MAN opens new Gauteng-based PDC

MAN Truck & Bus South Africa this week opened its new Parts Distribution Centre (PDC) in Isando, Johannesburg. Located a mere four kilometres from the company’s head office, the 16 700 m² warehouse (with adjacent 1 000 m² office space) will handle over 90 percent of all spare parts for MAN and Volkswagen Trucks in South Africa and supply the company’s sub-Saharan customer base.

“Availability of spare parts is a fundamental demand of our customers that we must meet,” says Anders Nielsen CEO, MAN Truck & Bus AG. “Our PDC here in Johannesburg clearly symbolises the expansion of our global spare-parts logistics network to fulfil our customers’ demand for parts worldwide. Within the network of other MAN logistics locations, this facility will ensure an improved, fast and smooth supply of spare parts – in particular for the southern African region.”
   
The new facility represents an investment of R180 million and began operating in August. The target for the facility is to have a 91 percent pick rate and a 90 percent fill rate.
   
To accomplish this, the warehouse features a new racking system as well as a 1 600 m², three-level mezzanine area for smaller parts. It will operate on MAN’s advanced parts platform system and be the first regional warehouse outside Europe to be integrated within the MAN IT system. This allows parts stock to be scheduled centrally and gives dealers support by ensuring optimum availability and ranges of parts in stock for their customers.

“Stock will be scheduled according to a dynamic forecast,” says Nielsen. “These measures will make major improvements in availability at the point of sale and the Service Desk without tying up a disproportionately large amount of stock.”
   
To limit its carbon footprint, the new building incorporates a specially designed roof to allow as much natural light as possible into the warehouse. It is also fitted with special lighting and thermal insulation to reduce the building’s overall energy requirements.  
   
“The new facility has been designed to comfortably allow for future expansion of MAN Truck & Bus SA into the sub-Saharan region, particularly as MAN’s global strategy gains momentum with the introduction of new models. The new facility will also be geared to comprehensively support existing and forthcoming truck and bus derivatives from MAN and Volkswagen,” concludes Geoff du Plessis, executive chairman, MAN Truck & Bus South Africa.