Paccar Group, a global leader in the design, quality, manufacture and customer support of high-quality premium trucks, required an expansion of their parts distribution capability with the construction of a logistics warehouse or parts distribution centre (PDC), at their existing Brazilian assembly plant in the state of Parana. The company has 18 distribution centres globally and Ponta Grossa’s facility is the second in South America.
KEY INFORMATION
Location: Brazil
Date started: 2018
Completion date: 2020
Client type: real estate
Main capabilities: cost and commercial management, procurement and supply chain, project management
Growth in South and Central America
The parts distribution centre brings in 15,000sqm area, a mezzanine with 1,500sqm, 800sqm office area and the Paccar Experience Centre, that highlights for visitors the company’s global vision, technology, dealership network and the facility’s amenities. The Brazilian operation is a milestone of Paccar’s expansion outside of Europe, boosting strong growth for South and Central American dealers.
The new structure allows:
- Sales growth, along with an increased product offering and dealer development
- Storage capacity and picking efficiency improvement
- Increase of 600 percent in logistic capability
- Capacity to handle 800 local and global suppliers
- Capable of handling over a million order lines per year
Project and cost management.
We provided project management and cost management services from start-up to completion, including a procurement strategy of basic design and build contractor, design management, site supervision, handover and close-out. Key highlights of our work included:
- Development of a procurement strategy to meet the client’s tight operational requirements, resulting in the development and approval of a basic design and associated specifications, before launching a request for proposal for a design and build contractor
- This procurement strategy contemplated key dates to mitigate construction during the notorious rainy season of the region. The Design and Build contractors were instructed to develop a construction sequence to facilitate ‘topping out’ of the building as early as possible to mitigate exposure to the elements
- Modification of the contract type from guaranteed maximum price to partial lump sum to accommodate the volume of direct invoices needing to be processed by the client
- Cost management team was able to finish and deliver project under the expected budget (around seven percent on the overall project)
- Our cost control avoided an extra BRL 5.6MM due to commercial negotiation and scope validation
- All necessary licences were granted ensuring client was able to start operation right after substantial completion.
Environmentally and socially sustainable
Paccar’s project is an important milestone for the Brazilian market, as local logistics are based on transportation by trucks. A wide and continuous availability of parts locally facilitates its strength in the market by providing high quality supplies.
One of Paccar’s goals is to be environmentally and socially sustainable and this was reflected in their requirements for the new building. For example, the parts distribution centre was designed to include circa 300 LED lamps and 80 skylights to decrease energy consumption by 40 percent and ergonomic crafting tables were installed for their employees.
The project required maintenance of work productivity at a good level while respecting COVID-19 protocols and ensuring a safe environment for all workers. The parts distribution centre was safely and successfully completed on schedule and budget.
