DHL Supply Chain and Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS), a provider of water management solutions products used in the storm water and on-site septic wastewater industries, have announced the expansion of their existing strategic partnership. DHL will provide ADS with its transport and logistics services to execute warehousing, fleet, and e-commerce solutions enhancing ADS’s production capabilities while enabling ADS to continue to offer its service levels to its customers. ADS, based in Ohio, US, is expanding its distribution footprint amidst a pandemic-sparked surge in growth.
In 2019, DHL and ADS opened their first retail fulfilment centre in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to service customers in the northeast. The Wilkes-Barre facility services over 600 DIY retail stores with a 16 truck dedicated fleet. After a successful launch of the 100,000 sq ft facility in Wilkes-Barre, DHL and ADS have chosen to expand the program.
According to DHL, the two companies will invest in DHL-operated facilities in Greer, SC, and Middletown, OH, to support ADS’s retail business, freeing up capacity for ADS. DHL will manage the new 131,000 sq ft facility in Greer and provide a 28 truck dedicated fleet to enable customised delivery to more than 700 DIY retail locations across the southeast. DHL stated that through advanced tools and digitalisation efforts, the two companies aim to be able to reduce the carbon footprint of ADS deliveries by optimising trailer space and implementing dynamic routing and round trip matching to reduce transportation miles.
The 356,000 sq ft warehouse operation in Middletown intends to consolidate ADS’s growing e-commerce fulfilment operations and provide additional capacity for finished goods distribution throughout their network of 63 manufacturing plants and 33 distribution centres, enabling ADS to increase fill rates and reduce order cycle times.
“Our industry experts in our construction and building supply vertical help our customers transform their supply chains into a core competitive advantage,” said Mark Kunar, Executive Vice President, DHL Supply Chain. “By providing daily operational excellence and instilling a culture of continuous improvement into our operations we are able to deliver effective end-to-end logistics solutions, enabling ADS to focus its time, skills, and knowledge on solving its customers’ water challenges with highly engineered solutions.”
“ADS is committed to meeting the growing demand for our products and solutions and expanding our reach through a high quality, flexible, and speed of service logistics platform to execute our mission of better serving our customers,” said Scott Barbour, President and Chief Executive Officer, Advance Drainage Systems. “Working with DHL Supply Chain, we have an exciting opportunity to further strengthen our services and support our company’s goal of generating above-market growth through the execution of our material conversion and water management solutions strategies.”
