Nissan investment delivers new parts centre

Nissan’s Sunderland Plant has sold part of its site to fund investment in a new £4.5 million parts logistics centre.

The 20,000-square-metre building will process thousands of parts each year from around the world, making Nissan’s logistics operation more efficient and cost effective, while reducing CO2 emissions.

A 45-acre parcel of land in the southern area of the Nissan site has been sold to UK property developers Wilton and Clugston to fund the centre, whose primary role will be to receive, store and prepare in-bound car parts for delivery to the production line.

Construction work on the centre, which will be located on the south side of the existing trim and chassis shop, will begin later this month. The centre is scheduled to be fully operational by February 2008.

A third-party logistics provider will staff the facility by operating two shifts. Around 55 employees per shift will be needed to run the centre, creating approximately 15 new posts.

Trevor Mann, Senior Vice President – Manufacturing, Europe, said: “The new centre will handle inbound parts for the Sunderland Plant. Increasingly, these are coming from further afield, in bulk volume.

“By bulk sourcing parts we are making significant total cost savings, which helps our plant to improve its competitiveness. This in turn puts us in a stronger position when bidding for future models.”

In the future Nissan will make increasing use of the Port of Tyne facility, a deep water port located close to the plant, to receive parts in large volume from around the world. In conjunction with the parts centre, this will be more efficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly than operating numerous smaller road deliveries.

Once operational, the centre will reduce the number of truck deliveries to the Nissan Sunderland site by 11,000 per year, with a significant decrease both in CO2 emissions and congestion around the plant.