Yamaha doubles the size of its parts depot

Goal is to improve efficiency

Yamaha Watercraft has announced a 200,000 square-foot expansion of its parts depot in Kennesaw, Ga. as part of a plan to increase both the capacity and efficiency of its operations there.

According to Yamaha, this will help streamline the order processing of WaveRunner and Boat parts, accessories and apparel so dealers can receive them faster.

“We are making important investments in our business and our facilities that will improve how we work with our dealers, and enhance the experience our customers have with the Yamaha brand,” says Bryan Seti, Yamaha’s national marketing manager. “As the number of people who own Yamaha WaveRunners and Boats continues to grow each year, this expansion will help us support the needs of a larger pool of Yamaha owners.”

Yamaha’s Kennesaw facility occupies some 33 acres and currently includes 80,000 square feet of office space and 192,000 square feet of warehouse space. The expansion, to be completed in March 2009, will increase warehouse space to approximately 400,000 square feet of floor space within the warehouse as well as expanded mezzanine with additional storage capacity of 22,000 square feet. In addition, the company expects efficiency gains of 20 to 25 percent from the installation of new order tracking and conveyance systems for parts and accessories.

“Our goal through this expansion project is to further enhance our current service standards and provide our dealers with the highest level of exceptional service that they have become accustomed to from Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. This means ensuring that each order placed is received at each dealer’s location as quickly and efficiently as possible every single time,” says Frank Pittman, Yamaha’s division manager, customer support group. “By doubling the size of our current facility and adding state of the art technologies and processes to our operations, we are making important steps toward this goal that will be instantly realized across our national dealer base.”

With the expansion, Yamaha will also install a new lighting system designed to be 50 percent more efficient than the current system. As a result, power use for the expanded facility is not expected to increase over that of the current facility.