Pallet racking in the warehouse of logistics operator Dometrans in France

The importance of logistics

Headquartered in the city of Lille (in the north of France), Dometrans is a logistics operator that provides services to all types of companies, regardless of their industrial sector.

The firms’ supply chains are becoming increasingly complex, with multiple SKUs and numerous orders that have to be delivered as quickly as possible. As these companies are aware of the important role that logistics plays in their business, they look to collaborate with specialised companies that can more efficiently manage all their operations.

Logistics operators store their customers’ goods, handle them and prepare orders, at the appropriate times. As these operators manage such diverse products, they allocate many resources to improving their installations and processes in order to adapt to their customers’ requirements. For example, Dometrans has renovated its 6,072 m² warehouse to accommodate approximately 1,000 SKUs and, in the words of Dometrans CEO Benoît Henno, “to expand our company into new markets”.

Warehouse features

Mecalux has set up pallet racks that occupy almost the entire surface area of the installation. They stand 8 m high and provide storage capacity for 4,060 pallets measuring 800 x 1,200 mm with a maximum unit weight of 650 kg.

This solution stands out for its versatility. Benoît Henno stresses that “we chose these pallet racks by Mecalux, above all, for their flexibility, as they enable us to store all kinds of products.” Dometrans’ stock, made up mainly of packaging material, is extremely diverse, containing pallets for small-sized goods as well as for items of considerable height (up to 2,500 mm tall). The racking levels have been adapted to this variety, and, thus, certain slots are bigger.

This type of racking was also chosen for its direct access to pallets, facilitating handling. The warehouse receives and dispatches 500 pallets per day on average (approximately 300 arrive from suppliers and production centres, while 200 are sent to plants and to Dometrans’ customers throughout France.

Having direct access to the goods makes all the centre’s operations a lot faster; with the help of pallet trucks, operators can quickly insert and remove loads from their locations and, thus, shorten product storage and distribution times. In this regard, the Dometrans CEO affirms, “The operators have quickly familiarised themselves with the racks and how they work.”

The warehouse is designed to ensure goods flows as per the company’s requirements. Thanks to its large size, the installation was fitted out with two underpasses that cut across the racks to streamline workflows in addition to serving as emergency exits.

A warehouse tailored to its needs

In its new warehouse, the logistics operator can efficiently manage the 1,000 SKUs of varying sizes with which it works and, at the same time, receive and dispatch an average of 500 pallets per day without error and in the shortest possible time. All of this has been achieved while also taking into account the company’s growth prospects.

Benoît Henno - CEO of Dometrans
“We chose Mecalux to fit-out our Templemars warehouse primarily because it fulfilled three requirements: quick delivery times, fast and efficient racking assembly and, lastly, a price in line with market conditions.”

Advantages for Dometrans

• Storage capacity: pallet racks make maximum use of the available space to provide storage capacity for 4,060 pallets.
• High productivity: direct access to merchandise ensures more flexible goods management and increased flows of incoming and outgoing products.
• Numerous products: pallet racking stands out for its versatility to adapt the levels to Dometrans’ 1,000 different SKUs, including pallets for small as well as very tall items.