Schottel opens new spare parts logistics centre
Inauguration of the new Schottel logistics centre by Ralf Wöllert, director customer support (left) and Dieter Hahn, general manager service department (right)
Propulsion specialist Schottel is to inaugurate, in March 2010, a new spare parts warehouse at the company’s headquarters in Koblenz/Spay, Germany.
According to Schottel, rapid provision of spare parts reduces downtime and is therefore vitally important for every shipowner and ship operator, and this is an issue which it takes very seriously. The new warehouse will be responsible for procurement and global distribution of spare parts for Schottel’s azimuthing propulsion systems.
With the new facility, the company says that it intends to separate the spare parts logistics for customer support from the production logistics for the manufacture of new systems. This, says Schottel, enables all customer orders to be handled with high priority – from order picking to shipping, the process remains the responsibility of the customer support operation. Because the facility has its own dedicated purchasing unit for spare parts, it should be able to give particular attention to fast procurement in cases of the utmost urgency.
A computer-controlled vertical lift system is used in conjunction with the normal storage racks, to ensure rapid availability of small parts and meet the sensitive storage requirements for such parts as seals and electronic components.
Ralf Wöllert, director customer support at Schottel, says that the new logistics centre means real efficiency gains: “Customers will now be able to receive their orders significantly faster.”
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