Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) on July 28 officially showcased to guests its new 80 000 m² parts distribution centre, in Boksburg.

The automotive parts distribution centre is the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

While the first stage of the distribution centre was built in 2012, totalling 40 000 m², construction on the 40 000 m² Stage 2 expansion started in January 2020.

The facility, renamed Toyota Africa Parts Centre (TAPC), started operating in April 2021, complete with solar photovoltaic rooftop capacity of 475 kW, which TSAM plans to expand to 1.5 MW by the end of this year.

TSAM plans on adding battery storage capacity to the building in 2023, which will result in the facility being powered independently from the grid.

The company is targeting net-zero emissions by 2050.

The Stage 2 expansion of the distribution centre, valued at R365-million, included the addition of about 33 000 m² of racks which required just under 2 000 t of steel.

The facility holds about 2.7-million pieces of stock at any given time, valued at R900-million, for the Toyota, Lexus and Hino brands.

TSAM president and CEO Andrew Kirby said the new facility consolidates what used to be two warehouses for TSAM and allows for more efficient customer service, particularly as the company looks to grow its supply into more African markets, particularly Chad, Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville and Nigeria.

For example, the new facility uses cantilever racking for large parts, and has a crane system in place to lift and store heavy parts, eliminating safety risks for the facility’s 496 employees.

It also uses an innovative sub-home with basket transfer system for conveyance of products across large distances within the warehouse for more timely transfer, involving a trolley being pulled by electric scooter-type vehicles. TSAM aims to convert this system to operate autonomously in coming years. 

The TAPC forms part of five parts distribution hubs globally covering Toyota’s components distribution.

TSAM customer service VP Anand Pather explained that the facility comprises inbound, storage, outbound and distribution processes, with TSAM receiving and sorting about 84 000 parts daily from 220 local suppliers and four international suppliers.

TSAM has 52 truck departures daily to deliver parts to all of its 277 dealerships across the country and in neighbouring countries, including Namibia, Botswana and eSwatini. These trucks travel more than 60 000 km a day.

Notably, Pather pointed out that TSAM undertakes daily deliveries to all of its dealers, with a 98% on-time rate, for about 10 000 parcels a day.

Meanwhile, TSAM sales and marketing senior VP Leon Theron said the company’s parts sales totalled R6.7-billion in 2021, while the company serviced 1.42-million vehicles.

This year, TSAM targets selling R7.2-billion worth of parts and servicing 1.48-million vehicles.

The company’s market share sits at 25.3%, with 117 659 vehicles sold in 2021. Theron said TSAM was ambitiously targeting more than 130 000 vehicle sales for this year.

Kirby noted that the company’s volumes took a blow from mid-April when TSAM had to close all of its assembly lines in Durban, following damaging flash flooding occurring on the KwaZulu-Natal coast.

The company has, however, reopened and ramped up the last of its outstanding assembly lines in July, including for the Toyota Hilux and Fortuner vehicles, and looks to reach “pre-flood” production levels by end September.

Moreover, TSAM is focused on achieving 25% market share in the small cars market, which compares to its current market share in this segment of 16%.