British parcels operator ByBox has broadened its supply chain services for major IT supplierComputacenter.
The two companies recently agreed that ByBox will provide Computacenter, Europe’s leadingindependent provider of IT infrastructure services with £2.7 billion turnover, with a full supplychain solution, from its unique drop-box deliveries to specialised high-end engineering solutionsand around-the-clock Forward Stock Locations.
The deal is a substantial extension of an existing contract with the award-winning IT giantand is a major milestone in ByBox’ history as it includes the company’s full supply chain solution.The new 3-year agreement has substantially increased the overall contract value.
Under the terms of the new contract arrangement, ByBox is guaranteeing that the bespoke solutiondeveloped for Computacenter will provide significant year on year savings on the company’s previousdistribution / supply chain solution.
Computacenter uses the whole range of ByBox deliveries, from its core offering of pre-8am dropbox deliveries to pre-10am deliveries direct to site, same day deliveries and its specialist TechCourier service where an engineer will perform simple swap-outs and plug-ins.
ByBox collects parts directly from most of Computacenter’s suppliers and are now moving muchlarger, specialist deliveries that require two-man crews when handling goods out of Computacenter’smain base at Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Computacenter also uses ByBox’ network of 29 Forward StockLocations across the UK which offer 24/7 access for Computacenter engineers who may require partsurgently outside normal office hours.
Stuart Miller, Chief Executive and co-founder of ByBox, said: “I am delighted thatComputacenter, a company dedicated to innovation, has chosen ByBox to provide its total supplychain solution. We have worked closely with them to provide a bespoke solution using all of ByBox’sservices, from straightforward pre-8am deliveries to drop boxes to high-end, outsourcedengineering.”
With its network of 18,000 drop boxes at 1,350 locations across the UK, underpinned by itsunique Thinventory web-based software platform, ByBox claimed it has revolutionised supply chainsto field service engineers. By delivering parts overnight, pre-8am, to the nearest drop box to aparticular engineer, ready for collection before the start of a day’s work, ByBox has enabledcompanies to ensure the right part gets to the right engineer at the right time. As well asempowering companies to give a better service in turn to their own customers, the ByBox modelallows them to reduce the amount of stock held in warehousing and cut the working capital tied upin stock-holding.
Last year ByBox completed the “last piece of the jigsaw” for its vision of a complete end-to-endsolution for the field services market with the acquisition of the high-end engineering company PPRSolutions which now provides high-end, ad-hoc engineering solutions at variable cost for ByBoxcustomers and also Newcotech enabling the company to provide a technical courier offering.
“Integrating PPR into our overall Thinventory proposition gives customers a great range ofservice choice,” said Miller. “Computacenter can configure Thinventory to deliver whichevercombination of inventory, distribution and field engineering they need – giving them control andflexibility. “And of course Thinventory can provide them a “virtual warehouse” where they can seeall stock in the field and can track and trace an individual item in real time – so they can reducestock-holding and free up working capital.”
Simon Wheadon, Senior Operations Manager at Computacenter, said: “Computacenter’s ethos verymuch mirrors that of ByBox. They find out what their customers want and deliver a service thatmeets their needs. And although the contract is still in its infancy we are delighted with therelationship which has already grown to become a true partnership. Through ByBox’ innovativeapproach we are now able to offer solutions to our customers that the competition can’t furthercementing our own market leading position in the industry. ”
“ByBox has already made a difference to some of our bids through their ability to deliver aninnovative or value added solution. Furthermore the fact that they bring together a number ofdifferent services such as tech courier has enabled us to win new lines of business.”
