Porsche and Raben BEXity: Procurement logistics for top demands

For about 40 years now, Porsche Austria and Raben BEXity and its predecessors have closely cooperated in the area of parts logistics. In this regard, top quality and flexibility count among the factors that determine success. Improved sustainability and reduced CO2 footprint are ensured by conducting a significant portion of the transport by rail.

The Porsche Parts Distribution Centre in Wals-Siezenheim, Austria, provides parts for service areas in Austria and eight other countries, for the brands VW, Audi, Seat, Škoda and Porsche. The central warehouse, totalling an area of 77,000 m², includes about 110,000 different spare parts and employs 350 people. Together with Porsche Parts Center Budapest, the company provides deliveries to workshops and business partners in 18 countries.

„Wals-Siezenheim ships approx. six million parts units annually, corresponding to approx. 24,000 daily. Quick just-in-time supply to workshops forms the basis for executing repairs for our customers as quickly as possible“, reports Erich Costisella, section leader despatch and customs at the Porsche Parts Distribution Centre.

97 percent service performance

The logistics process at Porsche is set to operate at top service quality. Parts that are out of stock in contractual workshops may be ordered via the Porsche ETN Parts System, no later than 17.00 daily, from the central warehouse at Wals-Siezenheim. “Out of every 100 ordered parts, we have about 97 in stock. In most cases the remainder can be acquired overnight. We are thus able to achieve a high service performance of 97 percent“, says Costisella. Following commissioning and packing, Raben BEXity employees at Wals-Siezenheim take over the goods and load it together with Porsche employees onto rail cars on the plant’s siding or onto trucks. The specialist logistics service then conducts the transport overnight, delivering the goods to sales warehouses or workshops.

”All deliveries are completed by 7.00 in the morning. Not many businesses in Austria can do that“, believes Costisella.

Particularly important orders are handled through same-day deliveries, meaning that goods ordered by 10.00 in the morning are delivered on the same day. The third variant offered by Raben BEXity are top-up deliveries for workshop stock, every 14 days for larger business partners, and for smaller ones – every month.

Delivered within fourteen hours

As a long-term partner of Porsche, Raben BEXity is not only responsible for hassle-free and timely logistics within Austria. The general cargo specialist takes care of this task with the utmost care for sustainability, as close to 40 percent of parts deliveries are done by rail – the rest by truck. The advantage of rail transport is clear: The railcars may be loaded throughout the day and the main transport is executed at night, arriving no later than by 5.00 in the morning at Raben BEXity locations at Wien-Inzersdorf, St. Michael, Graz-Wundschuh and Wolfurt, all in Austria. Last-mile deliveries to Porsche branches are done by trucks. On average, the warehouse at Wals-Siezenheim makes 7,000 to 7,500 shipments monthly to locations within Austria.

“Thanks to the integrated logistics chain, we are able to deliver the ordered parts in just 14 hours to our sales branches and workshops“, concludes Costisella.

Well thought-out logistics

The internal parts logistics system of Porsche, ETN, constitutes the core of the spare parts supply chain and runs at the distribution centres of Wals-Siezenheim and Budapest. The system supports the entire process, from the Parts Distribution Centre to the dealerships or importers in partner countries. Thanks to diverse interfaces, ETN is on the one hand connected to plant suppliers, and on the other hand, to importers in individual countries and car retailers. The AutoPart system ensures automatic parts resupply. Thanks to sales numbers reported by vehicle dealers, the software calculates the required spare parts stock.

“Together with the country-wide logistics network of Raben BEXity, we are able to ensure quick workshop resupply. This not only benefits individual logistics centres in the Austrian federal states, but allows coverage thanks to significant flexibility, for instance, for increased demand at the start of the week. In this regard, overnight deliveries are a great benefit“, stresses Costisella.

Reliable partnership

Excellent, proven cooperation is based on trust and quality. What started already in 1984 with general cargo transport by ÖBB, is currently a close and successful partnership. “Raben BEXity knows our business, our customers and the sensitive goods as the back of their own hand. The reliability and flexibility of logistics solutions ensure that we are always in the right“, believes Costisella. The general rule is that the significant requirements of Porsche must be fulfilled daily. The stakes in terms of quality objectives are high: Precise tracking allows quick and targeted interventions if needed. Delivery quality reaches 99.7%. Raben BEXity was able to prove their quality awareness even during the pandemic.

“The restrictions constituted a special challenge. Even though workshop demand was reduced, parts supply had to be maintained in particular for blue light organisations and large business partners. Raben BEXity provided excellent support thanks to their flexibility“, the section leader reports.

Focus on sustainability

Environmentally-friendly, sustainable solutions are the main objective of Porsche corporation. This applies not only to the development of electric vehicles, but also to logistics in general. “Raben BEXity supports our strategy, for instance by avoiding empty runs and taking over the return of packaging, returns and empties in course of deliveries“, says Costisella.

Recycling is also important: About 75% of the spare parts are delivered in reusable boxes and packaging made of recycled materials. Annually, about 800 tons of replaced parts are delivered by Porsche for recycling. Old parts are delivered by rail to suppliers, processed there and returned to the system as original spare parts. Furthermore, approx. 1,200 tons of old batteries, windshield glass, bumpers and brake fluid are also recycled every year. In order to be able to cover energy demands partially independently, Porsche operates a solar farm on the roof, providing 600,000 kWh per year.

“In terms of logistics, our main goal is to improve the share of rail transports further“, says Costisella, looking to the future.