A record 3,100 shipments per day in 2015 – e-commerce has driven logistics at TIM SA.
Over 780,000 shipments left the Logistics Center of TIM SA last year – one of the largest distributors of electrotechnical products in Poland. This is primarily the result of the continued growth of online sales. This record-breaking number in TIM’s history means that on every working day, an average of 3,100 packages or pallets were sent to customers, which is as much as 57% more than in 2014.
The dynamically growing number of shipments is a consequence of constant turnover growth. It began in mid-2013, when TIM SA – after 26 years of operating in the traditional model of a network of electrical wholesalers – started online sales through the TIM.pl e-shop. In 2013, over 142,000 shipments left the logistics center in Siechnice near Wrocław, and a year later, almost 500,000.
The facility fulfills orders for both TIM.pl customers (for the Polish market) and e-shops from Poland and Western Europe belonging to the Bydgoszcz-based company Rotopino.pl, which has been part of the TIM Capital Group since 2011. It also serves to store products of the two other entities from the TIM Group: EL-IT SA and Sun Electro Sp. z o.o.
Service for other e-shops
The facility in Siechnice, which is largely automated, has been operating since 2008. As a result of the change in TIM SA’s business model and in the face of the rapid increase in the number of shipments, the current warehouse area (10,500 sqm) has become insufficient. In December 2015, the expansion of the logistics center worth PLN 40 million began. The general contractor for the investment is the Japanese company Kajima Poland. It is being implemented in cooperation with the American HE (Hillwood Europe) Enterprises, belonging to the family of Ross Perot Jr. – one of the giants of the American and global real estate market.
The area of the TIM SA Logistics Center after the completion of the expansion in the summer of 2016 will reach 41,100 sqm. The facility is being built with the future, constantly growing needs of the TIM Capital Group in mind. It will be able to process even more than 200,000 shipments to customers per month. However, this does not mean that part of its area will remain unused until the TIM Group can use it on its own.
– Over the last 2.5 years, we have gained unique know-how in Poland in the field of logistics services for online trade. We want to use this knowledge by providing logistics services also to other entities in the e-commerce industry. That is why 15,000 sqm in the expanded logistics center in Siechnice will be allocated to a contract logistics warehouse, which will be used by entities from outside the TIM Capital Group – says Maciej Posadzy, member of the management board and operations director of TIM SA.
New company
To facilitate the operation of the facility in its new form and the provision of logistics services to external entities, TIM SA plans to create a subsidiary from the existing logistics and real estate management departments, in which it will hold 100% of the shares in the share capital. The final decision on this matter will be made by the Extraordinary General Meeting of TIM SA.