Providing robust support for procurement logistics in emerging countries -- Nippon Express to conduct India milk run operations for Renault-Nissan --

Providing robust support for procurement logistics in emerging countries

22 December 2009

-- Nippon Express to conduct India milk run operations for Renault-Nissan --

Nippon Express (India) Pte., Ltd. ("NEI"; P. Krishna Murthy, President), a local subsidiary of Nippon Express Co., Ltd. (Masanori Kawai, President), was recently contracted by Renault Nissan Automotive India Pvt. Ltd. ("Renault Nissan India") to provide milk-run operations supporting component procurement for the "global compact car" scheduled to go into production from May 2010 at the Renault Nissan India plant currently under construction in Oragadam on the outskirts of Chennai. These operations will entail collecting parts from about 50 parts suppliers across southern India (Chennai, Pondicherry, and Bangalore) on a regular daily schedule for just-in-time distribution to the plant.

Nippon Express is already engaged in milk-run operations for the procurement of automobiles and electric equipment in China. In starting similar operations in India, the Company will pursue horizontal development of its existing overseas milk-run operations by ensuring that the wealth of know-how accumulated in these operations is passed on, for example, by dispatching Indian staff to Nippon Express locations in China to receive instruction from Chinese staff with seasoned knowledge of these operations.

A well-rounded structure will be established to bolster the efficiency of Renault Nissan India's production activities, with NEI's truck fleet to be increased by 20 vehicles to improve the reliability of transport operations and an integrated system to be introduced for managing domestic transport operations and supplementing the inadequate local infrastructure environment.

In conjunction with these measures, Nippon Express is also developing a third-party logistics (3PL) system to meet such needs as securing new warehouse space near Renault Nissan India's plant and storing/distributing parts from parts suppliers inside and outside the country.

Nippon Express is committed to making continual improvements to its high-quality logistics services to satisfy the various needs of customers in emerging countries such as India, an increasingly important production site and consumer market.