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Packaging, like the product itself, is a key component of any offering, and as such it is one of Winoa’s key priorities. In January 2012, the group launched new packaging for its Premium range and, in accordance with the W Abrasives graphical charter, we have also chosen a new design for labelling our cardboard covers. This labelling will later be extended across the group’s entire packaging range.Through this new design, the Winoa group is promoting its Premium range, drawing on the reputation of our global W Abrasives brand. All products in the Premium range will now be easily identifiable throughout the world and stand out not only from the traditional packaging of our standard products, but also from that of competitors.
If this new design is an important factor in ensuring that customers recognise our products, Winoa isn’t stopping there: we’re undertaking to improve stock management procedures in order to secure and improve the logistics surrounding all of our products and provide our customers with the best possible service.
In 2010 Winoa implemented a barcode traceability system on the Cheylas site as part of a comprehensive approach to improving and optimising the reliability of our stock management. But this was only the first step, and since then Winoa has developed a partnership with a new logistics subcontractor, Geodis-BM, to whom we have outsourced the management and storage of our product stocks.
For Winoa, choosing Geodis-BM meant securing a new partner that meets the needs of our customers: a quality service for quality products. It was all about placing the customer at the heart of our approach.
Today, Winoa and Geodis-BM are pursuing this objective by means of:
- a WMS (Warehousing Management System) to manage stock
- a barcode traceability system
- a storage system that uses racks and not bulk storage
- a short-term project to create an EDI (Electronic Data Interchange).
This collaboration is an effective part of our policy to ensure customer satisfaction and a convincing illustration of it. All delivery errors can now been prevented thanks to the complete automation of the traceability process, a success story in which the use of barcodes has played a central role.
The requirements of storing products on racks have also led to improvements in the quality of our packaging. Together, all of these measures allow stock to be managed based on a FIFO (First In, First Out) system, the like of which is impossible in a manually recorded bulk storage system.
As part of its general policy, Geodis-BM is fully committed to sustainable development. Conscious of its environmental impact and the wellbeing of its employees, this new partner has been able to supply Winoa with qualified, motivated personnel operating in a safe and modern working environment that complies with the very latest standards. Winoa has found a partner that knows how to fulfil our needs, and thereby those of our customers.Today Winoa can provide customers with a quality service that has seen an 80% drop in non-conformities during the delivery phase as a result of packaging.