Moving its
warehousing
operations
in-house three
years ago has
resulted in
significant
benefits
for Suzuki
South
Africa. Improved stock
management and zero
stock losses have resulted
in a “significant” cut in its
logistics costs and enhanced
customer service in terms of
delivery turnaround time.
Berto van der Lith, Suzuki
SA divisional manager:
finance, administration
and logistics, told FTW
that Suzuki embraced
the Japanese philosophy
of Kaizen – which means
continuous improvement
– and was always on the
look-out for innovative ways
of optimising costs and
efficiencies.
He explained that the
company had employed
two industrial engineers
to optimise the 2 500-sqm
warehouse, which houses
spare parts and accessories
for the Suzuki motorcycles
and vehicles as well as
marine outboard motors for
distribution nationally and
into neighbouring countries.
“Another automotive
distributor moved out of
the space we now occupy
in Johannesburg because
it needed a much larger
warehouse. We have been
able to work well with the
space we have
by introducing
a few simple
organisational
changes,” Van
Der Lith said.
Wilton
Dladla,
logistics and
warehouse
manager, is
one of those
industrial
engineers
appointed
in 2014. He
explained
that some of these changes
included storing like for
like parts together to
ensure the fast-moving
items were placed at the
front of the warehouse for
easy picking and packing.
“We have had great
success with the
operational changes
because we ensured we
got the buy-in from staff,”
he said, pointing out that
all the
warehouse
processes
and systems
had been
designed
to support
the global
Suzuki stock
management
system.
“Because
we have
much
greater
control over
the in-and outf low of our
stock, which helps us to do
far better stock planning,
we can also keep a much
leaner stock complement,”
Dladla added.
We have had great
success with the
operational changes
because we ensured
we got the buy-in
from staff.
– Wilton Dladla
