Nissan goes west for parts distribution

NISSAN Australia has announced its plans to establish a new National Parts Distribution Centre in Melbourne's western suburbs, that will accommodate both the Nissan and luxury Infiniti brands as well as alliance partner Renault.

Replacing the current centre in Dandenong South, the new location in Truganina was chosen for its proximity to Melbourne Airport, the port of Melbourne, and the various road networks including the Western Ring Road.

Nissan says the “state-of-the-art” warehousing and logistics centre is likely to be “one of the best” automotive distribution centres in Australia and, once completed, it will be the largest single-span logistics facility in the country.

The new site will measure 22,500 square metres and, according to Nissan, will feature “industry leading” processes and technology for more efficient movement of parts and accessories from the three Alliance brands.

As GoAuto has previously reported, Nissan Australia switched from managing its own parts network last year, handing over responsibility to independent specialist CEVA Logistics, a move that resulted in positive outcomes for the car-maker.

Nissan decided to make the change following an internal review of the in-house operation revealed inefficiencies that would have been more costly to fix than engaging CEVA.

Construction will be directed by CEVA, is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2016 and operational by the beginning of 2017.

The Japanese car-maker says that the design of the warehouse means operations can be scaled “as required” and it will house and process “every available spare part and accessory” for Nissan, Infiniti and Renault. It will service all Renault-Nissan Alliance dealers across the country.

The site has been designed to achieve a six-Green-star sustainability rating and when completed will be Australia's first parts distribution centre to earn the top rating.

It will feature LEDs for all internal lights, double-glazed glass for all external windows and harvested water storage of 100,000 litres for use in the bathrooms and landscape irrigation.

The site will also include a 300kW capacity solar panel array made up of 1170 individual panels generating about 400,000kW of power in the first operating year, which is enough to power the facility during daylight hours. Excess power can be fed back into the grid.

Nissan Australia managing director and CEO Richard Emery said the new site will aid the company's increased focus on customer care.

“This is an important investment for the benefit of both our customers and our dealers,” he said.

“Providing fast and efficient aftersales support is an essential part of our customer care program in Australia, and the establishment of this new National Parts Distribution Centre will further improve our ability to deliver this via our national dealer network.”Nissan is the second brand in Australia to recently engage CEVA as its parts handling contractor, following Honda in 2013.

CEVA specialises in complete vehicle transport as well as parts distribution networks, and has vehicle freight contracts with Mazda, Isuzu Ute, Mercedes-Benz and Subaru.