By the end of 2008, Grosfillex, a manufacturer of construction products and furniture for interiors and exteriors, will be deploying all of the modules in DDS Logistics’ DDS Shipper software package. These include: automated grouping and shipping, pre-billing, shipper management and sourcing traceability and simulation.

The objectives are to optimise the distribution and traceability of goods shipped from its French sites to its customer outlets and hubs around the world and in so doing, to reinforce its customer service. Ultimately, DDS Shipper will be capable of controlling all of the Group’s transport flows, particularly for its North American and Russian sites.

DDS Shipper is being deployed to implement a project called “Hermes” designed to improve the transport of the Grosfillex Group through structural evolution of the transport function, the optimisation of relations with shippers and improvement of the computerised information system.

Each year, 600,000 m3 of goods, i.e. the equivalent of 16,000 shipments, with peaks of up to 170 trucks per day, leave three Grosfillex sites based in l’Ain (01) and its adjoining warehouse (managed by a service provider). To control these flows, Grosfillex was looking for a TMS tool whose parameters could be adjusted and which would be operational in the shortest possible time, while remaining open-ended for later development.

“Our three divisions are independent in terms of operation and organisation. We had to find a tool which was capable of optimising delivery times and of monitoring and tracing our goods until they reached our customers –FMCG (Fast moving consumer goods) outlets, and Grosfillex worksites and concessions- and then of monitoring the performance of our shippers. It also had to be possible to adapt it to our structures. DDS Shipper was the most suitable tool for our needs and our organisation”, explained Yvan Nambotin, Supply Chain Manager for Grosfillex.

The various DDS Shipper modules will first be deployed to manage downstream flows. This will be done in three stages: ·

First stage : Parameterizing of pre-billing functions and other features for checking bills and automatically integrating shipper rates. This phase, which should be finished by the end of 2007, should enable us to automatically check bills by comparing the pre-bills with the bills issued by service providers. Rates could be simulated by integrating the rate lists of the various shippers.

Second stage, in the spring of 2008 : Deployment of the functions for automatic grouping of orders, booking transport orders and tracing shipments, to enable monitoring of all events. Grosfillex will then be able to control quality and measure service rates, in terms of quantity and delivery times, for each shipper.

Third stage : Parameterizing of functions for managing conflicts and simulating transport procurement.

Control and management of all downstream flows for Grosfillex’s French sites will be operational by the end of 2008.

Following this first deployment, DDS Shipper should manage all of the Group’s transport flows ; inter-site flows, downstream flows, reverse flows and flows which are not part of customer orders (samples, products for trade fairs, etc) for all Grosfillex sites.