Doosan Infracore has joined forces with Agility to open a parts distribution centre (PDC) in Dubai, UAE.
The facility, which was inaugurated yesterday, will be used to support Middle Eastern and African (MEA) dealers of Doosan Infracore’s Bobcat and Doosan Portable Power brands.
Doosan’s MEA dealers were previously served by the manufacturer’s Belgium PDC, but senior management figures claim that the new facility will enable it to deliver parts to 90% of the region within 24 hours.
Addressing dealers at the PDC’s inauguration, Gaby Rhayem, Doosan’s regional director, said: “Since 2006, you have been suffering from long lead times, long availability, and documentation complications. It was for these reasons that we started talking about opening a parts distribution centre in Dubai.
“Today we’ve made it, and starting tomorrow, we believe that your parts businesses are going to improve. This means a lot to our dealers and to our customers. We are going to serve them better. Our aftermarket perception is going to be improved, and most importantly, we want to show you how much Doosan and Bobcat are committed to the business in the Middle East; to you, our dealers, and to our customers,” he added.
The PDC is being hosted and managed by logistics specialist, Agility. The parts are located at one of the firm’s warehouses in Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza).
Agility has made 1,540m2 available for the storage of Doosan Portable Power and Bobcat spare parts. At present, Doosan has approximately $3m of stock at the facility, and intends to further increase its investment in the future.
“There are around 3,500 locations: six-and-a-half aisles surrounded by three docks,” said Agility’s regional sales director, Kevin Hill, discussing the space that has been made available for Doosan.
“We’re very excited to be chosen by [Doosan] as a partner. At Agility, it’s all about personal service. We hope that we can provide [Doosan] with that personal service going forward, and we look forward to supporting you, their customer, and their customers’ customers as well,” he told attendees.
In addition to cutting waiting times for dealers, Erik Van Der Goot, Doosan’s head of parts for EMEA, said that the Dubai PDC would help to strengthen aftersales support for the manufacturer’s customers.
“What is aftersales?” he asked. “For me, it’s brand loyalty. It’s also customer solutions. The sales team can do a wonderful job in selling the first machine, and I think that we can really help to sell the second.
“As you know, our strategy is to cover this region within 24 hours with parts. Before we had this PDC, we were able to deliver to over 70% of our dealers within 24 hours. With this setup, however, and with the help of our partner [Agility], we think we can increase this number by roughly 20%. We want to achieve over 90% coverage within 24 hours,” explained Van Der Goot.
Also speaking at the inauguration was Martin Knoetgen, Doosan’s president for EMEA. Whilst he conceded that the Dubai PDC has been a long time coming, he remains confident that the facility will have a positive impact on the regional business of Doosan and its partners.
“We started talking about this PDC in 2006, so that’s almost 10 years; it took a while,” he said.
“When I look at my history related to the PDC here, it was my first project after taking the lead for the EMEA region. I presented [the idea] to the top management in Korea to obtain approval.
“It’s a great honour for me to be part of this event and part of the story. From that perspective, I wish everybody who works here in the future, and who contributes from other locations, good luck.
“This will be a great success; I’m convinced about that,” Knoetgen concluded.
For extended coverage of the facility’s inauguration, including extended details of Doosan Portable Power’s latest product offering for the Gulf, check out the March 2015 issue of PMV Middle East.
