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COLORADO SPOTLIGHT
Driven to Colorado
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eneral Motors Corp.'s cost-slashing drive motored its way into Colorado on March 10, when GM selected Denver suburb Aurora as the location for a new Parts Distribution Center (PDC).
Don't let the cost-cutting program fool you. GM may be getting leaner and meaner throughout the world, but its new parts center in Aurora represents a sizable capital investment for the Metro Denver market.
The 404,000-sq.-ft. (37,532-sq.-m.) facility will handle automotive replacement part shipments to more than 225 GM dealerships in 12 states. ProLogis will develop the plant.
"This new PDC is an important part of SPO's (GM Service and Parts Operations) strategy to provide world-class service to GM dealers by realigning the distribution network," says Charlie Hyndman, director of warehousing and distribution for the U.S. operations of GM's SPO division. "These facilities feature lean and common processes that achieve significant improvements in competitiveness."
The logistics center is part of GM's global corporate strategy to do more with less. CEO Rick Wagoner spearheaded changes last year that enabled GM to finish the year with an operating profit of US$3.9 billion, or almost twice what it earned in 2001, on just 5-percent higher sales of $186 billion. Wagoner's cost-cutting moves allowed GM to double margins in North America last year to 2.6 percent of sales.
Costs played a major role in Aurora landing the GM center. The facility will be the first developed at ProLogis Park 70, a 182-acre (74-hectare) distribution park at the crossroads of Interstate 70 and E-470. The park's location provides interstate access for trucks to the Central U.S., including the Rocky Mountain and Plains states.
Ray Culbert, GM manager of forward planning, says that his company was impressed with both the City of Aurora and the development track record of ProLogis.
"In making our decision, we factored in a highly qualified labor market, quality-of-life issues, transportation factors and, in the end, ProLogis and the City of Aurora provided us with an image and an environment that exceeded our expectations," he says.
Don't let the cost-cutting program fool you. GM may be getting leaner and meaner throughout the world, but its new parts center in Aurora represents a sizable capital investment for the Metro Denver market.
The 404,000-sq.-ft. (37,532-sq.-m.) facility will handle automotive replacement part shipments to more than 225 GM dealerships in 12 states. ProLogis will develop the plant.
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"This new PDC is an important part of SPO's (GM Service and Parts Operations) strategy to provide world-class service to GM dealers by realigning the distribution network," says Charlie Hyndman, director of warehousing and distribution for the U.S. operations of GM's SPO division. "These facilities feature lean and common processes that achieve significant improvements in competitiveness."
The logistics center is part of GM's global corporate strategy to do more with less. CEO Rick Wagoner spearheaded changes last year that enabled GM to finish the year with an operating profit of US$3.9 billion, or almost twice what it earned in 2001, on just 5-percent higher sales of $186 billion. Wagoner's cost-cutting moves allowed GM to double margins in North America last year to 2.6 percent of sales.
Costs played a major role in Aurora landing the GM center. The facility will be the first developed at ProLogis Park 70, a 182-acre (74-hectare) distribution park at the crossroads of Interstate 70 and E-470. The park's location provides interstate access for trucks to the Central U.S., including the Rocky Mountain and Plains states.
Ray Culbert, GM manager of forward planning, says that his company was impressed with both the City of Aurora and the development track record of ProLogis.
"In making our decision, we factored in a highly qualified labor market, quality-of-life issues, transportation factors and, in the end, ProLogis and the City of Aurora provided us with an image and an environment that exceeded our expectations," he says.