Whirlpool Opens a New Distribution Hub for Central and Eastern Europe in WestPoint D2 Distribution Park, Slovakia
Whirlpool decided to open a new distribution hub for four CEE countries in WestPoint D2, Slovakia. This location gives a better chance to compete on the global market and also provides better services to customers.
Each country used to have its own distribution centre operated by different freight partners for distribution; Sladkovicovo for Slovakia, Brno for the Czech Republic, Budapest for Hungary and the outskirts of Vienna for Austria. The idea to create a centralized hub at a geographically strategic location and to meet the requirements of Whirlpool´s customers also has a number of other advantages, for example the reduction of both the freight area and the stock volume. Optimization of deliveries to partners as well as the distribution from the production plants are also advantages, creating a more effectively planned production.
Whirlpool selected Pinnacle on the basis of a public tender. Pinnacle proposed that the distribution hub for Central Europe be in the Lozorno distribution park on the D2 highway, which connects Prague and Bratislava and is the ideal for distribution to Central and Eastern Europe. The construction of the DC B hall totalling 29,140 sqm started immediately. The construction was completed within 182 days providing Whirlpool with 24,000 sqm of warehouse and additional 500 sqm of office space.
“The customer had specific requirements relating to warehouse space,” said Peter Bečár, Managing Director of Pinnacle Slovakia. The required 10% of daylight was resolved by placing skylights in the ceiling. More than 1,173 prefabricated concrete units were used for the construction, with 228 units being columns. To pave the inner part of the hall, approximately 5,185 m³ of concrete with reinforcements weighing 103.7 tons was used. An additional 3,350 m³ of concrete was used for the internal roads. The levellers, which met the specific Whirlpool requirements, were also a unique solution for the customer. The freight provider, Gebrüder Weiss, selected by Whirlpool in the design preparation phase, also had specific requirements. One of them was the possibility to monitor operations. This was resolved by the construction of a two-floored office situated in the middle of the hall. The transfer of goods from the previous storage facility to the new one in Lozorno was the first important phase performed by the company, which was complicated by the goods being transferred directly from the production plants for further distribution.
“Relocation of goods from the previous storage facilities in the countries to the centralized hub in Lozorno presented an interesting challenge for the company,” says Jürgen Bauer, Area Manager East. The centralized hub will be managed by 20 operational and 5 administrative workers who will handle 50 delivery trucks daily for Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary by using the high-tech handling devices and barcode technology.
“Whirlpool believes that approximately 1.5 million products will be received, distributed and processed by the centralized hub annually,” says Director General Ján Spůra. The appliances will be imported from nine European production plants, as well as from China and external suppliers. “Planning of production and deliveries to the customers will be facilitated by the hub,” adds Ján Spůra. As far as orders are concerned, companies directly contact Whirlpool’s head office in Italy, not the individual production plants. The customers’ orders are then inserted into the system and are transferred to the storage hall which issues the goods. Finally, the order is given to the freight partner which completes the transfer within 24 hours.