Yamaha Motor Corporation U.S.A. today announced it has broken ground on a 220,000 square-foot expansion of its logistics facility in Kennesaw, Ga. as part of a plan to increase both the capacity and efficiency of its operations there.
“Our number one priority is achieving the highest customer satisfaction in the industry,” said Phil Dyskow, Yamaha Marine Group President. “We’ve been making improvements and building our marine infrastructure with customer satisfaction in mind. This expansion will allow us to increase the inventory of vital parts and accessories and reduce the time from order to delivery.”
The Yamaha Kennesaw facility occupies some 33 acres and currently includes 100,000 square feet of office space and 200,000 square feet of warehouse space. The expansion, to be completed in March 2009, will increase warehouse space to approximately 420,000 square feet. In addition, the company expects efficiency gains of 20 to 25 percent thanks to the installation of new order tracking and conveyance systems and the consolidation of operations with other Yamaha logistics facilities.
With the expansion, Yamaha will install a new lighting system designed to be 50 percent more efficient than the current system. As a result, power use for the expanded facility is not expected to increase over that of the current facility.
About 50 percent of the activity in the Kennesaw logistics facility supports Yamaha Marine Group. The facility also supports other Yamaha products and businesses, including watercraft, motorcycles, ATVs and golf carts.
The current construction is the second phase of the project. The building’s mezzanine was increased by 10,000 square feet last year to accommodate more offices and meeting rooms.
The expansion is Yamaha’s second major announcement this summer. Last month, Yamaha acquired the assets of Indianapolis-based propeller company PPI, which Yamaha will also expand in an effort to increase the capacity and availability of propellers for its broad line of outboard motors.
Yamaha Marine products are marketed throughout the United States and around the world. Yamaha Marine Group, based in Kennesaw, Ga., supports its 2,200 U.S. dealers and OEM partners with marketing, training and parts for Yamaha’s full line of products and strives to be the industry leader in reliability, technology and customer service. Yamaha Marine is the only outboard brand to have earned NMMA®’s C.S.I. Customer Satisfaction Index award every year since its inception. Visit www.yamahaoutboards.com
