Hyundai bounces back from warehouse collapse

HYUNDAI shifted record number of replacement parts in June, just eight weeks after a disastrous parts warehouse wipe-out in a Sydney storm.

The freak weather event in April in Sydney's west destroyed the Korean manufacturer's central parts distribution hub, but the company's disaster action response has already returned operations to normal.

Two new temporary warehouses, also in Sydney’s west and also operated by Hyundai’s parts division Mobis, achieved 91 per cent fill-rate by the end of June, at the same time breaking Hyundai’s monthly parts sales record.

Fortunately, the warehouse collapsed on ANZAC Day – Saturday April 25 – when the warehouse was closed, so no staff were injured. The Mobis team was relocated to the Hyundai Australia main office the following Monday.

The team swung into its disaster action plan with the co-operation of the South Korean head office, placing the first large bulk-order of replacement stock within 24 hours.

Just a day later, the offline IT system was reinstated, allowing parts distribution to continue using the significant residual stockpile spread around the Hyundai dealership network.

A replacement for the 30,000 square-metre facility was sourced and on May 8 the first of two temporary warehouses was acquired, followed by a second site on June 1, to equal the original footprint.

The first of 380 containers of relief stock arrived just three days after the acquisition of the first warehouse, with consignments starting on May 13.

Despite initially having no racking in the warehouse, the Hyundai team achieved 85 per cent of its May target.

In total, more than 1000 pallets of air freight and 1000 pallets of local freight was processed through the new locations in just five weeks.

Hyundai Motor Company Australia public relations general manager Bill Thomas told GoAuto the company was delighted with the team's performance and how effectively the contingency plan had proven.

“This was a disaster, plain and simple, and the recovery has been nothing short of miraculous,” he said.

“What it demonstrates in my opinion is that when highly professional and committed people are brought together to face a crisis, they are able to overcome even the most challenging of situations.

“The problem here was quite extraordinary but so was the result – it was amazing to see this team in action.”

Hyundai also praised the efforts of the Mobis management team, which orchestrated a significant part of the worst-case scenario plan and the reinstating of operations.