Legallais expands south of Caen: a new warehouse at 25 million euros
By Gregory Maucorps
Published on
The company Legallais think big. And necessary to develop. Located to the south of Caen (Calvados), Saint-Andre-sur-Orne since 2005 for its logistics site (in Hérouville Saint-Clair for its headquarters), the hardware company is currently doubling its surface area in the business park south of Caen.
“Too cramped”
A extension of 24,000 m² has been under construction since November 2021, as an extension of the existing buildings.
We were too cramped. In recent years, we have stored 11,000 m² of our products with our colleagues at Supplyweb, in the Caen area. This extension will allow us to rationalize our space and reintegrate all our stock.
An extension to prepare for the future until 2030
The French leader in the sector with 1,200 employees is investing 25 million euros for the creation of this logistical setting in Saint-André-sur-Orne. “The price has also taken 27% between the call for tenders last year and the realization”, continues the CEO of the group.
Intended for professionals, Legallais offers more than 50,000 references in different trades: building hardware, fittings, plumbing, electricity, tools or site equipment.
We are an independent, family-owned company. The well-being of our employees is part of our DNA. With this new 24,000 m² building, we are preparing for the logistics future of the company until 2030.
The delivery of the building is scheduled for August and a reorganization will be carried out since it will accommodate large products, while the current building will be reserved for small products. With key recruitments.
Half of the roof of the new building being equipped with photovoltaic panels, this will make the equipment self-sufficient in energy, and will even allow Legallais to resell electricity.
The next day everywhere in France
The Saint-André-sur-Orne logistics site has two missions for Legallais, as site director Sandrine Graizon points out: storing for its customers (“we store for 35 million euros”) and guaranteeing its customers delivery the day after their order anywhere in France.
We are in Caen and it is not central, which is why we have to find solutions and be organized to deliver on time. You can order until 5 p.m. on the web. For example, the most complicated area to cover is the southwest of France for us. For this, the carrier’s truck must leave our house at 6 p.m. if we want our customers to be delivered. So you have to optimize.
However, the company announces an on-time delivery rate of 97%. And every morning, the Saint-André teams meet to discuss in order to improve the details that have gone wrong.
Annual growth of more than 10%… for 37 years!
With a turnover of 400 million euros in 2021, Legallais is a flourishing company: with growth of more than 10% each year… for 37 years! “Jeff Bezos and Amazon are inspired by the organization of Legallais”, jokes Rodolphe Thomas, vice-president of the Region.
The Normandy Region has in particular provided support of 500,000 euros to the Calvados company for its investment in automated order preparation lines. A project at around 5 million euros, included in the overall investment. “The Region is supporting this modernization for the development of employment”, resumes Rodolphe Thomas. “Legallais, a real small local business, which is innovative”.
A robotic tool to increase productivity
For the creation of this automated line, an extension of 3,000 m² was carried out in the existing building. Delivered at the beginning of the year, this building will see the installation of new equipment which should be operational on September 26th. These are two aisles 70 meters long and 9 meters high which will accommodate 46,000 bins of products.
“The idea is to increase productivity and reduce the journey for operators who travel 12 to 15 km a day,” says Sandrine Graizon. “Tomorrow, it is the products that will come to them and not the other way around”. We will go from 75 products processed per hour to 340, more than four times more. Two other identical aisles will be built next door in 2025.
The new 24,000 m² warehouse is in the home straight of its completion. Its delivery should take place at the end of August. The launch of the activity for the Legallais teams is scheduled for October. As for the repatriation of products stored at Supplyweb, this should be effective between December and March 2023, at the rate of two trucks per day for three months.
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