A logistics revolution becomes a turning point for operational efficiency

staufen magazine 2024 | No. 7 | Saint Gobain | Operational Excellence

Saint-Gobain, a multinational giant with origins dating back to 17th-century in France, has long been synonymous with high-quality products.

As the market evolved, particularly in response to changing consumption patterns in the construction sector post-Covid-19 pandemic, Saint-Gobain‘s construction products division in Brazil – comprising brands such as Quartzolit, Brasilit, Placo, Isover, and Ecophon, collectively known as PPC (Construction Products) within Saint-Gobain – faced the challenge of adapting its complex supply chain to meet the new demands of a diversified portfolio and a dynamically evolving Brazilian market.

To address this challenge head-on, Saint-Gobain trusted on Staufen‘s expertise, leading to a logistics transformation that is reshaping the operational excellence of its Brazilian subsidiary.

Luiz Manssur

Executive Director of Supply Chain

Saint-Gobain, Brazil

Navigating a new era of logistics complexity

With a strong global presence, Saint-Gobain provides solutions across diverse markets including industry, construction, and mobility. However, the shift towards a more dynamic and demanding
market environment has necessitated significant adjustments, particularly for Quartzolit, where small and medium-sized retailers now constitute the majority of customers. Combined with a substantial expansion in product offerings, prompted a comprehensive review of the company‘s logistics operations.

Luiz Manssur, Executive Director of Supply Chain at Saint-Gobain Brazil, emphasizes, ”Today, Quartzolit not only maintains its commitment to quality, but also manages a significantly expanded portfolio to meet the demands of customers requiring greater agility and flexibility.” He adds, ”This evolution required our logistics operations to adapt to handling more frequent and smaller batch orders, a departure from our previous practices. Managing inventory has become more intricate, demanding enhanced efficiency to mitigate impacts on costs and service quality.”

Managing inventory has become more intricate, demanding enhanced efficiency to mitigate impacts on costs and service quality.

Luiz Manssur
Executive Director of Supply Chain, Saint-Gobain Brazil

The solution: a collaborative project with Staufen

To meet these challenges, the journey began with a pilot project focused on optimizing logistics. This initiative included a thorough evaluation of existing processes, encompassing layout revisions, structural adjustments, and detailed analysis of specific needs such as movement flow and inventory scaling. Improvements were implemented not only in factory warehouses, but also across distribution centers. Manssur highlights, ”Reevaluating all processes and selecting the optimal technology for this new management approach was essential. Choosing the most suitable Warehouse Management System (WMS) for Saint-Gobain‘s requirements was fundamental to this transformation, enabling more efficient and integrated management.”

Achieving measurable results: efficiency
and expansion

The outcomes have been impressive. Following Staufen‘s optimization efforts, logistics operations at Quartzolit‘s factories and distribution centers were streamlined and redesigned, resulting in enhanced efficiency and increased capacity for storage and dispatch, all without heightening operational costs. Luiz Manssur reports, ”Currently, we distribute a 25 % larger product portfolio efficiently and punctually, process 15 % more orders, and have reduced batch sizes by 14 % compared to pre-pandemic levels.”

The São Paulo distribution center now fulfills orders within one day, a notable improvement from the industry‘s previous standard of three days.

About Saint-Gobain

Saint-Gobain designs, manufactures, and distributes innovative materials and solutions, catering to sectors ranging from construction to high-tech industries. In Brazil, where it has been operating for over 80 years, the company manages a diverse portfolio of brands including Quartzolit, Brasilit, Placo, Isover, Ecophon, Norton, PAM, Sekurit, and Telhanorte. With a workforce exceeding 20,000 employees, Saint-Gobain Brazil currently oversees 58 factories, 42 distribution centers, 10 mines, 74 stores, 9 commercial offices, and a dedicated research and development center.

76

Countries

170.000

employees worldwide

47,900

MM EUR IN SALES WORLDWIDE

Scaling the transformation

Saint-Gobain Brazil plans to extend this optimized model to other group entities. A dedicated logistics engineering office has been established, comprising specialists responsible for designing and executing the project in less complex operations, laying the groundwork for future expansions. Manssur concludes, ”Through a meticulously structured project focused on outcomes, we not only meet the evolving market demands but also position ourselves for sustained growth, setting a benchmark for our other units.”

Your Contact
Luciana Barros Staufen

Luciana Barros

Marketing & Academy Manager

STAUFEN.Táktica

Phone: (+55) 19 98876 5178

E-Mail: l.barros@staufen.com.br

Get in Touch with us.

Staufen, your reference for Operational Excellence.
As the leading top management consultancy for operational excellence, we enable our clients to improve results in all areas along the value chain.

REQUEST THE MAGAZINE NOW AS A DIGITAL VERSION OR PRINT EDITION

    Fields marked with a * are required.

    I would additionally like to order the Magazine as a print version

    By clicking on "Request Magazine now", I consent to Staufen AG using my data according to the ­data protection in order to provide me with information on products, publications and further training offers by e-mail, direct message, newsletter or telephone that goes beyond this specific request. I may object to the use of my data for advertising purposes at any time at datenschutz@staufen.ag or revoke any consent I have given.

    You might also be interested in

    Magazine
    September 16, 2021

    Transformation in the brazilian construction industry

    Tenda is one of the main construction companies in Brazil, providing affordable housing to an increasing number of families investing in first-time home ownership. All projects are launched within the ‘Casa Verde e Amarela’ Government Program, aimed at families with a gross monthly income of up to R$4,000.

    Read more
    Magazine
    August 14, 2023

    Tracking stability instead of a roller coaster ride 

    During the pandemic, all bicycle manufacturers struggled with supply chain problems, as the demand for e-bikes in particular increased dramatically. Flyer, a Swiss e-bike manufacturer, is now working on making its supply chain network more transparent and resilient.

    Read more
    Car Factory Engineer in Work Uniform Using Laptop Computer with Spreadsheet Software. Working with Software at Automotive Industrial Manufacturing Facility Dedicated for Vehicle Production.
    Magazine
    September 19, 2024

    Production logistics: data-driven and efficient

    In order to work successfully for an OEM, communication and IT harmonization are crucial for the intralogistics experts at Rhenus Automotive. While data harmonization makes it possible to react to deviations in real time, intensive multilingual training ensures that everything runs quickly and error-free, even in modern production environments with driverless transport systems and “pick-by-light” processes.

    Read more

    Stay up to date

    Subscribe to our newsletter
    Staufen Back To Top Button