Western Digital sets up distribution unit in Jafz

Western Digital, one of the world's leading manufacturers of hard-disk drives, has opened a distribution centre in the Jebel Ali Free Zone to ensure the rapid delivery of its products throughout the region.

The new centre, which is the company's Middle East hub for its products, will streamline the supply chain from the manufacturer to the customer.

Western Digital is the only hard drive manufacturer in the world with a regional sales office and a distribution centre in the region.

The opening of the distribution centre increases the efficiency of shipping Western Digital goods from its manufacturing base in Malaysia to the Jebel Ali Free Zone.

The new facility will have a capacity to handle three million units per year, officials said.

The company holds about one-third of the 80 per cent of the global market divided among the top three hard-disk drive manufacturers, the rest being dominated by two organisations.

The company, with an annual turnover exceeding $2 billion, made 10.3 million units during the first quarter of this year and looks forward to sustaining this rate during the second quarter despite the impact of the SARS virus.

"By investing in this facility, we have been able to cut our delivery time to distributors significantly, which means customers will be able to get their products in about one quarter of the time that it used to take".

By speeding up the supply, "Western Digital is better serving customers and enabling more extensive, flexible distribution of its products across the region," said Floris van Tol, regional operations director.