Yamato to open four large distribution centres

Yamato Holdings plans to set up four large-scale distribution centres in the Tokyo metropolitan area to meet growing demand from online and catalogue sales companies, according to Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

The door-to-door parcel delivery firm plans to start building two distribution centres -- one adjacent to Tokyo's Haneda airport, and the other in Aikawa, Kanagawa Prefecture -- in the current fiscal year through March 2011.

Including the two to come later, the new centres are expected to be operational by the end of fiscal 2012.

Most of Yamato's distribution centers have floor spaces of between several thousand to upward of 20,000 sq m. But the new sites will be much larger, each more than 33,000 sq m, because they will be equipped with warehouses for storing products for catalogue and online sales firms.

Yamato currently operates just three distribution centers with warehouse functions, one each in Yokohama, Osaka and Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture.

The facility slated for Haneda airport will become Yamato's biggest site, occupying a total floor space of roughly 200,000 sq m. It plans to use the facility as its hub for distributing both domestic and international parcels.

Having begun door-do-door parcel deliveries in China and Singapore in January, Yamato aims to expand service areas further in Asia.

The company saw its parcel handling rise 2.4 percent on the year to 1.26 billion units in fiscal 2009. In March, it recorded an 11 percent jump as demand continued to recover from the global financial crisis.

Source: http://www.joc.com