Case Saint Gobain Abrasives

The French company Saint Gobain Abrasives is a manufacturer of abrasive and grinding materials and also supplies a trading range that ranges from kit/glue products to complete machines. In Born, the company has its European DC where 2,500 to 3,000 order lines are delivered every day to construction dealers, DIY chains, rental companies and the industry, among others. “For a warehouse like this, delivery reliability and quality are the most important KPIs,” says DC director Hugo van Goor. “Because we depend on our own factories and at the same time also purchase from suppliers, good availability is sometimes quite a challenge. In addition, my job is to maintain the cost level. We've been working more or less the same way for twenty years. My gut said that we could make a significant improvement in this by automating.”

Customer challenge

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He was looking for a party that could identify the improvement potential and develop a number of solution directions that would capitalize on this. The choice fell on UC Group. “I know UC Group as a group of experts with a lot of experience and knew they could do this. Nevertheless, we made an official selection where we also looked at other agencies. They came out on top in that,” says Van Goor.
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Approach

Based on an extensive data analysis, the UC Group engineers designed three new warehouse concepts for which they also developed the business cases. “In particular, the data analysis with growth scenarios was very enlightening for us,” says Van Goor. “Given the future aging population and the scarcity in the labor market, this has made us opt for a variant with an automated shuttle system.”
In addition to researching a future-proof storage system, UC Group was also commissioned to select a new WMS. “We didn't really plan this way, but the supplier of our current WMS indicated quite unexpectedly that they would no longer support our version,” says Van Goor. Here, too, UC Group's broad experience came in handy. “They were able to perfectly assess what a future WMS would have to meet in our case.”
He wanted a system with as little customization as possible and piggyback on the best practices at other companies. “I noticed that we ourselves tended to take our current processes as a starting point, while looking to the future. The people at UC Group can do that much better. They are neutral and, with the new system in mind, were able to balance the different WMS suppliers against each other.”
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Results

So far, UC Group has delivered the following items:

• Data analysis and scenario study into the logistical requirements that the DC must meet in the future
• Development of three automation variants including a business case
• Selection of a WMS that optimally meets future requirements and the new storage system
• Selecting the most appropriate system integrator for implementing the new Autostore system
• Guidance and quality control of both Autostore and WMS implementations
• Change management and “including” Saint Gobain employees in the transition to a new warehouse operation

Our solution

“I've known UC Group for a long time and I've also worked with them at my previous employer,” says Hugo van Goor, looking back on the project. “My UC Group contacts are always there for me and I can always call them to have a chat. Their partners have so much logistical knowledge and experience, and I'm happy to make use of that. I really see them as a partner of our company, and that gives me great peace of mind in my role as DC director.”

During the construction of the Autostore system and the implementation of the WMS, UC Group engineers will remain on standby to ensure that hardware and software are in line with Saint Gobain's chosen process design. “Our goal is to go live on August 15 and in between, we will also move to another room. It's going to be a tough few months, but with UC Group by our side, I'm confident that things will work out.”

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