DHL Manages BMW Distribution Center in Korea

Seoul Korea October 6, 2003; The Korea Times reported that DHL Danzas Air & Ocean, a global freight provider and the logistics arm of DHL Group, has become the vehicle distribution center (VDC) for BMW Korea for the next five years.

DHL will provide the most successful foreign car brand in South Korea with three primary service-intergraded warehousing and distribution offerings, including VDC storage and customs clearance, the company said.

``Our information and technology-supported warehousing and management systems provide just-in-time delivery for BMW, which will greatly enhance its competitiveness," said Reto Pergher, managing director of DHL Danzas Air & Ocean Korea.

Under the agreement with BMW, DHL Danzas Air & Ocean has designed and constructed a purpose-built VDC in Inchon with a storage area of more than 35,000 square meters, as well as a 2,000-square-meter pre-delivery inspection center and two tent houses for vehicle storage covering an area of 4,000 square meters.

The facilities, which started operating in April, are highly secured and protected by around-the-clock security surveillance, the company said.

The new facilities have enabled BMW to co-locate their VDCs with the pre-delivery unit, which previously existed at different locations around Korea. It will significantly reduce the time taken for vehicles to pass customs inspection and be distributed to dealers and then on to customers, Pergher said.

The VDC in Inchon will provide BMW with enough space to store up to 1,600 vehicles at any given time, and the center is expected to have an annual throughput of about 10,000 vehicles in South Korea, which enables BMW to significantly expand its business here.

``We believe that the professional services and facilities provided by DHL will increase efficiencies and processing speed, which will ultimately result in greater customers satisfaction," BMW Korea president Kim Hyo-joon said.