ROHLIG SUUS Logistics has won a contract to manage Whirlpool’s central warehouse in Poland. The 3-year contract covers managing a 23 thousand sq. meters warehouse facility in Piotrków Trybunalski. It took only 3 months from contract signing to integrate the relevant IT systems and relocate operations from three different locations across Poland. Aside from the distribution of finished goods, logistics management is yet another service that ROHLIG SUUS Logistics provides to Whirlpool.

On the heels of a decision to centralize Whirlpool’s storage space in Poland, a tender had been called to rent and manage a facility capable of storing over 80 thousand appliances utilizing up to 40 thousand cubic meters or 23 thousand sq. meters, all under one roof. One of the tender’s terms of reference had been that the warehouse facility be located in central Poland.

– When looking to optimize logistics processes, we searched for a partner to give us flexible storage solutions and relocate our operations to a new facility without diminishing the throughput of the logistics network. The target central Poland location will make distribution more effective and will prove the most cost-effective, says Kamil Bębenek, Order To Delivery Manager PolBalCE at Whirlpool.

ROHLIG SUUS Logistics have recommended operations be moved to Piotrków Trybunalski.

– Whilst the tender had been announced in January, start-up of operations was scheduled for July. We opted for an existing facility with the right surface area, located in the city of Piotrków Trybunalski. The city is conveniently situated to accommodate deliveries from Whirlpool’s plants in Radomsko, Wrocław and of course, the nearby Łódź. One important advantage of this location is access to manpower, since Piotrków Trybunalski is a sufficiently large urban center to be able to support our warehouse workforce – explains Artur Malarski, Contract Logistics Director at ROHLIG SUUS Logistics.

Whirlpool is one of the largest contract logistics projects in ROHLIG SUUS Logistics’ history. The company assigned one of its project teams, made up of experts in several different fields, to work on this project. Each team member is responsible for one selected project area – facility selection, facility adaptation to project requirements, hardware purchase, IT integration, recruitment.

– Our experience in designing the methodology around project team work comes from having had worked on and completed other complex projects in the past. Our company’s Project Management Department ensures process alignment and effective communications around handling complex processes and implementation projects. It limits the risk of errors at various stages of project implementation and helps to quickly deliver on objectives. It has made it possible to roll out our operations for Whirlpool only 8 weeks after the contract had been signed – adds Artur Malarski.

The Piotrków Trybunalski warehouse became operational in August, which was around 3 months after the contract had been signed.

– We believe that by building a long-term relationship with ROHLIG SUUS Logistics by contracting key storage and distribution services, we are able to give our customers top quality whilst increasing the efficiency of logistics operations thanks to internal synergies – says Kamil Bębenek.

ROHLIG SUUS Logistics have begun working with Whirlpool 5 years ago. Initially, the collaboration involved distributing finished goods from the Wrocław-based distribution center across the whole of Poland. These had been dedicated FTL and groupage network trucking operations. After Whirlpool’s acquisition of Indesit, the company had been entrusted with distributing finished appliances from the Łódź and Radomsko plants. The central warehouse management contract is a result of having had won an open tender.