Acer to centralise distribution in Holland

Acer plans to consolidate its worldwide warehouse operations into one plant in Holland. The vendor said it would stop shipping notebooks from its Taiwanese base to warehouses in each individual country from January, and PCs from mid-2000. Instead, it intends to send incomplete product from Taiwan to its assembly plant in Tilburg, Holland. All orders will be assembled in Holland, and from there shipped directly to distributors and resellers worldwide. Acer will also offer to ship kit straight to customer addresses, although users will still have to place orders through the channel. The scheme will also involve changes to Acer's Internet operations. From January, Acer's resellers will have a direct link to the vendor's Web site, which will be able to immediately trigger orders in the Dutch factory. "The aim is to touch product as little as possible. Every time it is handled, we lose money," said Dion Weisler, Acer's UK MD. "Resellers will be able to track goods wherever they are in the supply chain. Costs will be reduced. And customers will get their products faster." ®