Unilever brands MMI Logistics (MMIL), a division of the MMI Group, has reported significant success with the Unilever brands it has acquired for promotion in the Middle East.

Recently awarded the contract to provide a range of logistics services to Unilever Arabia FZE, the company has been promoting and packaging several products from the Unilever stable for regional consumption.

"We have made considerable headway in our business relationship with Unilever Arabia," stated Mike Lee, Manager, MMI Logistics, describing its significance in enabling the large consumer giant to consolidate the full scope of its logistic requirements in the free trade zone.

"Unilever is one of the largest companies operating out of the Jebel Ali Free Zone, and since being contracted by them we have put in extra efforts to ensure that the market demands for their products are not merely met, but exceeded."

MMIL's recent promotions for Unilever include the Rexona 24H, Dove plus Fair and Lovely, Axe deodorants, Brut perfume, Vaseline plus Signal, and Dove Body Cream special offers, among others in the UAE.

The MMIL facility in Jebel Ali presently stores thousands of pallets of home and personal care products for Unilever. To meet the company's numerous promotional packaging and labeling requirements, the state-of-the-art facility has invested in two shrink wrapping machines and an ink jet printer each, with a capacity to process around 20 pieces per minute.

Unilever Arabia has manufacturing sites in Jeddah, Yanbu and Jebel Ali, which manufacture home, personal care and food and beverage products. The company also imports finished goods into Jebel Ali from all over the world. Under the terms of the logistics contract, the goods produced in the GCC and exported throughout the world are delivered to the appointed distributor's warehouses in various countries by MMIL. Unilever also uses MMIL's services to handle custom clearance, inbound logistics, storage and outbound logistics.

In a separate arrangement, MMIL stores both raw tea and large amounts of packed tea for the Lipton brand, in a specialised temperature-controlled area, within their premises.

"We have set up the reporting and documentation needs of Unilever through our in-house Warehouse Management System (WMS), EXceed 3S. And plans are underway to link their Information Management System with our WMS, to ensure seamless information flow between the two companies," said Lee.

MMI Logistics is one of the largest and most sophisticated supply chain management companies in the region, providing solutions to a range of global companies that include Epson, Ricoh, Philips, Fritz and Toys R Us. Located in Jebel Ali, MMI Logistics has an extensive, well-established network across the Middle East, a highly customer-focused team, and ISO 9002 and ISO14001 certification across all operations.

MMI Logistics' services include transportation; warehouse and fleet management; inventory replenishment and order processing, and marketing support functions such as bar-coding, re-packaging, merchandising and bi-lingual re-programming.

The company recently upgraded its EXceed Warehouse Management (WMS) system to the 3X version. The new improved technology, run on Microsoft's SQL 7.0 database, will provide a number of added benefits to the company's logistics operations.

The upgrade was deployed in an endeavour to provide a smoother flow of information exchange, after a review of the existing processes by consulting teams from MMI's business units and EXE Technologies. Lee commented that the upgraded software enabled the company not merely to meet but also exceed the needs of its clients, and also allowed the MMI team greater innovation and creative thinking when developing supply-chain solutions.

"One of the key successes of this upgrade has been the move away from relying on external support for developing reports. With the active support of the entire team, a number of reports have already been developed internally, reducing the lead-time for implementation, which in turn can only benefit our clients," said Lee. MMI Logistics has also invested in a Compaq Proliant 8000 server with four processors and a memory of three Giga bytes to enhance the efficiency of the new software, and a new Citrix Server. "This will enable our clients to effortlessly access the WMS, either through the Internet or from a dial-up connection," Lee explained.

MMI, an associate company of the Emirates Group, is one of the oldest and most established companies in the region and operates through seven distinct businesses: MMI Logistics, MMI Consumer, MMI Beverages, MMI Technology Solutions, MMI Travel, MMI Corporate Services and MMI Leisure Retail.

Earlier this year, MMI Logistics appointed Dahbashi Engineering to fulfil its requirements for electric materials handling, at its 28,000 pallet-location facility in Jebel Ali.

Under the terms of the agreement, Dahbashi will provide MMI Logistics with 26 motive power batteries to run its electrical-handling vehicles and equipment. Further, Dahbashi will conduct on-going inspections at the MMIL facility to ensure optimum performance of the existing fleet, conduct assessments, procure subsequent supplies, and offer continuous after-sales service and product support. Varun Sharma, quality and facility manager at MMI Logistics, commented that Dahbashi's suitability as the most preferred vendor was assessed over a period of time. "In keeping with our corporate stance to constantly strive for perfection, Dahbashi was chosen only after a series of discussions with MMI's senior operations, logistics and finance personnel." Dahbashi is the sole authorised dealer for Hawker Oldham Batteries and Chargers in the UAE. Sharma added that with quality and environment protection being key focus areas at MMIL, there was a significant reason for this decision. "Our choice was made easier by the fact that Dahbashi Engineering, like MMIL, is ISO 9002 & ISO 14001 certified," he stated. Dahbashi batteries power MMI Logistics' various electric-handling equipment including forklifts, reach trucks and turret-stock pickers, which are used to transport electrical materials within the facility, to load and unload containers and pick and place products in the storage racking. MMIL utilises 26 electric vehicles at its warehouse in Jebel Ali.