DAF invests €30m in Eindhoven PDC
PACCAR subsidiary DAF Trucks is investing €30m ($39m) in a new 26,000-square-metre parts distribution centre (PDC) in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The facility, which is due for completion in the first half of 2013, will replace the truckmaker's existing PDC in Eindhoven and provide additional capacity and operating efficiency according DAF Trucks president Harrie Schippers.
It will be managed by the PACCAR Parts division, which distributes aftermarket truck parts to 1,000 dealers across Europe using five PDCs located in Madrid, Spain, Budapest in Hungary, Moscow, Russia, Leyland in the UK and Eindhoven.
The centre will employ the latest technology including advanced logistics systems, radio-frequency identification, smart tags and computer-generated voice picking.
Construction on the centre will begin in July this year.
Last year DAF achieved a record 15.5% EU market share in the above-16 ton class of commercial vehicles and captured market leadership in tractor sales, according to Schippers.
DAF is also currently building a $200m assembly plant in Ponta Grossa, in the Brazilian state of Paraná. Completion of the 28,000-square-metre assembly plant is also expected by 2013. It will produce DAF trucks for Brazil and the wider Latin American market, including XF, CF and LF vehicles, which will be distributed through a network of independent DAF dealers.
DHL shifts German container shipments to rail
DHL Global Forwarding/Freight is shifting the transport of containers from its Bremen consolidation centre in Germany from road to rail for shipments to terminals at the German ports of Hamburg and Bremerhaven.
The company moves around 7,500 consolidated freight containers from the redistribution facility in Bremen to the terminals of various shipping companies at the ports each year and the shift to rail is expected to save 365 tons of carbon emissions per year according to the company.
The move is part of DHL's GoGreen programme, carbon-neutral shipping service introduced in 2005 that measures emissions generated during transport and handling of shipments and offsets them through climate protection projects.
"Thanks to projects such as this changeover of container transportation between Bremen, Bremerhaven and Hamburg, we are able to implement our GoGreen program, thus saving one ton of CO2 emissions daily. As much as 50% of a product's carbon footprint is generated in the course of transportation. Together with the shipping companies, we will continue to develop environmentally friendly solutions for logistics processes in the future", said Dr Jürgen Klenner, vice president, DHL Global Forwarding Germany, Strategy & Business Program.
Chery to set up supply chain in Brazil
Chinese carmaker Chery Automobile has said it wants to establish a complete supply chain in Brazil as it prepares for production there next year, according to a report in the China Daily.
Caremakers from China are targeting the South American market but are keen to avoid the high taxes levied on imported vehicles and those assembled there with little local content. Last year the Brazilian government stipulated that carmakers needed to have at least 65% local content to avoid import taxes that now reach between 37% and 55%.
The new rate, which will remain in effect until December 2012, is expected to affect as many as 300,000 vehicles each year and could slow overall growth in the car market, potentially adding to inflation as imported cars rise significantly in price, by as much as 28% according to IHS.
According to the China Daily report, Chery had to cut its 2012 Brazil sales forecast by half to 30,000 units after the tax hike, close to the number of vehicles it delivered last year, when about 33,000 of its total 160,000 exported vehicles were shipped to Brazil.
Chery has started developments on a $400m assembly plant in Sao Paolo last July and intends to establish an industrial park adjacent to it for local suppliers.
The plant is scheduled to go into operation with an initial annual output of 50,000 vehicles, including the Chery A1 and Fengyun 2 subcompacts.
Lear awards Ceva for supply chain services
Automotive seating and electrical power management systems supplier, Lear, has announced its Supplier of the Year Award winners at an event held at its US headquarters in Southfield Michigan, with Ceva Logistics taking the award for Logistics Services Supplier of the Year.
Ceva provides supply chain services for Lear in Europe, Asia Pacific and North America, including transport of inbound parts for production, prototypes for engineering and finished products to OEMs served by Lear.
The award recognised Ceva's consistency in providing the services to an excellent standard and supporting Lear in delivering orders on time and in full to Lear's customer base and manufacturing plants.
"We are extremely honoured to have been presented with this award," said Inna Kuznetsova, Ceva's chief commercial officer. "We pride ourselves on providing the highest levels of service to all our customers, but it is especially pleasing when customers, such as Lear, recognise this. Our relationship with Lear has developed significantly since 2009 and we take a true partnership approach to the effective management of their supply chain."
The list of suppliers for performance excellence in 2011 were selected from among more than 2,000 companies that supply Lear globally.
"While we value the contributions of all of our suppliers, inclusion on this select list signifies truly superior overall performance," said Matt Simoncini, Lear's president and CEO. "Our 'Supplier of the Year' winners have shown an unwavering commitment to excellence in quality, innovation, cost efficiency and a willingness to go above and beyond in assisting Lear in serving our customers in today's highly competitive global market."
The other winners were BAE Industries, Delfingen Industry SA, Grand Rapids Controls, Guelph Tool, I.G. Bauerhin, Murata Manufacturing, Power-Sonic Corporation, TR Fastenings and Wieland-Werke.
Lear recently won its own award when General Motors nominated it as Corporation of the Year for its contribution to the carmaker's global performance in 2011.
