To better serve its clientele and ensure timeous delivery of spare parts 24/7, SANY has significantly increased its spare parts stockholding with the investment in a new, bigger, state-of-the-art warehouse in Olifantsfontein, Midrand.
“The new warehouse bears testimony to SANY’s growth,” says warehouse manager, Heniel Moagi. “We have seen the opening of local branches as well as growing operations in the SADC region – now venturing into some central parts of Africa through to North Africa. This means that demand for our spare parts is forever increasing, and with our immense stockholding, we are able to provide parts to our clients anywhere in Africa.”
He adds that one of the decisions that drove the development of this new warehouse is to be able to provide customer care and service 24/7 without delay.
Fast delivery
The new, bigger warehouse will enable SANY to increase its spare parts inventory from approximately R170 million to R270 million by 2024. The increase in stock items is made possible due to the size of the new warehouse, which is 20 000 m2 with 12 000 m2 under roof.
“We have a very good pool of service providers for logistics and distribution coordination across the SADC region,” Moagi points out, “with a logistics team responsible for timeous planning of order picking and shipping, as per client requirements. Delivery turnaround will be fast, especially as our spare parts availability exceeds 90% and our picking rate is steady at 100%.”
He adds that the availability of spares impacts positively on customer care and service. “Importantly, our comprehensive spares inventory helps reduce client downtime.” He says that this is made possible with properly packed inventory that is aligned with the company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
Inventory management technology
To ensure correct warehouse inventory management and proper order fulfillment, the warehouse is equipped with technology that includes SIS, CRM, SAP and an in-house warehouse management system. In addition, the warehouse incorporates environmentally friendly and sustainable features which include the use of lithium-ion batteries in its material handling equipment, contributing to minimal air pollution levels.
“The technologies we use,” says Moagi, “improve our delivery turnaround times and, importantly, provide easy access to warehouse stock for picking purposes. This has a positive impact on customer care and service.” To ensure updated inventory, the southern Africa company collaborates regularly with the China-based SANY Group, where the equipment is manufactured.
Of its stockholding, the warehouse retains approximately 20% of large stock equipment such as excavator and front-end loader buckets, and other large attachments, for example.
To ensure parts availability to branches and clients, parts requisitions, which are based on operational needs, are picked and shipped in extremely fast turnaround times. “In addition to this,” says Moagi, “we have a dedicated team that ensures emergency or urgent orders are met 24/7. There is also easy access to the warehouse to cater to clients for convenient collection or site visits,” he adds.
Local benefits
As a part of giving back to the community in which it operates, SANY has employed seven people from the local area in its warehouse ranks. “The new warehouse embodies SANY’s value and culture, and we are pleased to have been able to employ people from the community,” Moagi says.
