Operational Excellence
Process Efficiency and Short Lead Times
Short lead times are a primary competitive advantage that Belimo offers its customers, resulting from super-efficient handling of all downstream processes.
Frequent last-minute changes in planning, construction, installation, and commissioning are a significant challenge in the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) sector. Therefore, our customers highly value short lead times and reliable, on-time delivery. The continuing trend of direct, just-in-time shipments to installation sites further eliminates our customers’ needs to stock supplies and handle material, making them even more successful.
Catering to the Needs of a Growing Organization
During the year under review, Belimo accelerated capacity expansion in logistics and customization, with higher investments in all market regions following its strong growth in 2021. The respectively initiated projects were successfully continued, with expansion of logistics and customization capacities in all three market regions.
In the EMEA market region, capacities were enhanced in Großröhrsdorf (Germany) and Hinwil (Switzerland). Next to its existing Hinwil location, Belimo purchased a piece of land to accommodate expansions in logistics and customization. In the Americas market region, logistics and customization capacities in Danbury (Connecticut, USA) were also increased. And in the Asia Pacific market region, Belimo purchased its existing Shanghai (China) location to account for additional capacities and space for warehousing, customization, logistics, and offices. In Mumbai (India), the move to a new building with extended logistics and customizing areas was successfully completed (read the story here).
Other projects in the period under review included:
- Analysis of long-term global logistics and customizing footprint needs, which includes the identification of possible new hub locations. An additional output of this project is a digital twin of the entire supply chain, which allows us to design future scenarios.
- Continuation of lean initiatives in customizing centers in all three market regions to further increase process efficiency – encompassing the optimization of internal logistics and assembly processes.
- Further elaboration of the transportation sourcing strategy, to account for long-term supply chain needs.
- Elaboration of a concept for the expansion of the logistics and customization center in Sparks (Nevada, USA) that serves the Western United States.
- Completion of the measurement method concept for transportation-related CO2 footprint.
Limiting the Impacts in a Challenging 2022
Global Delivery Performance
2022 was another challenging year in the global logistics market. The Group’s overall on-time delivery performance has not yet recovered.
The global “first confirmed“ delivery achievement in the year under review was 78.6%, which is below the five-year average before the pandemic, and less than the 2021 rate of 84.9%.
Nevertheless, Belimo could once more prove its operational excellence by fulfilling delivery commitments to its customers and limiting the impacts of delays.
High flexibility and efficient processes are the basis for short lead times. The Group’s set-up with nine customization centers around the world (see map below) allows for speedy deliveries because orders are adapted to local market needs, as close as possible to our customers. Customer proximity and process efficiency also minimize urgent international airfreight shipments and cut carbon emissions.
A holistic understanding of the supply chain is key for short lead times and efficient end-to-end processes. Belimo therefore strongly focuses on continuous and proactive process improvements. Another crucial factor is the Company’s far-sighted investment in logistics infrastructure, which has been continuously expanded over the last decade.
Belimo tracks the following key performance indicators to gauge its global on-time delivery performance:
- First confirmed date: the delivery date initially promised after a customer places a sales order.
- Last confirmed date: the final confirmed date, adjusted to reflect an order that could not be fulfilled.
- On-time delivery of suppliers: the inbound delivery performance of distributors is tracked to help improve this aspect in the long run.
- Capacity and customer order backlog (open customer orders): this data is key for operational decision making, and forms the basis for supplying transparent, reliable, and on-time information.
- Order cycle time: the process efficiency of all administrational and operational steps is measured to help identify task or project improvements.