- DHL signs three-year contract with European aircraft manufacturer
- Logistics solution ensures critical spare parts deliveries on global scale
Bonn, 06/24/2013, 11:00 AM CEST – DHL has renewed its contract with turboprop aircraft manufacturer ATR for the global warehousing and inventory management of their aircraft spare parts. The three-year agreement covers a logistics solution called “Fast Track”, which comprises worldwide distribution of critical spare parts, including Aircraft on Ground (AOG) support from five logistics hubs on four continents. Additionally, DHL will handle customs clearance for the parts and equipment. ATR’s ambition to service its customers for critical and AOG shipments even faster has led to the agreement to increase the service levels delivered by DHL.
“Since 2005 the number of ATR operators has increased by more than 50 percent and we are now present in over 90 countries. We need to support this growth with a customer service that is perfectly adapted to the particular requirements of airlines”, comments Lilian Braylé, ATR Senior Vice-President Product Support and Services. “The signing of the ‘Fast Track’ contract with DHL is in line with this logic of service excellence.”
Growing importance of a global presence
The global presence of DHL helps ATR to further reduce spare parts delivery times. DHL will use five logistics platforms to ensure rapid distribution of spare parts, including a central warehouse in Paris, regional hubs for the U.S. and Asia-Pacific, in Miami and Singapore respectively, and additionally facilities in Kuala Lumpur and Auckland for local customers. As well as warehousing and inventory management, DHL will also execute mission critical deliveries, so-called AOG orders, for which immediate action is needed.
“The further extension of our contract with ATR shows the growing importance of a global presence for our customers and is further proof of our logistics reliability. ‘Fast Track’ supports ATR’s development in emerging markets by offering a high-quality customer service, which also means that our hubs will handle the approximately 200,000 order lines per annum in the most efficient manner”, said Reg Kenney, Sector President Engineering & Manufacturing, DHL.
ATR has been a DHL customer since 2005 and renewed its contract for the second time, with the signing of the recent agreement taking place at the 50th Paris Air Show. The company has become the world leader for regional aircraft with 90 seats or less and is represented in the fleets of 180 operators worldwide. ATR is an equal partnership between two major European aeronautics players, Alenia Aermacchi (a Finmeccanica Group company) and EADS.
