SMART WAREHOUSE AUTOMATION FOR SPARTOO'S FUTURE GROWTH

In October 2015, Spartoo, a leading online retailer for shoes and clothing, inaugurated its new, automated warehouse in St. Quentin Fallavier, near Lyon, France - another important milestone in the success story of this young  and dynamic e-commerce company, founded only ten years ago.

Lyon-based Actemium, the VINCI Energies brand dedicated to industrial process automation, successfully implemented a fully automated material handling system for Spartoo's internal logistics processes that would give Spartoo full control over their supply chain and improve quality of service. A big undertaking with significant challenges that required real teamwork throughout the entire project. 

THE CHALLENGE

Since its founding in 2006, Spartoo has been a runaway success and the company's sale of shoes, clothing and accessories increased quickly. With currently over 400 employees and a presence in more than 25 countries including France, Germany, England, Italy, and Spain, the company has almost 3500 brands and 300,000 models in its online product catalogue.

This rapid growth brought some significant challenges to Spartoo and in order to maintain the highest level of customer service and on-time deliveries, the company decided to insource its logistics processes to gain control over its supply chain. As a result, an investment in process automation was of crucial importance.

THE SOLUTION

Spartoo required a strong, experienced partner for this strategic project who would take full project responsibility. Based on Spartoo's requirements in terms of throughput, layout and budget, Actemium was selected as responsible system integrator for the overall project.

Their specific experience in the retail and CEP market and the proposed automation solution gave Spartoo the peace of mind they wanted. And Actemium delivered - in time and on specification. The Actemium engineers together with Spartoo project managers designed the complete warehouse, from goods reception to shipping, based on a throughput of approx. 30'000 pairs of shoes per day, and developed the overall process layout.

In terms of equipment, the scope of supply ranged from mechanical to electronic and IT systems and included conveyors and sorters, transfers, weighing and packing machines, tracking systems, and label printers. The whole installation is controlled through Actemium's warehouse control and IT systems and the Actemium team assisted Spartoo in the implementation of RFID identification on all products. 

For the vertical transportation of boxes, Actemium relied on the industry-leading technology of Qimarox and installed two vertical conveyors on the mezzanine floor. Conveying lines were built with the energy-efficient 24V technology from Interroll, with over 5'000 driven and non-driven rollers.

IN A NUTSHELL

Gaining more control over their entire supply chain was key driver for Spartoo to invest in smart process automation that would support their future growth. The most important result for Spartoo became obvious immediately: the new warehouse and all its logistics processes could be monitored at all times and corrective actions could be taken without delay. 

Actemium's automation concept for the new warehouse was tailored to the specific needs of Spartoo and proved to be a robust and efficient solution: the new, improved flow of goods helped Spartoo reduce delivery times, improve their quality of service and eliminate human error.

COMPANY DETAILS ACTEMIUM

As a specialist in designing and integrating intralogistics solutions, Actemium is responsible for projects for automated commissioning systems, packaging and dispatch lines, conveyor and sorting systems with a high cycle frequency and software products for supply chains. 

Its experience, the availability of its teams and the services provided by the VINCI network enable Actemium to guarantee that it can perform 24/7 maintenance on sorting systems created or optimized at its customers’ premises in France and Europe. The teams are used by the most important stakeholders in the sector of sales companies, e-commerce, courier services and industry throughout Europe: Etam, FedEx, Geodis, La Poste, E. Leclerc, Spartoo, Showroomprive.com, TNT, XPO, etc.

Download the case study here:  ROI_Success Story_Actemium_Qimarox_EN_2017.pdf