Falken opens Ill. distribution center

Falken Tire Corp. photo
Falken's new distribution center in Joliet, Ill., will supply dealers in the Chicago area, across the Midwest and into central Canada.

JOLIET, Ill. (Oct. 29, 2014) — Falken Tire Corp. has opened a distribution center in Joliet to service dealers in the Chicago metropolitan area and across the Midwest into central Canada.

The center — the second Falken has opened in 2014 — is based on what Falken calls its “model” format that allows 54-percent more storage capacity per square foot than what previously was possible.

Falken opened a 219,000-sq.-ft. distribution center in Robbinsville, N.J., in September to help improve service to customers in the Mid-Atlantic, U.S. Northeast and Eastern Canada.

“This D/C will be integral to our long-term strategy of driving down operating costs while improving service to our key accounts,” said Ron Papcun, vice president of operations for the Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.-based subsidiary of Japan's Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd.

“We're extremely excited with the opportunity to get closer to our customers in the region and will continue to make strategic investments in our new D/C model in other markets.”

Having a presence in this market will allow greater use of Falken's fleet of trucks, improving service and efficiency to dealers as well as servicing O.E. manufacturers located in the region, Mr. Papcun said.

Joliet is a community of 148,000 inhabitants about 40 miles southwest of Chicago, near the junction of Interstates 80 and 55.

Falken's distribution center format has a fire suppression system that allows the company to store tires securely and safely on portable stacking racks up to 30 feet or six racks high, the company said. This helps achieve a density ratio of more than two tires per square foot of space.

The prototype distribution centers also are designed to maximize energy efficiency, improve throughput, insure safe working practices and reduce overall long-term cost of operations, Falken said.

The Juliet facility is one of six distribution points Falken operates in the U.S. The others are in Fontana, Calif., Jacksonville, Fla., Mount Juliet, Tenn., Irving, Texas, and Robbinsville.

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