Bridgestone opens Canada distribution centre

With a new warehouse in Ancaster, Ontario, Bridgestone anticipates serving tyre dealers and customers in Canada with greater agility. The CA$65 million (£37.7 million) facility can hold up to 570,000 tyres and enables Bridgestone Canada to reduce transportation costs and shorten time-to-market for products in the country’s eastern region.

“We are excited about opening our new Ancaster distribution centre and look forward to providing even better service to our customers as our Canadian business continues to grow. We want to thank Ancaster city officials, as well as our Bridgestone employees, who worked diligently through the COVID-19 pandemic to complete this important initiative,” said Brad Blizzard, vice president, Logistics Operations and Product Delivery, Bridgestone Americas.

This investment builds upon Bridgestone’s 2018 announcement that it would build an automated warehouse at its Canadian passenger and light truck tyre manufacturing facility in Joliette, Québec. Bridgestone expects that the Joliette investment, estimated at CA$56 million, will enhance the plant’s operational excellence and increase the company’s agility to serve tyre dealers and customers throughout North America.

“This strategic investment in our supply chain will further strengthen our distribution footprint in Canada allowing us to better deliver the high-value-added products our customers want and need,” said Riccardo Cichi, president and chief sales officer North America, Bridgestone Americas. “With its location and increased capability to house tyres onsite, the new distribution centre will improve our ability to better serve our customers with the right tyres in the right place at the right time.”