Kalmar Industries has opened a European spare parts distribution centre to provide better service for central and southern European customers.

The centre, which opened in August, means dealers can now access stock lists via the internet and have parts sent overnight by road to reach most of Europe within 24 hours.

The facility will be managed by CAT Logistics, a subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc in the USA. The Kalmar business joins the same warehouse as Hiab AB and another CAT Logistics client, Electrolux.

Kalmar materials management vice-president Hans Jansson said central and southern Europe was a key market for Kalmar, with more than 5000 machines operating in the area.

"We thought it necessary to create a new distribution centre in the locality, which could respond quickly to the spare parts requirements of customers based there," he said.