Logistics service provider Soditra Logistic is expanding its existing warehouse in Nivelles to centralise all operations for L'Oréal. In addition to the existing robotised picking zone for medium and slow movers and the pallet warehouse, Savoye will build a new zone-to-zone picking system. This will include complete flow racks, a box sealer, weighing machines, conveyors and a WaCS for control. In the process, Savoye will provide a connection between the two zones with integration of an additional transport line for waste and excess cardboard.
Moving without interruption
The Belgian company Soditra Logistic has been acting as a 3PL for L’Oréal for many years, with its first site in Mollem (Asse), north of Brussels. At that time, L’Oréal still handled part of its logistics in-house from a site in the Netherlands. Over time, Soditra Logistic was assigned an increasing volume of work. The company also began offering Value-Added Services, such as the assembly of point-of-sale displays (POS) and the packaging of products in film using hot or cold shrink wrapping, following on from the conditioning and de-conditioning processes, depending on the requirements of L’Oréal’s customers. L’Oréal’s objective was to develop greater flexibility, responsiveness and, above all, greater synergy; to this end, they decided to outsource all activities for the Benelux region to their long-standing partner, Soditra Logistic.
This marks the beginning of an internal reorganisation in which work for other customers will move to Mollem and logistics for L'Oréal will come under one roof in Nivelles. To this end, this site will be expanded from 16,000m2 to 30,000m2, with a complete redesign.
The logistics puzzle re-laid
The work in Nivelles can be divided into three parts:
1. Complete pallets in and out.
2. Standard picking. Order picker picks products and completely builds the pallet/order.
3. Detail picking; a box/package is built up with different items. First, this was carried out with picking trolleys. In 2018, new technology was added, robots and mobile shelving combined with four picking stations.
The above classification was mainly determined for the different rotation classes of products; fast movers and slow movers, 20%-80% of references in stock and 80%-20% of goods flows.
Now that all the work for L'Oréal was coming under one roof, a key question had to be answered: "What is the best mix to start executing everything perfectly?"
The pros and cons of both goods-to-man and man-to-goods solutions were weighed against each other with the three rotation classes as a starting point. Man-to-goods simplifies the supply process, but with less output. And with goods-to-man, it is exactly the other way round. A study followed to find the best solution.
The connected zones
One of the report's conclusions was that merging all product classes within one system was not going to work. The different picking zones would remain. Still, orders with products from the two different zones had to be brought together. Things like ROI and productivity had to improve in the new set-up. Savoy developed a solution where the boxes pass through both zones via a conveyor system, so that even combined orders end up in the same box. With this solution, Soditra Logistic is not only productive but also reduces its carbon footprint according to L'Oréal standards. Basically, Soditra Logistic works with four types of boxes that can be sealed by the same machine.
After the zone with robots, the boxes will be transported to zone-to-zone picking, which will work with flow racks (supply from the back) and fixed pick stations, through which the open boxes will be transported. RF technology is used to indicate the quantities to be placed in the box. Eventually, the boxes will arrive at eight exit lanes to be prepared for shipment.
Particularly efficient is the solution to remove empty packaging from the picking process. Savoye is integrating an additional transport line alongside the main line, on which all excess material can be taken directly to a shredder.
Jean-Luc Waetermans, Business Development Director at Soditra Logistic says: "It has been quite a puzzle to expand and redesign the building in Nivelles. We only had one year to complete the whole process, never allowing work to come to a halt. Savoye helped us devise and shape this integrated solution. The collaboration is going according to plan and in July we expect to be fully operational. Complete with a more productive and efficient process in the warehouse."
Some key figures warehouse Nivelles:
150 employees,
30.000 m2
12,000 SKUs
Storage of 27,000 pallets
More than 40,000 incoming pallets per year
More than 250,000 orders per year
