This case history about C&S Wholesale Grocers comes courtesy of Retalix. It has been selected and edited by the MHM editorial staff for clarity, content and style.
MCA Maubeuge (Maubeuge Construction Automobile) is a facility belonging the french car manufacturer Renault. The company is located in Maubeuge (North of France) and manufactures the “Kangoo” utility vehicle.
The initial situation:
The fork-lift truck drivers are in charge of the “just in time” supply of the production lines with spare parts. But only 60% of their time is dedicated to supplying the production line, the rest (40 %) is spent in waiting for a new order. This often comes too late and leads to frequent production line stops.
The customer needs:
MCA Maubeuge wants to improve efficiency and working conditions, by optimising the work of the fork-lift truck drivers, removing bottlenecks and increasing reactivity. The solution shall be smartly integrated, reliable, flexible and simple-to-use. Every event shall be traced and logged, to allow a further analysis of the quality-of-service and return-on-investment.
The Ascom Wireless solution: Promax™
The solution designed by Ascom Wireless France is an absolute “must” at Renault. As soon as a component runs low on stock, the operator on the product line calls for restocking to the fork-lift truck driver, by simply pushing a call button located in his working area. His request is immediately sent to the fork-lift truck driver’s pager; the message specifies in clear text the needed product reference.
The demands are anticipated, the operator is granted the responsibility for the efficient handling of his local stock, the forklift truck drivers no longer waste their time waiting for new requests, and they are no longer struggling with urgencies. The employees stress is reduced; the quality of their work increases and the organisation becomes more proactive and flexible.
The system designed by Ascom has a capacity of 3.000 calls per hour. It is highly flexible, thanks to the wireless “plug-andplay” call buttons which can be easily moved anywhere on the production line. These call buttons are battery powered, i.e. they don’t need any additional wiring. The administration interface allows to easily modifying the number of call buttons, and the associated messages sent to the pages.
Thanks to the systematic centralized logging of every event, the customer benefits from a high-quality database which allows him to detect and overcome errors and to continuously improve the processes. The investment and operating costs are under control, whereas the return on investment is very quick.
Benefits for the customer:
• No more production stops due to bottlenecks in the supply chain
• A more flexible organization
• A better reactivity, more anticipation
• An improved regularity of the supply flows
• An optimised production, compliant with committed delivery delays
• A more effective communication between stakeholders
• Improved follow-up and statistics through centralized event logging
• Improved quality of service and image
MHMonline.com welcomes relevant, exclusive case histories that explain in specific detail the business benefits that new software and material-handling equipment has provided to specific users. Send submissions to Mary Aichlmayr([email protected]), MHM Editor. All submissions will be edited for clarity, content and style.
