Siltek Telecoms opens own bonded warehouse

Siltek Telecoms has opened its own bonded warehouse facility in Midrand, aimed at cutting product delivery times to the end-user. The warehouse will stock a large range of Lucent Technologies voice products, as well as the Active Voice range of voice processing solutions.

"Currently," says Trevor von Puttkammer, manager of engineering services at Siltek Telecoms, "the facility holds stock to the value of approximately R18 million."

Prior to the building of its Midrand warehouse, the distributor used a third-party facility in Cape Town. "We decided to open our own warehouse because the bulk of our market is presently in Gauteng and it made sense, logistically, to have a closer facility," explains Michael Aitken, MD of Siltek Telecoms.

By having its own bonded warehouse, the company is able to carry a large volume of stock without first paying duties, and have the stock available within three days. "Traditional telecommunications companies offer a turnaround time of between four to six weeks. The facility clearly improves on these lead times," explains von Puttkammer.

In addition, Siltek Telecoms is able to deliver non-stock items within two weeks. "In line with group policy, we are able to use the logistics and shipping backbone of Siltek Distribution Dynamics (SDD)," says Aitken. "This enables us to consolidate cargoes with other group companies, thus substantially reducing costs."

Siltek Telecoms has partnered with two black-empowerment groups, Sekunjalo and Imperitek, who respectively handle deliveries and logistics, and manage and administer the warehouse. Through the consolidation of these two company`s efforts, Siltek Telecoms is presently offering its South African customers free delivery.