Exel lands contract with AKI Spain
Exel, has won a new contract with AKI the do-it-yourself (DIY) retailer in Spain. This new contract, which involves managing the new national distribution centre in Toledo, adds to Exel’s established retail and consumer business in Spain.
Exel is to announce this new partnership with AKI España, as it is the second major DIY store contract worldwide, following the successful win of the Home Depot contract in the USA in 2001.
Exel has been working on this project with AKI since April 2001, helping it to design and develop a national distribution facility. The start-up phase of the operation spanned a period of eight weeks, from September 2002, and involved the relocation of all of AKI’s warehoused merchandise from its existing site in Cataluña to the new site in Toledo. By November 2002 the site was up and running providing a dedicated delivery service to all AKI’s DIY stores in Spain.
The new 16,000 sq m operation is located in Borox, Toledo, in the centre of Spain, and employs 55 people. The facility will store 15,000 stock keeping units (SKU) and around 8,000 pallets at any one time. The site and inventory management system, a bespoke version of GEODE, are owned by AKI. The centre will deliver to 18 retail outlets for AKI nationally and it is anticipated that over one million lines will be delivered into stores during 2003.
This project is part of a wider programme that AKI are undertaking to streamline their supply chain, making it more responsive to the needs of their customers. AKI chose Exel as its supply chain partner to design and implement this project, because of its strong track record and experience with other retailers. The flexibility of the solution will also enable AKI to expand its business in the future.
