Carlisle & Company, the leading provider of consulting services in the motor-vehicle aftersales space, showed in its 2009 industry benchmarking (which involves most motor vehicle companies) that Nissan’s Italian warehouse in Capena (near Rome) was the most productive European warehouse in the course of the past year.
Capena’s warehouse performance has been excellent. Since 2003 productivity has more than doubled. In fact, from the 14th position in 2006, it rose to 3rd place in 2007, to 2nd place in 2008, then conquering the first place in the 2009 survey!
This amazing rise in productivity was achieved in two ways: teamwork and technology. Nissan Italy’s warehouse has always worked as a group, such as forming a football team for internal tournaments to spontaneously aiding colleagues in case of excessive workloads. These actions have led the group to work with the efficiency of a Formula 1 team.
On the technology side, Nissan Italia has developed a unique system based on wi-fi, where each warehouseman/picker is equipped with a wireless terminal/scanner. This permits the single person to handle more orders in a shorter time, receiving them in real time and without having to touch base every time there is a new order coming in. The system is flexible, allowing the picker to choose the best way to reach his objectives for the day.
Obviously, this recognition is a matter of great pride for Nissan Italy and it adds to other successes such as being recognized for two years in a row as the number one dealer network in Italy in terms of customer satisfaction.
