Unipart Logistics is a member of the Unipart Group, which employs over 8,000 personnel worldwide and has an annual turnover of more than £1 billion. It is a leading UK manufacturer, full service logistics provider and consultant in operational excellence. Operating across a range of market sectors, including automotive, leisure, manufacturing, mobile telecoms, rail, retail and technology, Unipart Logistics offers a breadth of services from third party logistics to expert consultancy.

BernardBernard Molloy, Global Industrial Logistics Director, at Unipart Logistics, speaks to Warehouse & Logistics News about the forthcoming IMHX exhibition.

Warehouse & Logistics News – As Global Industrial Logistics Director, what is your role in the company?

I look after the industrial world of Unipart, working with the major automotive companies as well as capital equipment manufacturers in aerospace, construction and materials handling equipment and the marine and agricultural industries. We’re very diverse, being the global logistics company and a manufacturing organisation; we also have a large consulting arm. Looking at the different divisions we have an automotive arm and manufacture fuel rail systems and fuel tanks, as well as exhaust systems for the likes of BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and VW.

Unipart Rail is split into logistics and manufacturing, fulfilling the need of the aftermarket as well as reengineering existing components, which can be up to 60 years old with no available drawings. Our consultancy business works in supply chain, banking, hospitals and the rail industry. The “Unipart Way” embodies the Principles of Lean to very high standards as if on steroids, working to deliver high levels of efficiency, driving costs down and achieving performance improvements through innovation.

WLN – Can you talk us through the different products and services Unipart Logistics provides?

We engineer complex supply chains to keep industry moving. For example, an automotive production line is often very complex, with very short Takt times. A car on the assembly line needs all the right components in place at exactly the right time, often with a margin of error of only seconds.

Our other area of expertise is the aftermarket. One major example is Jaguar Land Rover, for which we operate a number of DCs around the world, including 11 in China.

WLN –When was your business established? Who owns the company now? Which other countries do you operate in besides the UK?

We were spun out of the Rover Group 27 years ago in a management buyout led by John Neill, our Chairman and Group Chief Executive. The company is now owned by the MBO team and our employees – as David Cameron once said, we’re the industrial version of John Lewis. We work across the Americas, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and China.

WLN -What sets your company apart as a supplier in your sector?

We are employee owned and work well as a team at every level. In career terms we operate ‘Gate To Great,’ process for all employees with no obstacles to progress and opportunities at every level. We encourage people to be creative and innovative in all areas.

This combination of training and nurturing of innovation leads to employees solving problems at their own levels, making for a more lean and efficient workplace.

WLN -Why should busy professionals from the warehouse and logistics industry take time out to visit your stand at IMHX?

Simply because they will see creativity and innovation in the supply chain which they won’t see equalled anywhere else.

WLN -What is your overall message to visitors to IMHX?

Come and talk to us and you’ll be surprised at our capability, which is very broad! It ranges from our joint venture with Rolls-Royce providing innovative engineering solutions to the Aerospace, automotive, motorsport and medical sectors to UTL, our sister company within Unipart, which is the largest repairer of mobile phones in Europe and also runs Sky’s supply chain and their reverse logistics, recycling and set top box repairs. This is just a small sample of what we have to offer.

AME

WLN –What will visitors be able to see on your stand at this year’s show? Which of your core products and solutions are you presenting? Are you launching anything new at IMHX?

One of our clients is McLaren and we will have a big surprise from them on our stand. Our product range offering is very diverse: come and talk to us and you’ll see a lot of things you wouldn’t expect. We are launching Unipart Business Systems.

We are one of the strongest SAP houses in the world, in terms of endto- end supply chain visibility and control.

WLN – Bernard, you’ve been in the industry for 47 years and I get the feeling you still feel passionate about it?

Yes I am and I still get very excited about bringing on young people in the business. To demonstrate this, our stand at IMHX will highlight all the different facets of the Unipart Group and what we are like to work for and do business with.

WLN – The last IMHX was in 2013. How have your customers’ needs changed since then? What are the biggest pressures your clients face these days?

Fashion, visibility and the need to change and respond quickly are even more critical now. The Far East is further away than it was: due to the cost of oil, container ships take 34 days to get here from China, rather than 28 to save fuel. Another factor is that China has become a consumer market and less competitive as a manufacturing base.

There’s a lot of re-shoring and the pressure is on for speed, visibility and response in an instant. We are living in the era of the Internet of Things and Industry 4.0 and Unipart are world leaders in the digital world.

WLN – Can you tell us about your major customer contract wins in the last three years? Do these represent new development areas for your company?

I can’t say any more at the moment, but at IMHX we will announce a major new joint venture with a Swedish and Chinese organization, which takes us into an exciting new sector. Kubota was a big win for us this year, taking over the aftermarket supply chain delivering to all their dealers in the UK.

Unipart

WLN – How do your products and solutions address today’s increased emphasis on safety and environmental impact in warehousing and logistics? Will you be highlighting this aspect of your offering at the show?

We’ve won more Swords of Honour for safety than any other organisation in the UK. Safety is part of the Unipart Way and a fundamental part of our philosophy. We’re also a major award winner for Business in the Community. We’ll be highlighting our award at the show.

WLN – Thanks to technology, suppliers to this industry are getting much faster with their responses to customer enquiries. How soon after IMHX can visitors to your stand expect to receive a ‘live’ quote for using your solutions in their businesses?

All enquiries at IMHX will be followed within days with site visits, surveys, written reports and recommendations.

WLN – And finally, it’s three years to the next IMHX. Where do you see your market sector and your company going in that time?

I expect to see us continuing to build on our position and become even stronger in the aerospace, marine and materials handling industries.

www.unipartlogistics.com

ulcontactus@unipart.com

07774 677717

UNIPART LOGISTICS

UnipartGroup

@UnipartLogistic

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