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CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS
APRIL 2015
28
The Volvo Group SA has officially opened its
new Regional Distribution Centre in Boks-
burg. This new upgraded facility, which
now incorporates the parts warehousing
and logistical services for the various Volvo
Group brands operating in southern Africa,
was established at an investment of ap-
proximately R60 million.
The more than 52 000 parts housed in the
new Regional Distribution Centre (RDC)
include stock items for Volvo Bus, Volvo
Construction Equipment, Volvo Trucks, Vol-
vo Penta, Renault Trucks and UD Trucks.
The main warehouse size was increased
to 11 500 m² and now also has an addi-
tional 1 500 m² storage capacity for cabs,
as well as for hazardous materials such as
coolants.
“As the Volvo Group SA we believe that the
merger of our warehouse facilities under
one roof will enable us to better support
the company’s future growth within south-
ern and East Africa,” said Torbjörn Chris-
tensson, president of the Volvo Group SA.
“It is therefore a strategic investment in
our future and will enable us to support
our customers more efficiently and timely,
especially in light of the significant volume
growth our brands have experienced over
the last number of years.”
In essence, the new consolidated Volvo
Group RDC will lead to more speedy parts
deliveries, more streamlined and efficient
operations, as well as increased warehous-
ing capacity for all its brands.
“Increased uptime for our customers is one
of our core objectives within the Group,”
explained Christensson. “Customers are
rightly demanding exceptional parts avail-
ability – something we believe we will be
able to achieve with the new facility, its
innovative systems and skilled workforce.”
Across the world, the designing, managing
and optimising of logistics services within
the company falls under the auspices of
Volvo Group Logistics Services within the
Group Truck Operations (GTO) division.
“The aim of Volvo Group Logistics Services
is to deliver services with world-class op-
erational excellence, in an efficient and
sustainable way, thereby reducing costs,
disruption and environmental impact,” said
Christer Svärd, senior vice president of
Volvo Group Logistics Services. “We also
aim to constantly ensure the global avail-
ability of aftermarket parts to dealers and
end-customers at the right time, the right
place and at the right cost.”
Svärd said that after more than 50 years
of global experience within this industry,
the company understands customers’ re-
quirements and are capable of delivering
logistics solutions that work smoothly in
their day-to-day reality.
Parts are supplied to the Johannesburg
RDC from the various brands’ Central Parts
Distribution Centres (CDC) in France (Re-
nault Trucks), Japan and Singapore (UD),
Sweden and Belgium (Volvo Construction
Equipment, Volvo Bus, Volvo Penta and Vol-
vo Trucks).
According to Colin Govender, general man-
ager, Logistics Services, for the southern
and East African region, local operations
have refined their processes to ensure on-
time local delivery for all brands.
“We have agreements in place with the
various CDCs for the prompt processing
of emergency parts, as well as for day and
stock orders. Agreements are also in place
with transport providers for the forwarding
and clearing of daily air and weekly sea
shipments – ensuring a continuous flow
of regular maintenance, as well as critical
parts to dealers and ultimately to custom-
ers,” said Govender.
The Volvo Group RDC has a same-day
delivery policy to dealers within 50 km of
the facility, and a 24/7 set-up in place for
emergency parts. Overnight and next day
deliveries are in place for the remainder of
the dealers across South Africa, as well as
up to twice weekly dedicated deliveries to
export dealers outside the country.
Most of the advancements and facilities in
the new RDC have been made to increase
the efficiency and accuracy of parts deliv-
ery to customers. These include more floor
space to manage inbound parts, as well
as for the checking and packing of orders.
There is also a new bin store that creates
opportunities to store small parts in a mod-
ular way, as well as an increased number of
bays for large parts.
The facility has staff compliment of 16 office
workers and 52 industrial workers – all of
whom have been trained in the new ware-
housing processes and systems to ensure
accuracy, productivity and efficiency.
“The integrated warehouse boasts one sys-
tem that effectively covers all the brands
supported from South Africa,” said Govender.
“Ultimately, this means one defined process,
one way of developing the competencies of
our staff, and creating more opportunity to
have multi-skilled people that can support
the operation in different areas as needed.”
VOLVO GROUP SA
opens new R60 million integrated
parts distribution centre
TRANSPORT