Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) has opened a 25,500 sq. m parts distribution centre (PDC) in Dallas, Texas, that it said would improve parts availability in the region. The facility, which will be fully operational on March 1st this year, will distribute aftermarket parts for DTNA and subsidiary brands Freightliner, Western Star, Detroit, Thomas Built Buses, Freightliner Custom Chassis and Alliance Truck Parts.
The company did not reveal the level of investment in the PDC, but said it was one piece of “a significant investment in its supply chain network,” designed to improve parts availability and meet customer expectations.
DTNA is operating the facility itself with 35 full-time and 12 part-time staff. The PDC is expected to handle approximately $1m worth of aftermarket parts daily, with most being delivered within 24 hours of the time they are ordered. It will house more than $20m inventory, which will include stock and mission critical parts for all brands.
“We are excited about this new PDC, which is much more than just a building. It’s part of our strategy to get closer to our customers,” said Jay Johnson, general manager of supply chain, DTNA.
A spokesperson for the truckmaker said the Dallas facility was additional to the company’s existing PDC locations and part of a long-term strategy to maximise operational efficiency and ensure parts reached the service network as quickly as possible.
“With the addition of the Dallas PDC, our lead-time on parts has been reduced by two days,” said Rich Shearing, president of Premier Truck Group. “This reduction will help us improve customer uptime as we continue to increase our dealership throughput.”
According to DTNA, the facility will house a sophisticated inventory management system that evaluates seasonality and stock parts, based on actual or anticipated need.“Dealers using the PDC will also have access to variable cut-off, which allows them to place parts orders and receive the parts on their doorsteps in as little as one day,” said the spokesperson. “We also are working on unique parts delivery systems, which will increase the efficiency of parts delivery even more.”
