French retailer Leclerc has begun work on its new 30,000 sq m (322,917 sq ft) automated logistics centre near Colmar, Alsace. The new warehouse will be dedicated to dry goods and has a completion date pencilled in for 2014.
The warehouse will supply the retailer's nine departments located in Alsace, Lorraine, Franche-Comté and Burgundy, through Scapalsace, Leclerc's central buying company for the region, according to LSA. 44 hypermarkets, 6 Brico Leclerc (its hardware banner), 15 Drive outlets and 6 Leclerc Express stores will be serviced by the new centre.
German company Witron is working on the project, following a similar project for Swiss-retailer Migros. The new system will allow the processing of up to 254,000 units per day, with better efficiency in distribution. This supply chain overhaul is expected to make savings of up to 15 per cent, while allowing for an increase of 30 per cent in volumes.
Leclerc's recent partnership with Coop Alsace makes the investment all the more pertinent. Daniel Prunier, President at Scapalsace, said, "Our business is growing rapidly with the affiliation of Coop Alsace." He added, "The number of references in dried products is very important, around 40,000, with seasonal peaks. However, we need more modern tools than with our current platforms, which are still largely manual." (23 Oct)
© 2012 - ESM: European Supermarket Magazine
