's company, which specialised in customs services, and rolled up his sleeves to internationalise it.

In the sixties in California, Lynn Fritz lived the legendary "American Dream" of the "self-made man". Of course, he was not a dishwasher who worked his way up to become a millionaire. In interviews, he repeatedly emphasises that he was lucky enough to be able to take over his father's company.

Nevertheless, it took great hard work and even greater perseverance to grow a company from 40 to 11,000 employees. And that in only three decades. The IPO in 1992 and the internationalisation of the company in 120 countries were remarkable achievements in themselves.

However, in 2001, a radical step was taken in a completely different direction! First, Lynn Fritz sells Fritz Companies. At that time, Lynn Fritz was already considered one of the most successful US logistics entrepreneurs - by the way, also by his cooperation partners in Europe. And we would have expected that from then on he would enjoy his retirement with flower power songs in San Francisco or reggae sounds on a boat in the Caribbean. But he didn't! On the contrary, Lynn Fritz rolled up his sleeves again and started his second career.

A very special career - without a salary. A career in which he networks intensively and passes on his knowledge as well as large parts of his fortune. Because logistics for humanitarian organisations has become a matter close to his heart. This is what he lives for from now on - and admittedly also a bit for the - as I was told - excellent Chardonnay and Pino Noir on his Californian vineyard.

Lynn Fritz reports in the Logistics Hall of Fame magazine that throughout his life he was inspired by the motivation of the employees of aid organisations, by their great commitment to other people. And at the same time, he saw with his own eyes during journeys to famine and crisis areas that there were considerable deficiencies in the logistics of international disaster management. With fatal consequences for those affected, who were urgently waiting for relief supplies. From then on, he made it his task to transfer the strategies of industrial logistics to aid organisations and their needs. To this end, he founded the Fritz Institute.

Named after him, the Institute is a non-profit organisation that works in partnership with governments, organisations and businesses around the world to develop solutions and facilitate the implementation of best practices for rapid and effective disaster relief and response.

Lynn Fritz applied levers in several places to help aid organisations: Effective operational processes, use of assistive technologies, well-trained logistics staff, objective performance metrics and institutionalised learning across the humanitarian sector. All initiatives in the field of humanitarian logistics are in principle based on his pioneering work.

Today, experts and companions highlight several merits of Fritz. At the Institute, he had the web-based logistics software HELIOS developed at a cost of more than one million US dollars, which is now in use worldwide as a freely available standard for humanitarian organisations. The tool enables aid organisations to track food, non-food items, gifts in kind and cash and financial information down to the minute along the entire supply and aid chain.

Institute staff spent more than 3,000 hours interviewing Red Cross and Red Crescent workers to develop the tool because Lynn Fritz recognised that aid agency supply chains have different requirements than traditional supply chains.

The Fritz Institute also became internationally known for its annual reports, case studies and white papers on earthquakes, floods and hurricanes. Today, dozens of scientists, but also the United Nations, aid organisations as well as the private sector refer to the sources and findings of the Fritz Institute. Associations and clubs also use the information. Experts emphasise other merits of the entrepreneur: for example, he founded the first association for humanitarian aid workers in the USA. And he founded a consortium of companies that provide logistics experts or donate cash when needed.

Ladies and gentlemen, whenever you talk to humanitarian organisations about disaster relief and the efficient distribution of aid, one name comes up: Lynn Fritz.

Because 80 percent of the costs in relief areas are related to logistics, NGOs have been able to save millions of US dollars on transport costs thanks to his initiative. Ultimately, countless people in disaster areas owe their lives indirectly to Lynn Fritz.

Lynn Fritz has rightly received numerous national awards for his voluntary work. However, I believe that an international award was overdue. I am therefore delighted that Lynn Fritz has been inducted into the Logistics Hall of Fame this year. I congratulate the jury on their decision and you, Mr Fritz, on your tireless commitment to your heart's projects.

Ladies and gentlemen: Give a generous round of applause to the founder of logistics for humanitarian organisations. It's Lynn Fritz from California!