PADOVA, Italy and SECAUCUS, N.J.—Safilo (Reuters SFLG.MI) plans to open a new state-of-the-art North American Distribution Center in Denver, Colorado, to further improve its speed-to-market and increase service levels to customers across the region, the company said. Safilo noted it took possession of the new Denver Logistic Hub yesterday with the expectation of it being fully operational within the third quarter of 2019. The existing Safilo North American distribution centers in Clearfield, Utah, Montreal, Canada and the other existing facility in Denver will be integrated into the new Denver facility.

The company’s best-in-class lab facility for Smith prescription lenses, currently located in Clearfield, Utah, will also be relocated to the new Denver Distribution Center.

This decision follows the company’s plans to merge four Distribution Centers into one innovative hub and operationally streamline and modernize its U.S. logistics and distribution network. The first phase was initiated by the move in June 2016 of its Parsippany, N.J. Distribution Center to the current Denver center. This was followed, in July 2017, by the move of Safilo’s North American headquarters to Secaucus, N.J. to a more modernized work environment in closer proximity to New York City and its showroom there, as VMAIL reported.

The new logistics hub in Denver will allow for an important improvement in efficiency: a 20 percent increase of inventory capacity and a 15 percent improvement in delivery performance; it will also include greener, energy-efficient and environmentally-sustainable features, including carbon footprint reduction and the use of eco-friendly materials for packaging, after carefully assessing resource life cycles from production to disposal.

This is made possible thanks to a significant $6 million investment in high tech systems with a strong focus on innovation, Safilo noted. The new hub will be fully integrated with Safilo’s HQ through a unique IT platform, enabling the service level in North America to be further enhanced, as well as in all other regions globally.

“I’m very excited to see this major initiative which illustrates the company’s commitment to better serve our customers in North America become a reality,” said Steve Wright, president and chief commercial officer of Safilo North America. “This integration of three warehouses into a single, new, cutting-edge facility in a part of Denver where other major distribution centers are located allows us to combine functions under one technologically superior facility to meet the needs of our customers and the ever-increasing demands of the end consumer.

“This is a landmark initiative for Safilo that leverages Denver's already successful track record of delivering distribution and logistics across the region, and will further optimize our customer service levels across North America thanks to the investments in automation and digitalization, leveraging the new hub as a competitive advantage for the Group worldwide and also increasing our people’s skills and capabilities,” added Fabio Roppoli, chief product supply officer of Safilo Group. “The new D.C. will offer top-of-the-line warehouse and D&L capabilities for maximum operational efficiency.”