EUROPE - DHL Freight, the road freight arm of Deutsche Post, has signed a contract with the Toyota Material Handling Group, to provide transportation for the company’s newly launched line of racking systems along the complete supply chain, from suppliers to customers' sites all across Europe. Starting in September, materials for a wide range of racking solutions, including both conventional and high density pallet racking systems, as well as shelving and other non-palletised racking systems, will embark on a journey to new warehouses via various transport solutions provided by DHL Freight's network. Hans Larsson, Director Logistics Solutions, Toyota Material Handling Europe, said:

"When we recently launched our latest line of racking solutions, it soon became clear that we needed a partner who has the knowledge and capability to design and implement a solution in perfect synchronisation with the project plan of the site. We are committed to offering high quality solutions that are perfectly tailored to the warehouse storage requirements of our customers. One of those requirements is that the goods arrive exactly when they are needed and DHL helps us deliver on our customer promise."

The solution provided by DHL follows the same set-up as for an automotive production plant. Each shipment may travel through the network as less-than-truckload (LTL), part-truckload (PTL) or full-truckload (FTL) cargo based on a series of criteria, such as the production date at the supplier site, the agreed delivery day and the nature and size of the goods.

Since selected day delivery was highly important for Toyota Material Handling, DHL involved experts in transport planning when designing the solution, and pulled in various IT tools currently used to manage the flows for customers in the automotive sector. Stefan Brunner, Global Sector Head Automotive, DHL Freight, commented:

"Transport management for highly diverse cargo and critical delivery timelines call for thorough planning and creative solutions. We understood the customer needed a Pan-European solution. Therefore, we pulled together the expertise of the countries and tools we use when designing sector specific solutions to meet our customers' expectations."

Besides the on-the-day delivery, the extreme diversity of the cargo is also a challenge, with equipment varying from small boxes to full size 13 metre long racks. Material for one single warehouse installation may also come in from different locations in Europe and the carrier consolidates the parts for delivery on the agreed date. To ensure a smooth process and exact delivery times, the transports are carefully planned and scheduled in collaboration with Toyota Material Handling and the warehouse site. In the course of this project, DHL estimates that it will transport over 90,000 tonnes of freight.