Rhys Davies Freight Logistics is celebrating 60 years in the transport industry. The Cardiff-based company has risen from humble beginnings as a family business back in 1952 to one of the Britain's most successful carriers with 190 vehicles operating throughout the country from nine strategically located depots.
Flexibility has been key to RDFL's success and the company has clients in many industry sectors including, food, chemicals, pharmaceutical, building materials, FMCG's and carpets.
Rhys Davies offers a uniquely tailored warehousing, distribution and handling service across its nine operating centres providing customers with value added cost saving services.
One example of this is the paint mixing service that Rhys Davies provides for two separate European paint manufacturers at its Birmingham and Cardiff warehouses. This process includes a fully traceable quality sampling and testing process, where samples are taken, measured and sent to the customer for recording purposes. Gary Phillips, Commercial Manager of Rhys Davies Freight Logistics said, "Because the clients are based in Europe it makes more sense for the paints to be mixed at our warehouse rather than them shipping paint colours speculatively. It saves them time, inventory and money."
Another client in the steel industry supplies lintels to building sites and Rhys Davies makes sure they are delivered to the exact location they are needed. Rather than simply unloading the lintels at the entrance to the site, Rhys Davies takes responsibility for picking and banding individual house packs before delivering the product to the correct plot on each construction site. "We put the packs together depending on what each plot on a site needs," said Gary. "One house may have two small windows, four double windows and a garage so we would pick the different lintel lengths to suit."
Rhys Davies' involvement in the carpet industry began in 2004 when it
stepped in to help Belgium-based Associated Weavers following the
demise of its UK distribution company. A new division, Rhys Davies Carpet Logistics assumed responsibility for distribution within six weeks of being selected, with no previous experience of carpet distribution. Eight years on, RDCL is firmly established as the UK's leading carpet and flooring distribution network, handling nationwide deliveries for around twenty of Britain and Europe's top manufacturers and distributors.
This attention to detail along with its investment in the latest IT systems, vehicles, and staff training has set RDFL apart from its competitors. Whatever challenges the next 60 years may hold Rhys Davies will continue to offer its customers more than just transport.