German DHL to handle BMW supplies

Global express and logistics company DHL, a unit of German post operator Deutsche Post AG, has signed an agreement with German carmaker BMW to handle its supplies, DHL said on June 1, 2005.

DHL has been handling supplies to BMW’s 14 production sites in Germany, Austria and the UK since March 2005.

Under the agreement, DHL will deliver materials from BMW’s 1,800 suppliers in 18 countries to the carmaker’s plants and will subsequently return all multiple-use containers to the suppliers.

This is the first time when a vehicle producer has transferred its entire volume of parts to the transportation network of a single service provider, DHL said.

Once the system has been fully implemented in the first quarter of 2006, DHL is expected to handle 400,000 deliveries, or more than 925,000 tonnes of production materials, a year on behalf of BMW.