DHL has opened a European distribution centre in Moerdijk, southern Netherlands, for solarpanels manufactured in China.
China is an important manufacturer of solar panels and Europe is its most important market. “ForDHL Supply Chain and DHL Global Forwarding, this was the perfect opportunity to develop a seamlessend-to-end logistics service package for this sector,” the company explained.
In addition to the overall logistics management, DHL’s services at the facility include air andocean transport, warehousing, distribution and fiscal services.
The DHL teams in The Netherlands work closely together with their Chinese colleagues. Piak-hweeTan, Vice President Marketing & Sales DHL Global Forwarding China, commented: “It is veryimportant for Chinese companies to have a comprehensive solution for all elements of their supplychain and to have a partner that can respond quickly to changing market conditions.”
Dennis van Damme, Business Development Manager at DHL Supply Chain in The Netherlands, added:“DHL’s competitive advantage is that we can combine our local and international know-how andexpertise. In both China and The Netherlands we work with local staff, the intercontinentalmaterial flows are managed by our international experts.”
At its Moerdijk facility in the Netherlands, DHL already serves a number of companies from otherenergy sectors. For customers using solar panels, DHL has a dedicated warehouse area of around4,000 sqm. The company announced that the first customer has already signed up and there arediscussions going on with a number of other solar panel manufacturers.
In addition to the actual distribution of the panels, the services of DHL’s customs subsidiaryGerlach are also crucial for the Chinese market. Gerlach manages customs clearance and fiscalrepresentation. This is important for companies that do not have own (fiscal) offices inEurope.
