MONTREAL — Westcon Canada, a subsidiary of multinational value-added distributor Westcon Group Inc., has expanded its Canadian head office by opening up a new facility in Dorval, Que.
The vendor held its grand opening yesterday in Montreal, inviting its vendor partners, channel partners and media from across North America to join in on the festivities.
Lynn Smurthwaite-Murphy, vice-president at Westcon Canada, said despite a tough economy, the distributor still managed to achieve double-digit year over year growth. The new 24,000 square-foot facility replaces the company’s Lachine, Que. facility, which totaled only 9,000 square feet.
Smurthwaite-Murphy said Westcon Canada decided to locate the facility in Dorval, Que. because the company has had a Canadian presence there since 1993. The distributor also has an office in Oakville, Ont., which is where Smurthwaite-Murphy is based.
Dean Douglas, president and CEO of Westcon Group, located in Tarrytown, N.Y., said globally, the distributor has achieved more than US$3 billion in revenue.
“The reason why we’re doing so well is because of our employees and the relationships they have with our vendors and partners,” Douglas said. “We wouldn’t be able to do this without the help of our people and the relationships we have. Canada was a place where we wanted to invest to grow. We think our Canadian business will lead the economy for the Americas to help keep the business growing.”
The new facility will allow for even smoother logistics processes, Smurthwaite-Murphy explains. It will function as the distributor’s primary Canadian warehousing and logistics unit. It will also make it easier for shipping to and from its central Virginia facility, which is only one of three of its U.S.-based distribution facilities.
Bernie Kelley, vice-president of operations for Westcon Group, said in Canada, most of Westcon’s business comes from the Eastern provinces. So having the Dorval location will help ensure customers can get next-day delivery, he added.
Smurthwaite-Murphy said the opening of the new Dorval facility is a milestone for Westcon, its vendor community and channel partners. The building will also accommodate for future expansion in Canada, she added.
“Having a larger facility in Canada now means there will be a larger pool of inventory in the country,” she said. “It provides us with greater scale to meet the requirements of our customers, which will be manifested in greater product availability and reduced ship times. It also gives us the capacity to handle more sophisticated integration and assembly activities for vendors and customers, such as full-lifecycle services and reverse logistics offerings.”
Smurthwaite-Murphy also said the new location has a larger staging facility and, with that, the distributor intends to offer more staging and configuration services and more room for short and long-term storage moving forward.
