09/22/2008 09h10
Avon changes logistics plan in SP
Valor Econômico - 09/22/2008
The municipality of Cabreúva, at 70 km from the city of São Paulo, will have the biggest Avon distribution center in the world. The company, which has in Brazil the second market in sales and the biggest sales force in the World, is going to invest US$ 150 million to build the center in 70 thousand m². The president of the company in Brazil, Luis Felipe Miranda, says that most of the disbursement will be made under technology in logistics. The works will start in the beginning of 2009 and should continue until the first quarter of 2010, when the equipment installation process will begin. The idea is to put the center in operation in the second half of 2010. Miranda says that 70% of the national distribution will leave Cabreúva, where the area of 267 thousand m² will allow future expansions. Although not saying when or how much, Miranda affirms that the company has been making frequent investments in the production capacity, due to the great demand of the country, where 1 million of stand-alone women resellers work. Hence the need to gain agility and efficiency in delivering products, which take about 3 to 4 days today, depending on the locality. The search for efficiency will also mark the investments that the company intends to make in the second half of 2009 to expand and modernize its two other distribution centers: in Salvador (BA), which responds for 20% of the national distribution, and in Fortaleza (CE), which sends the remaining 10%. Cabreúva was chosen due to its strategic location: near São Paulo, Campinas, Jundiaí and Sorocaba and of easy access to important highways like Bandeirantes and Anhanguera. Avon does not release the figures of its operations, but it informs that it has been growing at more than two-digit figures in Brazil and "above the market average". According to data of the Brazilian Association of Personal Hygiene, Perfumery and Cosmetics Industry, in the last four years the sector has had an average growth of 13%.
