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Giving E.ON the power
Page 16
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Ceva and its drivers provide the logistics backbone behind electricity supplier EON in the UK, enabling specialist engineers and contractors to keep the lights on without any fuss or drama.
Words: Roger Brown
CEVA MANAGES and operates the logistics operation for E.ON UK electricity in the UK, comprising a fleet of some 140 trucks, along with a similar number of specially trained drivers.
The team of drivers are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to work alongside E.ON engineers near live lines and assist with tasks such as pole planting, auger drilling and putting up street lighting.
As well as planned work, this can include emergency repairs as a result of electricity cables, street lights or electricity substations being damaged by flooding, high winds or storms.
Ceva drivers transport tools, nuts and bolts, uniforms, protective equipment, clothing, cables, lamp posts, signs and barriers and even large substations direct to site for E.ON engineers and third-party electrical contractors.
A 220,000ft2 facility at Huthwaite, Notts, is supported by depots in Stokeon-Trent, Staffs; Worcester; Gloucester; Hinckley, Leics; Heckington, Lines; Kettering, Northants; as well as Dudley, all closely aligned with E.ON sites.
Ceva also has approximately 60 unmanned emergency stores and socalled 'dead drop' collection points — small brick buildings or containers — designed to store materials.
Sean Kelly, senior general manager, utilities and infrastructure at Ceva, says: "Through our support, craftsmen and contractors from E.ON are able to focus on their core engineering activities, maximising their productivity and the use of specialist skills, "Ceva and E.ON have worked jointly to review operations, and our firm has taken a proactive role with the emphasis placed on continuous improvement."
The agreement has grown from humble beginnings in July 1996 when TNT Logistics — later renamed Ceva began operating a small trunking operation for East Midlands Electricity (EME) involving a handful of trucks.
The scope of C,eva's operations were further widened by a series of consolidations in the electricity sector: Powergen bought EME in 1998, E.ON purchased Powergen in 2002 and the German company then acquired Midlands Electricity in 2003, Last July, the two firms signed a five-year extension to the contract, with an option to extend beyond this.
Malcolm Russell, network logistics manager at E.ON UK, says the contract should be seen as more than just a traditional logistics operation.
"It is not about, for instance, how many drops you can do per day," he says. "You have to make sure you have the right part to deliver, and that you have the right vehicle, with the right equipment and the right driver to do the job."
Vehicles on the fleet — which is owned by E.ON — include vans, flatbeds, cranes and artics, the majority of which are DAFs and MANs.
About 2,000 orders a week are received by Ceva from E.ON project managers and craftsmen, and deliveries are made next day, or within 48 hours.
Kelly adds:"The key to the partnership has been good communication. The relationship has effectively grown from being a small acorn to a large oak." •