Scania (Great Britain) has awarded a three-year contract to DHL Supply Chain to manage its aftermarket parts distribution in the UK.
The new contract will cover through-the-night transport for delivery to Scania’s service centres before 8am the following day, provided that orders are placed before 7.30pm.
DHL will pick up loads from Scania’s worldwide DC in Belgium and its national DC in Milton Keynes. Loads will then be transported to cross-dock locations where they will be consolidated with products from other manufacturers and loaded onto radial vehicles for delivery.
The service will be provided by DHL’s Auto Alliance service, which uses a network of cross-docks across the UK to reduce distribution costs.
DHL also sorts, stores and manages reusable packaging on Scania’s behalf from the operator’s 10,000ft² automotive inbound cross-dock centre in Hams Hall.
Scania appointed DHL as it wanted to reduce its transport costs and carbon footprint, as well as improved returns handling and better management of reusable packaging.
Mark Begley, warehouse and technical operations manager for Scania said: "In appointing DHL our key objective is to improve service levels to our 90- strong nationwide dealer network by providing a consistent pre-8am delivery service regardless of location.
“We have been extremely pleased with the planning and roll-out process, which has been very professional with good communication throughout. In terms of operational benefits, we are already seeing an improvement in performance levels."
