DFDS x3
DFDS is investing heavily in contract logistics in Sweden and over the past year they have constructed 95,000 m² of warehouse space that has provided 85,000 pallet spaces.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the facility here in Stigamo took place in January 2022 and all the facilities were completed after just one year, so there have been many square metres in a short time,” says Stefan Carlsson, project manager at DFDS.
– The DFDS investment has resulted in three new facilities strategically located in southern Sweden. The Borås facility has been built in two stages and is almost identical to the facility here in Stigamo. The current smallest facility with 22,000 pallet spaces is located in Karlshamn. Here in Stigamo we have installed 13,000 traditional pallet spaces and about 10,000 pallets for Radioshuttle™, which is an interesting pilot project, says Stefan. EAB has built all warehouse facilities and optimised the warehouse layout together with DFDS.
DFDS has a clear growth plan with the ambition to establish 450,000 m² of warehouse space over a five-year period.
DFDS is traditionally a company involved in ferry operations. For 10 years they have also invested in the logistics business and today we can see such strong growth that it has surpassed the traditional ferry business in the group.
Over the past two years, there has also been a focus on contract logistics, which is a natural part of the logistics business. The initiative is not only being carried out in Sweden but also in several countries such as the other Nordic countries, England, Ireland, Benelux, Germany, Poland and Turkey.
Prior to the first installation in Borås, an evaluation of several suppliers was carried out and it was just as important to find a reliable partner who understands that schedules must be kept and what is ordered must be delivered. The positive experiences we have with EAB in previous projects was valuable in the choice of supplier.
– In addition to EAB being a reliable partner in terms of delivery times and quality, flexibility is an important part of the cooperation. There are always challenges along the way, so it’s important to have a partner who sees opportunities and is always there when needed. As a contract logistician our ambition is to attract as large and broad a customer base as possible, so initially we just looked at a solution based on traditional pallet racking. We focus a lot on industrial customers and this type of solution is very suitable for them.
Stefan Carlsson, projektchef DFDS.
– When we started in Stigamo, the initial idea was that we would do a solution involving traditional pallet racking, but based on a customer assignment we already had in the group, we wanted to see if we could increase the storage capacity by using Radioshuttle™.
– We made a business case where we compared a solution with Radioshuttle™ vs. traditional pallet racking and found that we could fit in as many pallet spaces in 50% of the storage area with Radioshuttle™, says Stefan.
– We are constantly working to reduce our carbon footprint and make our logistics more efficient, so the Radioshuttle™ solution is of course very interesting for us here in Sweden, but also for countries like England and Holland where the cost per square metre is very high.
– We continue to see market growth for our part, which is partly due to the fact that we are growing as a company with new customers, but also an expanded business with our existing customers. Contract logistics is like an addition to what we already do, so there is great potential for us there. At the same time, we are seeing a big change in supply chains across the board, especially in terms of industry building up warehouses to secure their operations. We see a bright future with a continued increase in the market for contract logistics, at the same time as we continue growing with our existing customers,” concludes Stefan