Volkswagen Group India has opened its new Logistics Service Facility on July 9 at Skoda Auto India’s Aurangabad plant. It will service the Audi, Skoda and VW brands and has been conceptualised and set up in just four months at an investment of Rs 13.6 crore.

The new facility is spread over 7,600 square metres and will provide spare parts logistic services for around 120 dealers of Audi, Skoda and VW by the end of the year. These spare parts come mainly from imported sources. However, a fraction of the total stock is sourced from local suppliers with an expectation to increase the volume of locally manufactured parts. The facility currently stores about 13,000 items with a plan to increase this number to 18,000 by the year end.

According to Jean-Marie Lagey, managing director – technical affairs, Skoda Auto India, “The Volkswagen Group Logistic Service which will be provided by Skoda Auto is one more accolade to our success story here in India. We started in 2001 and are currently manufacturing total eight different models of the Group brands – Audi, Skoda and Volkswagen. The new setup will provide a smooth, easy and fast service for the entire Volkswagen Group in India. It confirms once again that Aurangabad is a major part of the automobile hub in Maharashtra."

The inbound delivery to the facility from imported and local sources happens via two delivery modes — shipment of the normal stock order and DHL courier for urgent orders.

The forward delivery to the dealers is classified into three types of orders from the dealers: Stock orders: This type of order is for the parts that a dealership workshop requires on a regular basis and hence maintains a healthy stock of it at all times. This type of order is trucked within 48 hours of receiving the order and the delivery time is directly proportionate to the distance of the dealership from the Aurangabad facility.

Orders for intelligent parts: These parts are the ones that are dependent upon use of certain software for operation. Since these parts are specific to each particular car model and not usually stocked upon by the dealers, they are treated as special orders and are especially couriered to the dealer within a week of the order being placed.

Urgent orders: As the type suggests, these orders are placed by the dealers on an urgent requirement basis and hence the delivery of the same takes place within a maximum of 72 hours, based on the location of the dealer.

All the current dealers have been updated with regard to this new change. The dealers were inducted during a two-day workshop that took place in May 2009 with a view to educate and provide training to them on the entire procedure.