Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) has opened a new complex in Jacksonville, Florida, less than three miles from Jacksonville airport, which includes a parts distribution centre that will support approximately 70 MBUSA dealers in the southeast of the country.
The parts centre, part of a total facility covering 415,000ft2, will house about 15% of MBUSA’s overall parts inventory and will ship over 1.3m lines annually. Current output per month from the centre is just over 100,000 lines.
The carmaker is working with logistics provider Black Horse Carriers to move the parts to the dealerships. Black Horse Carriers also provides delivery from MBUSA’s Chicago PDC.
“The opening of the Jacksonville PDC is to ensure the optimal distribution of spare parts in the USA and mainly as a result of the ending of the Chrysler agreement,” said Dianna du Preez, general manager, Parts Logistics. “Another MBUSA facility has not been closed but the distribution in this area was managed by Chrysler until July 25th, 2010.”
“A dedicated MBUSA facility was created in Jacksonville to serve the dealers in this geographic area,” she added.
Asked whether the company was working in collaboration with any other OEMs to maximise efficiency, du Preez said, “We spoke to other OEMs to attempt to find consolidation opportunities for the space but unfortunately the timing was not favourable to the other OEMs and we were unable to find synergies.”
The company has four other parts distribution centres in the US: Carol Stream, IL, Fontana, CA, Fort Worth, TX and Robbinsville, NJ.
The Jacksonville complex is also home to the Southern regional sales office, a quality evaluation centre and a learning and performance centre.
