Maverick centralises Sony warehousing

UK chosen as key to savings across European division delivery

Computer 2000's audiovisual division Maverick will now distribute all its Sony projectors via the UK instead of from seven pan-Europe warehouses.

Jon Sidwick, director of Maverick Europe, confirmed the move will save money. However, the Sony brand is performing well, he said.

"Centralisation is more about quality than efficiency. However, there is a material overall cost saving of a couple of per cent," Sidwick told ChannelWeb.

"The main benefit is having a large stock holding visible across the whole of the EU available for drop shipment next day for most areas."

Sidwick (pictured, right) said that Sony nowadays is Maverick's number three partner, with more than four times the sales in value terms of two years ago when it signed a pan-European deal with the vendor.

"Despite the [English] Channel we have a full centralised business run from the UK that moves many millions of pieces of stock each week," he said. "It works, so that's good enough for me!"

Sony projectors will now move through the main UK logistics hub of parent company Tech Data, at Magna Park in Leicestershire.

It will increase the availability of a broader range of Sony projector lines, according to Maverick, and be more efficient both for the vendor and for reseller partners.

Previously, the lines were stocked at seven different warehouses, serving 14 countries.

Delivery to any European location from the UK will take one to three working days.

"We will be able to manage stock more accurately," said Sidwick. "We already operate a centralised model for Hotlamps, Vision, C2G and Barco."