Navistar on Monday, July 9, announced the opening of its new state-of-the-art Midwest Parts Distribution Center in Joliet, Ill. The Midwest PDC stocks more than 85,000 parts for International and IC Bus vehicles, MaxxForce diesel engines and all makes of trucks. At 860,000 square feet, it is the largest of Navistar’s 13 PDCs.
The Midwest PDC, which replaces the former West Chicago PDC and two other storage sites, is structured as two distinct sections: a regional PDC that primarily supports Navistar’s dealers in the Midwest United States, and a national PDC that ships lower-volume parts to dealers and customers worldwide.
“Our customers rely on fast and accurate parts delivery to manage their operations, and the Midwest PDC uses the latest thinking in lean design to strengthen our customer support,” said Phyllis Cochran, president of Navistar Parts.
The PDC design emphasizes lean principles, which focus on simplifying everyday practices throughout the workplace to maximize value while minimizing waste in the form of money, resources and time. Parts are stored based on how quickly they move in and out; parts that are ordered the most are closest to the packaging and shipping areas, while less popular parts are further away.
“The new PDC represents the ‘next generation’ of PDCs,” said Joe Kory, vice president of global distribution operations for Navistar Parts. “It’s custom-designed from the ground up to support best practices in distribution.”
The Midwest PDC will serve as a model for the evolution of other Navistar PDCs in the future and is designed with flexibility in mind to enable future growth and innovation. “The Midwest PDC represents a lot of new thinking, and it’s a game-changer for the evolution of our parts distribution going forward,” Kory said.
Navistar celebrated the new center at a grand opening event on June 11. More than 250 community leaders, Navistar employees and International and IC Bus dealers attended.
