DHL land five-year contract with Volvo Cars

DHL Supply Chain has recently been awarded with a five-year long contract with one of the world's most renown automotive brands, Volvo Cars. The parcel delivery company it due to handle its aftermarket parts warehousing and distribution to more than 120 dealers throughout the UK.

The parcel delivery company is expected to manage four shared use local distribution centres to place deliveries through the night using DHL's Auto Alliance collaborative platform. The service is to incorporate flexible driver departure times to remote areas, enhancing the efficiency of its delivery service across the nation.

DHL will deploy a new fleet of fuel-efficient vehicles as part of the contract with Volvo Cars.

Michael Martin, VP Business Development, Automotive for DHL Supply Chain has said: "DHL is delighted to be working with one of the world's leading automotive companies to drive forward innovative approaches for exceptional customer service. This new contact heralds a new partnership between DHL and Volvo Cars, which will see us deliver an innovative service-level delivery network, resulting in increased efficiencies." Martin also added: "Volvo Cars commitment to its customers is outstanding - and at DHL we adopt a matching approach to service quality in all of our collaborative partnerships."

TNT lands contact with Dutch fashion company

TNT has recently been awarded with a two-year contract with Dutch fashion company, Mexx. The parcel delivery company will provide international delivery services to the fashion group.

TNT will be trusted to transport design samples between Mexx's supplier in Asia and the Middle East, as well as its Amsterdam headquarters.

Additionally, TNT will also transport sales from the fashion company's distribution centre in Voorschoten, the Netherlands to Asia. TNT will ensure the next-day delivery of the sales sales to various showrooms across Europe for the presentation to potential retailers, with the most key destinations including Germany, France, Belgium and the Nordics. The parcel delivery company will use its European Road Network to transport the majority of the shipments.

Mexx is said to have been influenced to use TNT due to its reputation of reliability, short lead times and the choice of time-guaranteed express products.

Senior Purchase Manager of Mexx, Sjoerd Kampinga, has commented: "TNT's guaranteed delivery services and short lead times help Mexx Europe meet fashion seasonal deadlines and expand its competitive position. The control and visibility help us to focus on our core business." Kampinga also added: "We are happy to have engaged a new part
ner who has confidence in this beautiful company and helps us meet our challenging objectives."

TNT Express to invest $85m into building regional hub near Brisbane, Australia

TNT Express is due to invest 85 million Australian dollars into building a new headquarters distribution centre located near Brisbane, Australia. The new site will reach 72,000 square metres in size, situated at Redbank within the city of Ipswich. With construction to begin this month, its expected completion date is June 2015.

TNT Express has said the new depot will provide state-of-the-art parcel sorting technologies that will be able to process 15,000 parcels per hour, whilst also being able to cut carbon emissions by up to 20%.

The parcel delivery company is said to recruit from the local area; the facility is expected to introduce 300 full-time jobs.

Regional Director for TNT Express Queensland, Peter Gutsche, has commented: "The new TNT Express Redbank logistics hub will be a major facility in this important and growing area of Queensland. It will contain some of the most technologically advanced and innovative parcel sorting technology available to improve the operational efficiency and security of our customers' shipments."

The new construction is part of a broader investment for TNT Express in Australia, including the introduction of new "super hubs" in Sydney and Melbourne, due for completion in 2015.

DPD to construct new parcel hub in Germany

World renown parcel delivery company, DPD, are to build a brand new distribution hub, costing around 11 million Euros. The new build is to be located within southern Germany in the bid to get closer to its customers within this region. Construction for the new depot has already begun at the Waldeck Business Park situated in Dinkelsbühl.

DPD's new addition will cover an area of 18,000 square metres within a 23,100 square metre site and it anticipated to open during the early months of 2015. The introduction of the new hub will provide up to 90 new job opportunities.

DPD Project Manager, Milad Zadeh, has said: "Closeness to the customer is an important competitive factor for us. Our new distribution centre in Dinkelsbühl will put us in the position to offer our customers in the region even better service."

The new depot will be located in Dinkelsbühl, Germany.

The new facility will be operational in parcel-sorting, and up to 16,500 parcels are expected to be handling on a daily basis. This will be met by the use of a 990 metre conveyor belt, with the aim of initially sorting 5,500 parcels per hour, and up to 7,500 per hour during the second phase.

Employment is said to consist of up to 65 delivery drivers and around 30 depot staff who will oversee daily operations. The newly added depot will be Germany's 76th DPD hub. DPD currently deal with over 2.5 million parcels daily within its international network.