NMC Healthcare unveils new logistics centre in Dubai Investments Park
Media Release
- New facility will add 20% to inventory capacity for NMC Trading’s over 65,000 SKUs
- Expansion was needed to meet rapid increase of 12% in new products added in 2012
Dubai, 03 October 2012: The UAE’s leading integrated healthcare provider, NMC Healthcare, today unveiled its new expanded logistics centre at the Dubai Investments Park.
With more than 65,000 “stock keeping units”, or individual product lines, NMC Trading is a fully owned subsidiary of NMC Healthcare and is one of the largest distribution companies in the UAE with interests in FMCG, food stuffs, pharmaceuticals, veterinary medicine and scientific equipment.
The need for expanding NMC Trading’s warehouse capacity has been brought about by a rapidly expanding range of new products across all divisions, which has increased by 12% since December 2011. With the commissioning of the new Logistics Centre, NMC Trading will add another 20% of additional warehousing space and reduce the load on the existing facilities, increase inventory holding capacity and pave the way for additional products to be added to the distribution business.
Speaking on the occasion of the opening ceremony, Binay Shetty, Chief Operating Officer, NMC Healthcare and NMC Trading said, “Last year the company’s strategic team closely evaluated the evolving warehousing and distribution needs and signalled a logistics expansion to cater to the growing needs of the FMCG and food stuff divisions. The new expansion will help NMC Trading’s further expansion by expanding its warehousing and distribution capabilities.”
Dr. B R Shetty, Managing Director and CEO of NMC Healthcare, explained the choice of Dubai Investments Park for the new Logistics Centre. “Distribution is a location-critical business and Dubai Investments Park was our ideal choice because of its proximity to Emirates Road, thus providing quicker access to all the emirates and still within easy reach of the important Dubai market.”
He added: ““With a vast quantity of products imported into the country, large distribution enterprises such as ours require an efficient and cost effective transhipment area. The NMC Logistics Centre introduces more automation to our business, and serves as a state-of-the-art storage conduit for receiving a wide range of products from different countries and moving them as required to our individual warehouses across the country.”
The NMC Logistics Centre is built along the lines of a ‘warehouse within a warehouse’ concept. Three distinct areas – cold stores, bulk stores and retail picking store – are spread across the 65,000 sq. ft. of new warehousing capacity. A segmented warehouse enables storage and distribution of different types of commodities that require stringent temperature control, storage of large volumes for cross docking and a retail selection area for smaller orders.
The warehouse combines a cold storage area with specially demarcated sections for frozen food items such as meat (-18°C) and coolers for other food stuff (2-8°C). It also contains the first electronically operated mobile stacker unit of its kind in the country, which improves storage capacity and facilitates selection of items required for delivery.
About NMC Healthcare
NMC Health plc Group is a leading integrated healthcare provider with operations in the United Arab Emirates. NMC Healthcare has business divisions in private hospitals, medical centres and pharmacies; alongside the distribution of healthcare and FMCG goods and the provision of IT services.
NMC Healthcare commenced operations in 1975 and have grown over that period to become the only private sector healthcare provider with a broad UAE presence. The Healthcare Division currently operates four hospitals, one day-care medical centre and eight pharmacies. The Group also operates a significant distribution business as NMC Trading, supplying over 65,000 product lines to UAE customers across the Pharmaceutical, FMCG, Food, Scientific and Medical, and Educational and Veterinary sectors.
In April 2012 NMC Health plc was listed on the Premium Segment of the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 index. At the time of its IPO, the Group raised funds to enable it to pursue a further growth plan with a number of capital projects for new healthcare facilities in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. www.nmc.ae
About NMC Trading
NMC Trading is the flagship distribution arm of NMC Healthcare and is the authorised agency for renowned names including Nivea, Pfizer, 3M, Siemens, Himalaya, Sara Lee, Kiwi, Frooti and Rasna.
For further information please contact:
NMC Healthcare: Prakash Janardan, +971 2 617 9942, info@nmc.ae
Brunswick Group: Wajih Halawa, +971 50 100 9207, whalawa@brunswickgroup.com