Mohamed Naser AL Sayer & Sons (MNSS) is a leading automotive distributor in Kuwait, responsible for genuine Toyota and Lexus spare parts. Known for innovation and operational excellence, the company continually invests in advanced technology to drive productivity, employee wellbeing, and customer satisfaction across its network.

Following a period of rapid growth, MNSS recognised that its traditional spare parts warehouse operations could no longer keep pace with rising customer demand. As the company expanded, it became clear that its workforce wouldn’t be able to scale at the same pace, making automation essential for boosting productivity without increasing headcount.

“The business was experiencing a period of rapid growth, and we weren’t sure we could meet the manpower requirements that came with it,” said Desmond Chunthun Lew, Senior Business Director of Parts & Group Logistics, Mohamed Naser AL Sayer and Sons. “So, it was really important for us to find automation which allowed us to improve productivity to meet growth without increasing our manpower.”

This need for scalable productivity and efficiency led to MNSS’s investment in an AutoStore™ system integrated by the world’s leading supply chain automation specialist, Dematic. The system’s compact, high-density storage and retrieval solution has since delivered significant space savings, faster order fulfilment, and a big improvement in service levels.

Prior to automation, MNSS’s warehouse operations were reliant on manual picking and storage. While effective at a smaller scale, the system began showing limitations as the company expanded. Accuracy and speed, critical for spare parts operations, became harder to control, and the physical space required to hold inventory was growing unsustainably.

“We wanted to better service our customers with faster delivery and fewer errors. That’s the basis of what we were aiming for. The added benefit was a substantial reduction in warehouse space requirements,” said Bengt Kurt Schultz, Chief Operations Officer, MNSS.

The impact of space optimisation alone was transformational. “We went from 5,000 square metres to a 560 square metre footprint, so a huge saving in space,” explained Mubarak Naser Al Sayer, Chief Executive Officer, MNSS. “In Kuwait, space is scarce and expensive. The cost saving at the end of the year is substantial.”

For MNSS, automation wasn’t only a cost-cutting measure, but it was also a strategic response to workforce shortages that threatened to limit the company’s ability to grow. The business wasn’t confident it could achieve the manpower increases needed to deliver those improvements, making it essential to adopt an automation system capable of boosting productivity and supporting its growth targets.

After several design iterations, MNSS and Dematic implemented an AutoStore system tailored to the company’s spare-parts business.

MNSS’s new automated warehouse was designed for a capacity of 16,000 SKUs, with around 25,770 totes within the cube across 24 levels. The AutoStore system was engineered for throughput of 500 bins per hour; 400 bins per hour at the picking ports and 100 bins per hour for put-away operations. The system features 18 robots, two conveyor ports for decanting and four carousel ports for picking.

“To date, we’ve picked and shipped more than 700,000 lines,” Wilfred Kwaku Atuobi, Senior Manager, Logistics & Warehousing, MNSS said. “On average, we move around 2,200 lines each day to our various branches. The system works smoothly, intuitively and Dematic has provided fantastic support since going live.”

A key factor in the project’s success was its seamless integration with MNSS’s enterprise systems. “We didn’t have any issues integrating it into our ERP system,” Schultz added. “Everything worked perfectly, we received the support we needed, on time and with the results we expected.”

This integration allowed MNSS to maintain real-time visibility of inventory and orders while avoiding downtime during the transition. 

The AutoStore system now handles all of the company’s small and medium-sized parts, items that previously required manual handling, allowing faster and more accurate fulfilment. Since the system supports every customer group, including service, retail and over-the-counter channels, it has significantly reduced downtime and shortened lead times compared to the previous manual distribution process. These improvements in delivery speed, space utilisation and order accuracy have directly enhanced customer satisfaction.

“We wanted to better service our customers, with faster delivery and fewer errors in delivery,” Schultz said. “That’s what we were aiming for and we achieved it.”

The MNSS AutoStore implementation is one of the first projects of its kind in the Middle East’s automotive industry, setting a new regional benchmark for warehouse efficiency and operational excellence. As one of the earliest adopters of this technology in the region’s automotive sector, the project has delivered a strong example of how next-generation automation can be implemented on time and on budget while transforming fulfilment performance.

For Dematic, the implementation also highlights the company’s growing role in enabling automation across the Middle East and other expanding markets.

“This collaboration shows how flexible and adaptable AutoStore can be,” said Perinchery. “By working closely with MNSS to understand their growth ambitions and operational constraints, we were able to deliver a system that not only meets today’s needs but can scale for tomorrow.”

A year on from go live, MNSS continues to report strong performance, high system uptime, and satisfaction among both staff and customers.

“We’ve saved a lot of time, especially for our staff,” explained Atuobi. “Everyone connected to the project has been really happy with the results, and we see our partnership with Dematic continuing to create value for the company and its investors well into the future.”

MNSS plans to expand its automation journey with Dematic, exploring additional AutoStore deployments to support new product lines.