Springboard for further development

Franchisees, employees, suppliers and other business partners of Aveve were able to see the efficiency of the new logistics centre for themselves at an open day during the first weekend in February. The new facility came on stream back in November, having taken a year to construct. Aveve hopes that its new building, which is exclusively for the use of the company’s retail arm, will deliver higher productivity and logistical efficiency as well as improving the supply of goods to its 250-plus stores. 50 of the stores are operated by the company itself and the other 200 by franchisees. The group aims to centralise the supply to the stores step by step. Its range is to be streamlined from 28 000 items at present to a maximum of 18 000, and Aveve also intends to concentrate the number of suppliers it uses. By centralising the supply to the stores, Aveve wants to create conditions enabling the sales staff in the stores to spend more time in future on their key task of advising customers. To relieve the burden on store sales staff, many stores have specific staff-members who fill the shelves before or after opening hours. The new building covers an area of 36 000 m2, making it the largest ever constructed by Aveve. The company has invested € 20 mio in it, a sign that it considers the retail sector extremely important. Seven smaller warehouses, together occupying an area of 20 000 m2, have been replaced by the new centre. The new logistics centre has space for 54 000 pallets. Plans are also in hand to construct a separate warehouse for plant protection products in stage two of the project in the second half of the year. Environmental issues were also given serious consideration in the construction of the new building. The interior of the logistics centre is equipped with dimmable LED lighting. Motion detectors between the corridors of racks ensure that the light is only activated when people are working in the racks, otherwise the lighting is adapted to the daylight entering the building from outside. For heating the building, Aveve opted for underfloor heating. Tubes covering a length of 120 km and carrying hot water were incorporated into the concrete for this purpose, with geothermal energy used to heat the water. A network of 16 wells, each with 12 drill pipes, is located among the roads around the building. The water is controlled in a closed circuit to a depth of 43 m by these. Solar panels are also to be mounted on the roof. This package of measures is…