National Trading and Developing Establishment (NTDE) Group, distributors of over 6,000 products in the UAE, has now opened its largest warehousing facility, expanding its potential to serve the needs of the rapidly growing retail environment in the emirates. The new facility increases NTDE’s storage capacity by 53%.
“NTDE has been in business in the UAE for more three decades. During this time it has grown from a single retail outlet in 1971 to an enterprise distributing some of the world’s top brands. “Another reason for this growth was the focus on developing an infrastructure that supports the retail sector,” said Adel Alsmadi, Logistics Manager, NTDE.
Located in the Al Rumool industrial area, between Dubai International Airport and Dubai Festival City, the new 40,000 sq. f. facility, at seven pallets high, is one of the highest in the region. Operated by two forklifts, the state-of-the-art warehouse is capable of accommodating up to 350 containers.
“The main challenges in managing a facility of this size are inventory management and optimising operational speed - ie. loading, off-loading, picking, transferring goods etc. The new warehouse has addressed these issues by incorporating a ducting zone and adjustable jack levels for loading and offloading containers. A narrow aisle racking system has been used for better palette accessibility from two sides, and a full-fledged warehouse management system (WMS) was implemented recently to automate all the transactions and operations. In addition, an AC ducting system was used rather than split units to spread the cool over the length and width of the warehouse to help better maintain the inventory,” Mr. Alsmadi explained.
The total space of NTDE warehouses in Rashidiya is 325,000 sq.f, excluding the new warehouse, which is an additional 40,000 Sqf. In the Free zones, NTDE has warehouses of total 125,000 sq.f in Jebel Ali, Hamriya, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain Free Zones.
“There are plans to build two more warehouses (similar or bigger in capacity to the new one). One of the future warehouses will be in NTDE’s Rashidiya premises and the second one will be in Jebel Ali Free Zone. Supported by an efficient delivery network and sophisticated inventory management and stock replenishment systems, the warehouse is capable of speedy response to customer demands in any part of the emirates,” Mr. Alsmadi said.
The new facility is over seven times the size of NTDE’s first warehouse. While currently the existing NTDE facilities are being used for storage of FMCG products distributed by NTDE only, such as Lays and Vitaene C, the group may soon start third party logisitics oprations to serve other companies.
National Trading and Developing Establishment (NTDE) has, for more than three decades, been at forefront of bringing world-class brands and services to the Middle East. What started as a small retail operation has grown into a multi-million dollar business across many divisions with major international brands distributed by NTDE in the UAE.
Since its founding in 1971, NTDE has been a pioneer in bringing quality brands to the Middle East. The company still remains a family concern, headed by founder and Chairman Hassan Ahmadi. NTDE today is a regional powerhouse with more than 6,000 products distributed across the United Arab Emirates, The Sultanate of Oman and Iran.
