PRESS RELEASE - Avian Media
Amtala, August 7, 2014 – The Munich-based chemical group WACKER announced the opening of a new logistics facility at its production site in Amtala near Kolkata today. The high-bay warehouse has a capacity of 5000 pallet spaces and will be operated by Wacker Metroark Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. (WMC), a joint venture between WACKER and Kolkata based Metroark Ltd. Pvt.. The new logistics center compliments WMC’s existing network of warehouses strategically located in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata.
At the opening ceremony, attended by WMC Executive Director Levi Cottington and WMC Managing Director Soumitra Mukherjee, Dr. Christian Hartel, President of WACKER’s silicones business division, said the new facility will help maximize flexibilty of logistics, increase delivery speed, and minimize lead times for customers. “This investemt will strengthen our growth opportunities in India. Therefore, the warehouse has more capacity than we will use currently”, Dr Hartel said. He emphasized that investing more than one million euros for the facility will have an immediate effect on WMC’s ability to increase the efficiency of its logistics operations. “This will enhance the accuracy and traceability of our deliveries for our customers, and will ultimately help to keep the costs in line.“
The high-bay warehouse has a capacity of about 5000 pallet spaces and utilizes ten layer racking. It uses Very Narrow Aisle (VNA) forklifts that are wire guided to retrieve goods. The SAP warehouse management module ensures improved insight into the inventory and storage locations. Scanners will keep track of various transactions in the warehouse. Thus, the inventory information is made available to the operators in real time via a computer interface attached to the VNA.
Wacker Metroark Chemicals Pvt. Ltd.
Wacker Metroark Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. (WMC) is headquartered in Kolkata and responsible for production, marketing and sales activities in the Indian subcontinent relating to WACKER silicone products. The joint venture – in which WACKER has a 51 percent stake – was set up in 1998 and is active in greater India's most important trade centers with sales offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai, as well as in Dhaka in Bangladesh. Key markets are the textile, personal care, construction, coatings, transmission and distribution, automotive, plastics, adhesives, and packaging sectors. The company also markets WACKER sealants, silanes and pyrogenic silica in India. WMC’s current workforce in India numbers over 180 employees.