EXOTEC chooses BEVOLTA to optimize its supply chain

The French manufacturer of logistics robots has chosen the BEVOLTA solution to optimise its flows. The goal of the first French industrial unicorn, which topped the 2022 ranking of growth champions (source: Les Echos): to maintain at least for the next three years a level of development that sees its revenue and teams double each year. An ambition that permeates all levels of the company, particularly the supply chain. An interview with David Lassus-Pigat, strategic project manager at Exotec.

- In the hyper-growth framework that is yours, one imagines that an optimised and efficient supply chain is an imperative?

Yes, it is clearly our objective, as we need to industrialise our organisation, having moved from a startup based on one continent – where management was mainly handled via EXCEL spreadsheets – to a structure established on 3 continents with 4 distinct sales entities and factories that are expanding internationally. With this comes issues of after-sales service, maritime transport, stock management, and supply accentuated by the crisis context and the soaring cost of raw materials.

In this context, we had to tighten our control over stock volume, be capable of supplying on time, worldwide, while mastering our delivery lead times.

So many points we did not handle as well before.

- Has the Demand Driven – DDMRP – vision proved particularly relevant?

Yes, unquestionably.

- How did you come to choose this methodology?

Our industrial director wanted us to conduct a comparative study with the MRP methodology that had been implemented. We were familiar with historical methodologies, notably the Kanban method that we were already deploying in production, but it was ultimately the Demand Driven methodology that proved most aligned with our issues. We therefore launched a project to progressively implement it, starting with our robot production factory in France before expanding into other factories, our distribution network, and finally potentially towards the project pole managing customer project installations.

- Where are you in the deployment of the solution?

The solution is currently in place in two of our factories and tested on continental distribution.

- What is your feedback on the BEVOLTA solution?

At the bidding stage launched in 2020 with the Citwell firm, it was very clearly the technical superiority of the BEVOLTA solution that guided our choice. It was a constraint of our ERP, we needed a solution that was powerful and dynamic, capable of real-time updates instead of a single calculation per day based on data imported once a day, as was the case elsewhere.

Then, during the project, the solution proved to be very powerful technically, we were able to fully automate all the solution settings, meaning that when a product is added, a decision tree is coded in the solution allowing the product to be declined completely automatically with different lead times and buffer sizes. This allows us to continue growing at a very sustained pace, adding products to the catalogue or production sites very easily.

Another very pleasant aspect of the solution: the possibility of opening read access allowing visibility on the supply chain to many people in the company. For example, much of the design team is able to see the impact on the supply chain of a product development, what stock we have today, and when we will be able to put this new product into production. This was not the case before; we would push a production start date, leaving it to the supply chain to adapt.

We finally note a significant gain in visibility and efficiency at the level of supplies, as well as a very significant gain in scheduling compared to the ERP, which was too complex. Schedulers plan their production according to needs and resource capacities.

This better visibility on our supply chain provided by BEVOLTA is of course a key point in achieving our performance objectives.

- Was the solution easy to handle?

Yes absolutely, this is a crucial point. After the 30 minutes needed to explain what a buffer is, we see that the buyers take ownership of the solution within a few days, which was not at all the case with more classic MRP methods. Given the pace at which the teams are expanding, this is an appreciable point! The fact that the solution configures itself is also a huge advancement; there is no longer all this learning to change minimum safety stocks every few days, it is now very simple, as an administrator manages the decision tree with six to eight buyers working almost autonomously.

The need for training is thus considerably reduced, although this depends on the depth level of use given the complex nomenclatures that are ours, with six or even eight levels of nomenclature depending on the references.

- How is your relationship with the BEVOLTA team going, who remain your partner in the deployment and optimisation of the solution?

We are continually working on optimizations, in this perspective we appreciate the flexibility and support offered by a solution like BEVOLTA. We somewhat found ourselves in this team with whom we share the passion for innovation!

Interview by Ghislain Journé.

EXOTEC in brief:

• Year of creation: 2015

• Headquarters: Croix, in the North

• CEO: Romain Moulin

• Turnover: €111 million in 2021

• Number of employees: 500

• Valuation: €2 billion

• Latest fundraising: $335 million in January 2022

• Learn more about EXOTEC.