K&N acquires Vendor Management Hub business
KN’s crafty acquisition sees them cast a global spell.
Kuehne & Nagel has acquired 60 per cent of the Canadian company Virtual Integration Associates (VIA), a provider of global supply chain management (SCM) and vendor management inventory (VMI) programmes for the electronics industry. (8/13/2001). This now leaves VIA’s parent company, the Canadian Rusgen Holding, owning 40 per cent of the newly-formed company KN VIA. KN VIA operates nine vendor hubs in the US, Canada, Mexico, Thailand and China with an annual material value throughput in excess of US$4 billion. From these hubs, KN VIA services electronic contract manufacturers (ECM) and original equipment manufacturers (OEM) with around 100 components suppliers. Within the next 18 months, KN VIA plans to launch another 10 to 15 hubs worldwide. Access to Kuehne & Nagel’s global logistics network enables KN VIA to provide standardised SCM/VMI-services across the globe. Key success factors for ECM and OEM in the electronics market are improved asset utilisation, freight consolidation and global visibility across the supply chain. KN VIA hubs are near the EMC’s or OEM’s manufacturing facilities and offer suppliers the opportunity to provide their customers with maximum flexibility for production efficiency and scheduling. Implementing a VMI programme allows EMCs, OEMs and suppliers to eliminate warehouse space and buffer stock at their manufacturing facilities, reducing the frequency of supplier deliveries with a consolidated just-in-time delivery programme from the hub.
