Normandie Entrepôts Logistique

Situation

Founded in 1870 under the name "Compagnie des Docks et Entrepôts du Havre", the family-owned SME Normandie Entrepôts Logistique - NEL, a specialist in import-export flows, is renowned for its experience, human expertise and numerous approvals (FDA, Organic Certification, Consigne Vétérinaire...). With its 10,000 m2 logistics platform (90,000 m3 of storage space) in Le Havre, NEL, which holds the 6PL - Performances Logistiques Durables - label, offers its customers tailor-made logistics services for export stuffing and import unstuffing of containers, warehousing, order preparation, labeling and bringing goods into compliance with customs requirements.

In order to gain in efficiency and traceability of flows, a guarantee of control of regulatory risk in its "just-in-time" business, NEL has chosen to digitalize its Supply Chain, deploying Infflux's BEXT WS solution in November 2019, coupled with the customs authorities' counter, the AP+ software solution interfaced by Soget.

Gwendal Meledo, Managing Director of NEL, tells us: "In addition to meeting the requirements of our AEO certification, the BEXT solution meets our desire to accelerate the processing of our physical-information flows, make our operational reception-shipment processes more reliable, and guarantee inventory views and material accounting, which can be made available to our customers and the customs authorities on simple request and at any time."

Solutions

In order to meet the dual challenge of piloting information flows and optimizing operational processes, NEL decided to modernize its technological infrastructure, from the selection of a WMS solution to the overhaul of its Wifi network and the implementation of cloud-based virtual server backup. The project aims to guarantee "flawless" information integrity and agile logistics processes, in keeping with NEL's "made-to-measure" services. After an extensive consultation of market offerings, NEL chose Infflux's BEXT solution in autumn 2018, which stood out for its flexibility, speed of implementation, integration capabilities, customization options and SQL database facilitating queries and analyses.

Gwendal Meledo adds: "Over and above the technological solution, we were won over by the quality of Infflux's contacts, who really understood the specifics of our project, from the upstream and downstream traceability of flows to the control logic at every stage, and even the implementation of locks." In order to exploit the full potential of the BEXT solution, NEL underwent a technological makeover, overhauling its IT architecture and backup approach, boosting its wifi coverage with Cisco Meraki equipment, and its automatic identification solutions with Zebra guns and printers. In addition to the latest-generation pistols, NEL has equipped its forklift drivers with smartphones to take and email photos during unloading and unpacking, and to summon drivers via a SaaS application for managing driver queues.

This equipment reflects NEL's commitment to putting the best of technology at the service of rapid flow processing. According to Gwendal Meledo, "Given the disruptive innovation that this project represented for a family-run SME with a strong human capital base, we wanted to accompany our thirty or so employees in the change, by involving them upstream and at every stage, so that they would become active and responsible players."

Results

BEXT's agility guarantees immediate benefits The highly flexible BEXT solution ensures reliable, agile management of all incoming and outgoing flows to and from the NEL bonded warehouse. It guarantees an unrivalled stock image and fluidity of the customs information chain, by delivering real-time information to the customs counter, the AP+ software solution interfaced by Soget.

In addition to upstream and downstream traceability, the BEXT solution optimizes all NEL's logistics processes linked to its export business - arrival of goods by truck, centralization and grouping into containers and outbound - and import - arrival of containers, unloading, location management, pallet preparation and departure by truck. What's more, the BEXT solution monitors pallet processes and routing at every stage, with particular emphasis on loads and batch integrity, and reports any malfunctions so that corrective action can be taken.

It protects NEL from the risk of being "left behind" with locks, and disseminates best practices according to the regulations in force for the goods - organic, vet... In line with current customs regulations, it provides in-depth inventory views, which can be made available to customers and customs authorities on request at any time.

Outlook

In the coming months, NEL intends to take instantaneous information availability a step further, by offering our major customers, who have tight deadlines, the possibility of automatically integrating events from our system.

"In addition to demonstrating our agility in the face of a situation as unprecedented as it was sudden, this project, a real human adventure, truly mobilized our employees, who are extremely proud to have contributed to the national health effort. When a project has meaning and a clear objective, employees and partners unite and the capacity for action is multiplied in the service of the collective."

Observation

Need for greater efficiency and traceability

Solutions

Selection of a WMS solution

Results

Reliable, agile management of all flows

Outlook

Integration of events from the entire IS