Kitron to establish distribution centre in Lithuania

In a statement released today, he company said that the centre, planned to be operational by the end of 2013, will be based in Kaunas, Lithuania. The centre will require a NOK 10 million investement, with part of this funding coming from the Lithuanian government. Combined with other initiatives within logistics and supply chain process, Kitron said it is targeting to reduce inventory by at least NOK 100 million from the current level. "This will fund future growth and strategic investments. We will benefit from both having less capital tied to inventory and from cost savings," said Kitron CFO Björn Wigström. The company said that inventory represents about 30 per cent of the total assets in the company, and was NOK 377.1 million at 30 June 2012. "Kitron has become a global company. In 2011 we opened new factories in the US and China, and we are now streamlining the supply chain and the logistics process", says Wigström, and explains that the global growth has entailed increased inventory levels over the past few years. "Channelling inbound standard components through one central hub will lead to pooling of inventory and will free more than NOK 50 million in inventory," continues Wigström.