Sweden and SA have a long history of working together and this includes collaboration when it comes to the automotive industry. One of the major names in the game is, of course, Volvo, but in this case it's not the car company, but rather Volvo Group trucks, which also owns Renault Trucks and UD Trucks.
Recently the company opened an impressive new regional parts distribution centre in Boksburg, Gauteng, which covers more than 13,000m2 with 11,000m2 of warehousing, and represents an investment of R60m.
"The centre is very good proof that Volvo and Sweden want to contribute to SA," said the Swedish ambassador to SA, Anders Hagelberg. "Volvo has represented a cluster of automotive excellence in Sweden for 90 years, with 20% of Swedish exports coming from the automotive cluster."
This relationship with SA was reiterated by the senior vice-president of Volvo Group Logistics Services, Christer Svard: "Volvo Group has been in SA for many years but its modern chapter really began with its new head office in 2000, followed by a production facility in 2005. With this new building we have realised an important milestone," he said.
It was also acknowledged as a milestone by the mayor of the City of Ekurhuleni, Mondli Gungubele. "It is great to see conglomerates like Volvo choosing this area as their home. We hope we will contribute to your margins so you will stay for a long time."
Parts for all the brands will be housed in the facility which, according to distribution centre GM Colin Govender, was initially approved by the company just 18 months ago. Prior to that the group used three different centres. He said the new facility will not only improve efficiency due to the amalgamation of all brands under one roof, but a new parts tracking system has also been implemented to manage the parts for all the brands.
Govender advised that the facility will also hold parts for Volvo Buses, Volvo Penta marine, Volvo Construction and Mack Trucks, as well as for the three main brands. In total more than 52,000 parts will be held in stock with a value of more than R280m.
The centre will be part of a massive international parts logistics operation, with components being delivered to it from Sweden, Belgium, Japan, Singapore and France.
The facility is promising same- day delivery to dealers based within 50km of it as well as a full 24/7 emergency delivery service. Other dealers outside of the region will be catered for by an overnight service and the company will supply dealers outside of SA twice weekly.
"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 southern and East Africa," said Torbjörn Christensson, 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."
Source: Business Day
