Lindes new distribution centre in Brno, Czech Republic

Linde Material Handling has begun operations at its new distribution centre in Brno, Czech Republic.

The start of operations was initiated by Christophe Lautray, member of the board and chief sales officer (CSO), and Christoph Hotopp, head of sales & service operations, who symbolically packed and expertly sealed the first packages of spare parts in the company of regional managers from the destination countries - Poland, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

"We are further expanding our global service footprint in order to be even closer to our customers and ensure greater availability of their industrial trucks," said Lautray at the inauguration of the regional distribution centre.

As part of this strategy, Linde had already launched a customer service centre in Xiamen, China in early 2015.

Opening the regional distribution centre in Brno for the growth countries in Central and Eastern Europe was the next logical step to take.

"Speed of spare parts supply is a key consideration for our customers. With our new distribution centre, we have now laid the necessary foundations," added Hotopp.

Linde aims to achieve 95% availability for its almost 20,000 items stored in Brno. Goods that are not available there will be delivered within 24 hours from the company's central spare parts warehouse in Kahl am Main, Germany, and arrive at their final destination a further 24 hours later.

"Within the next two years, we will supply even more countries in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe via our regional distribution centre in Brno and further increase the availability of spare parts," Hotopp said with a view to the site's future development.