“I must give recognition to Unipart Logistics. Their packing and shipping has been a blessing…they REALLY stepped up!”
When an automotive company issues a parts recall, effective, efficient logistics are vital. However when an outbreak of COVID-19 also shut down a critical parts distribution centre, the impact could have been disastrous.
Unless of course you have a logistics partner that reacts with speed, agility and deep levels of expertise to get the right parts to the right dealers in almost record time.
That was the situation one car manufacturer faced in the U.S., when critical orders were jeopardised by the quarantine shut down of one of their distribution centres. They knew that if essential workers could not get the required parts quickly, their cars could be off the road for days if not weeks, impacting their ability to perform vital activities.
Fortunately, the two parts distribution centres which Unipart Logistics operated for the manufacturer were not quarantined and were quick to respond.
Unipart Logistics already had the highest standards of sanitisation and social distancing in place, and despite some people shortages due to childcare challenges and working from home, Unipart Logistics’ sites were operating smoothly.
They were faced with the challenge of shipping 21,000 units in a single day to get replacement parts to more than fifty dealerships. That was in addition to the regular parts shipments to dealers.
How did they do it? They used the tools and techniques of The Unipart Way, the company’s proprietary system for problem solving and continuous improvement, to develop a new system of picking, packing and shipping to meet the additional demand.
The result was a flawless product recall which delivered all the replacement parts to dealers within a single day.
As one dealer commented: “I must give recognition to Unipart Logistics. Their packing and shipping has been a blessing…they REALLY stepped up!”