In Norway, delivering spare parts to service vans was previously done from the national warehouse in Trondheim. Trucks had to travel long distances because of how spread-out Norway is, and Toyota parts also had to be frequently flown in from our warehouse in Ancenis in France.
We launched a project to reduce costs, minimise CO2 emissions, and improve spare parts delivery. To optimise processes, sourcing and delivery, a decision was made to close the warehouse in Trondheim and to terminate a daily line haul from Trondheim to Oslo.
Mjölby Warehouse in Sweden began carrying more inventory and the local spare parts were transferred from Trondheim to Mjölby. We also moved the Toyota parts supply from Ancenis to Mjölby. The Mjölby Central Warehouse now delivers directly to all service technicians in Norway.
We introduced different parts order type schemes to avoid unnecessary ‘urgent’ deliveries and we trained service technicians on how to order parts more efficiently. By reducing the number of deliveries per week and number of drop points, we were able to optimise the total transport flows.
“It was positive to see change happen so quickly once the project was implemented and we’re proud of the energy and cost savings achieved by the optimised process. By centralising activity in the Regional Warehouse, we can now deliver more efficiently in Sweden, Norway and Denmark.”
Enrico Vezzalini
Supply Chain Manager, Parts & Logistics
Toyota Material Handling Europe