Meritor Inc. has opened a new aftermarket distribution center in Pune, India, to serve the growing Asian marketplace. The distribution hub, which is located near customers, offers a improvement in delivery transit time of brakes, drivelines and axles to original equipment and warehouse distributor customers, Meritor says.
“Our new center in India will reduce transit times by 33 percent on average,” says Craig Cartmill, general manager of worldwide aftermarket operations for Meritor. “By providing more than 90 percent first-fill parts availability off the shelf, overall lead times will be reduced by more than 30 days. Helping our customers improve service levels to end users and driving cost out of their supply chain is our primary focus.”
The Pune distribution center serves customers through a customer service center designed to handle order processing and inventory planning efficiently and quickly. A new operating software system has been installed to support the center. Services include receiving products, performing inspections, packaging/kitting and packing and shipping customer orders.
The facility consists of a 32,000-square-foot warehouse space and administrative offices, says Suresh Joshi, operations manager. The center utilizes the Meritor Performance System, a continuous improvement /lean process and philosophy designed to eliminate waste and encourage employee involvement. The facility serves both OE dealers and independent warehouse distributors, says Maninder Singh Nanda, director of aftermarket Sales in India.
