New spare parts centers for sun microsystems located on DHL sites: two companies boost cooperation in Russia
Sun Microsystems Inc. and DHL have announced the results of cooperation in Russia and plans for the future development. The outcome of this cooperation in transport and warehousing logistics has been the creation of a channel for supplies of Sun Microsystems equipment to Russia and other CIS countries. DHL has deployed Spare Parts Centers (SPCs) to support after-sale servicing of Sun customers. The first Spare Parts Center was opened in Moscow in 2002. Three more SPCs for Sun Microsystems were set up in St. Petersburg, Krasnodar and Ekaterinburg in 2007. In the future, DHL projects to offer similar services to other customers as well.
The Spare Parts Center in St. Petersburg was opened in April 2007, in Krasnodar in September 2007 and Ekaterinburg site is planned to be opened in mid November 2007. Sun’s decision to invest in the deployment of the new storehouses has been made with an eye to boost service quality for the regional customers and offer them a choice of service programs, which would guarantee initial after-sale support within the shortest possible period of time (up to 2 hours from submitting the request). It will reduce the equipment downtime to a minimum and enable the customers to utilize Sun’s systems for business-critical objectives.
To ensure integrated service for the spare parts processing, which is customs brokerage support, spare parts storage, the requests handling, delivery and return of the unserviceable components, a tender was floated in 2002 among several carrier companies, which was won by DHL . According to Sun Microsystems, ‘the major advantages of working with DHL are that DHL is the largest global transportation company and has robust infrastructure in Russia with 130 offices. In addition, since 2001 the two companies have built a positive collaboration record, a specifically high level of expertise and an in-depth knowledge of the Russian legal framework related to the customs clearance, a proved procedure for parts ordering and delivery, a guaranteed response time and delivery schedule’.
In January 2006, DHL became the global partner of Sun Microsystems Inc. and the leading logistics provider.
DHL processes are fully aligned with the service request execution procedure for the authorized technical centers of Sun Microsystems in Russia. A request is registered by Sun call center or an authorized partner and after the troubleshooting is complete, the spare part’s inquiry is submitted to the storehouse. DHL personnel trained specially for this project identifies the required part within the specified mandatory timeframe and delivers it within the period indicated in the customer’s service plan. DHL process is thus embedded into the service implementation system for Sun Microsystems customers covered by service contracts. The access to the storehouse management system is available for both companies. The spare parts backlog is managed by DHL.
The parts pool is customized to the equipment of Sun Microsystems customers covered by service contracts.
Sun Microsystems and DHL have plans for setting up more storehouses in the regions.
Sun Microsystems has been the importer of its own products in Russia since 2006. In exceptional cases, Sun employs DHL services for the logistics in Russia. Sun also guarantees compliance of the procedures with all Russian regulations.
