Ryder System recently announced that Whirlpool Corp., the world’s leading manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances, is extending and expanding its contract with Ryder for parts warehousing and distribution services for six additional years. The extended contract will run through July 2014. Under the expansion, Ryder will consolidate all service parts, creating a single Whirlpool U.S. parts distribution center. The transition is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2008.
“Ryder’s team has demonstrated its ability to continually drive process improvements throughout our operations, and is integral to our team and future strategic initiatives,” says Jim Packer, director of parts operations for Whirlpool. “The decision to create a single parts distribution center will further optimize costs and distribution to trade customers, authorized parts distributors and our international customers.”
Ryder manages appliance service parts packaging and distribution operations at an 805,000-square-foot facility in Plainfield, Ind. Ryder provides order fulfillment and worldwide distribution of Whirlpool’s service parts across six continents to end consumers, authorized repair centers and independent parts distributors that support service companies and technicians. Ryder has packaged more than 116 million pieces, as well as shipped more than 122 million parts, to Whirlpool customers worldwide since the original agreement was signed in 2001.
“We are honored to build on our successful relationship with Whirlpool,” says Vicki O’Meara, president of U.S. supply chain solutions for Miami-based Ryder. “We look forward to continuing our collaborative partnership as we work to help simplify their parts operations and improve responsiveness in serving their trade partners and consumers.”
