A ceremony was held on 18 August to mark the start of work on Cooper Tire’s newest regional distribution centre in the USA. The 1 million square foot (92,900m²) facility in Whiteland, Indiana is located near the tyre maker’s Franklin distribution centre and will replace the existing site once it commences operations early next year.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company will open a new 1 million square foot regional distribution centre in Whiteland, Indiana. The facility, minutes from the company’s current Franklin, Ind. warehouse, will replace the Franklin site with all employees expected to transition to the new location. The Whiteland facility is currently under construction and is expected to open in early 2021. Cooper adds that the new site will provide increased capacity for product storage and a modern design for enhanced efficiencies.
Lesjöfors Springs has acquired and relocated to a new, purpose-built UK distribution centre at Lindley Moor Road, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. The company said the move into a 65,000sqft facility has been prompted by continued growth in the automotive aftermarket. The new facility will offer the UK’s leading spring supplier almost 50 per cent more storage capacity than its previous premises, with improved transport links to the motorway network and easy access for heavy goods vehicles.
The opening of the sixth RH Claydon wholesale distribution centre in the UK was celebrated on 31 July. Customers invited to the centre in Launceston, Cornwall that day were treated to local faire, including Cornish pasties and cream teas, and were entertained by an impressive display of football skills from Paris-based Guinean footballer, Iya Traoré. His presence at the opening was arranged by BKT, whose tyres are distributed in the UK by the wholesaler.
As a further example of its ongoing expansion, Ecobat Battery Technologies (EBT), formerly Manbat, has moved into a new, purpose built 15,000sqft facility to allow it to satisfy the increasing demand for its range of premium quality batteries and charging solutions across its multiple business sectors, but particularly for the needs of its fast growing established automotive and commercial vehicle customer base.
Euro Car Parts (ECP) has opened a new 10,000sqft (929 sqm) branch in Warwick as it continues its UK expansion.
Marangoni Industries Manutention, one of the Marangoni Group’s French subsidiaries, has inaugurated a new logistics and distribution site in Louvres, near Paris, France. The opening is designed to strengthen Marangoni’s presence in an area where, through its subsidiary, it says it has a leading position in sales and service for material handling equipment tyres. The new Louvres site has 2,500sqm of storage space. Marangoni adds that the site shows its ability to evolve with a market in which recent changes have occurred rapidly.
Having previously been a relatively influential part of the UK truck and bus tyre business, Kumho has spent the last year or so rejuvenating its distribution, products and personnel in this area with a view to relaunching this part of its portfolio in line with the growth of the wider company. That’s why Tyres & Accessories visited the company’s large Lutterworth, Leicestershire distribution centre in February in order to learn more.
Brazilian tyre retreading specialist Vipal Rubber is further strengthening its presence in Europe with the opening of a new distribution centre in Felixstowe, the largest container port in the United Kingdom. The new 2,000 square metre Vipal centre has the capacity to store up to 500 tonnes of products, and was opened to cater to demand in Britain and Ireland; these markets were previously served by Vipal’s distribution centre in Germany.
Manufactured by Shandong Yongtai, the Durun brand announced the foundation of a UK distribution company at Brityrex. Qingdao Durun International Trade Co deputy general manager, Chuanbo ‘Woody’ Yan told Tyres & Accessories that the manufacturer considered using a British portal to sell and market the brand in the UK an “opportunity” to develop Durun via a different route to other Chinese tyre importers.
Yokohama Tire Corporation (YTC) has announced that it will move its Western Region distribution centre to Chino later this year. The 22 mile move is inspired by recent growth, causing the company to increase warehousing capacity from its existing 380,000sqft facility in Fullerton, California. The newly constructed Chino warehouse will measure 658,000sqft.
