Gulf Warehousing Company (GWC), a leading Qatar-based logistics provider, has signed a three-year distribution agreement with Darwish Holding's internal management entity, Darwish Corporate.

Prior to contract signature, the Gulf Warehousing Company had executed a successful one-year trial and has been distributing the products to all major outlets in Qatar since early 2010.

Basem Chbaklo, Gulf Warehousing executive director, said: “We are extremely pleased to have this opportunity to work with Darwish Corporate and add value to their supply chain through specialized warehousing and personalized delivery solutions.”

“The team and warehouse setup has been specifically designed for this project, which is characterized by its diversified portfolio of products ranging from bulky items such as pianos down to the most delicate items such as eye liners and lipstick.”

“All items are kept in a highly monitored environment with strict security measures, steady climate control, and specialized storage retrieval systems. Each item is catalogued and barcoded individually, and orders are placed by the different Darwish entities' sales teams through an integration between both companies’ IT platforms, allowing them to have real-time visibility of the items and place orders online,” he added.

“From receiving the items and performing a piece count verification, to the daily picking of thousands of line items and consolidating in hundreds of orders for delivery to outlets each day (including home deliveries), invoices are signed and returned to Darwish Corporate making the service a true turnkey solution."

“Along with Darwish Corporate we have continued to develop the service levels and maintained inventory accuracy of 99.99 per cent. This is achieved through a robust process and supported by Warehouse Management Technology,” Chbaklo concluded.

Hamdi Dessouki, assistant general manager and head of Supply Chain at Darwish Corporate, said: "We're very glad to be partnering with a leader of the industry such as Gulf Warehousing Company. The Darwish entities have been really the cornerstones of both the wholesale and retail markets in Qatar for more than sixty years and have therefore introduced benchmark after another.”

“This can only mean that we are committed to the highest standards of quality throughout our operations from timely procurement to safe and efficient storage up to service-aware prompt delivery and in order to maintain this best practice we need to align ourselves with partners who share common corporate values. That's why we consider our partnership with Gulf Warehousing Company as nothing short of symbiotic,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service