TNT targets building firms in contract bid
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• TNT Contract Distribution lias drawn up a "hit list" of 40 construction companies which it believes could reduce their costs by up to 12.5% by moving to third-party distribution of building materials.
The firms were first contacted by TNT at the Interbuild exhibition in November, Now Bob Deeney, general manager of TNT Construction, is talking to 25 of them in a bid to win their business.
TNT has been studying the effects third-party distribution could have on the building trade and it expects to make its findings known in April. Deeney points to a recent report by Wolverhampton Polytechnic which suggests that 20% of working time on building sites is wasted by waiting for materials.
He would like to see the building trade adopt just-in-time principles for its site deliveries to avoid unnecessary stockpiling of materials such as bricks. It wants to develop sequencing
operations, similar to those it offers to the automotive industry: "At the moment it's a question of just-in-case rather than just-in-time," he says.
Deeney believes that using third-party operators for the whole logistics operation would end double-handling, which happens when materials are delivered to builders' merchants before trans-shipment to sites.