The Minister visited the £83 million Defence Fulfilment Centre (DFC) after touring the armoury and current logistic facilities on-site at MOD Donnington. The 80,000 square-metre centre, due to be fully operational in 2019, is the size of ten football pitches and will streamline distribution and storage.
It is set to deliver over £300 million worth of savings by 2028 by streamlining the way storage and distribution is delivered and restructuring the way contract negotiations are conducted for commodities.
With two warehouses and a support building, it will be a central hub for storage and distribution of defence’s £30 billion inventory, including spare parts, food, clothing, and medical supplies.
Defence Minister Stuart Andrew said:
We’ve invested over £80m in this enormous Shropshire centre as we are determined to ensure our personnel have everything they need, from batteries to boots, wherever they are in the world. This hub will have a transformative impact on our troops once it is fully up and running next year, putting a truly state-of-the-art supply network at the fingertips of our brave men and women on the frontline.
The DFC is part of the Logistics Commodities and Services Transformation programme. In April 2015 the MOD signed a 13-year contract, worth approximately £6.7 billion, with Team Leidos to run the storage, distribution and commodity procurement functions formerly performed by the Logistics Commodities and Services Operating Centre.
Alongside special environmental storage, the DFC’s automated storage and retrieval system will be capable of picking more than 1,000 items an hour.
Roger West, Director Logistics Delivery at DE&S, said:
It was a privilege to welcome the Minister to MOD Donnington and accompany him on a tour of the site and the Defence Fulfilment Centre.
The DFC will make a significant contribution to us providing better, more efficient, storage, distribution and commodity procurement services for our armed forces.
The delivery of this facility is testament to the excellent relationship between DE&S and our delivery partner Team Leidos.
DFC is managed by Kuehne + Nagel on behalf of Team Leidos, and will use new warehouse management systems to maximise value for money and manage the complex supply chains of the 21st Century seamlessly.
Matt Wiles, Vice President Leidos UK, said:
It was an honour to welcome the Minister on behalf of Team Leidos to the Defence Fulfilment Centre (DFC).
Following the DFC’s official opening in April 2017, we have successfully installed and integrated new information systems with the MOD’s and started an 18-month programme to re-locate much of the MOD’s stock holdings into the new facility.
When fully operational, the DFC operated by Kuehne & Nagel on behalf of Team Leidos, will help deliver a modern agile, responsive and modern supply chain to the MOD at significantly better value for money.
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