BMW signs contract with FedEx to transport parts
BMW has signed a contract with FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) for a parts delivery to Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport once a day five days a week. On each of the five days, FedEx will deliver 427 cubic feet of overseas parts to GSP and then those parts will be trucked to BMW Manufacturing Corp., which is adjacent to the airport. During a year’s time, FedEx will deliver more than 500,000 cubic feet of parts. By flying from FedEx’s U.S. hubs directly into GSP, the parts will arrive about 12 hours earlier and will be available for the start of the factory’s early morning shift. “This is the fastest way to get parts from overseas to Spartanburg,” said Alfred Haas, manager for Material Planning at BMW Manufacturing. “It has helped us secure parts availability out of Europe.” The deliveries under the $1.1 million contract already have begun. BMW Manufacturing Corp. is a subsidiary of BMW AG in Munich, Germany. Its website address is www.bmwusfactory.com. In addition to the South Carolina manufacturing facility, BMW’s North American subsidiaries include sales, marketing and financial services operations in the United States, Canada and throughout Latin America; an information technology consulting and systems integration firm in South Carolina; a production facility in Mexico; and a design firm in California.