Distrilog magazine Edition 01 - 2021

STREAMLINING YOUR LOGISTICS

EDITION 01–2021 WWW.DISTRILOG.BE

Distrilog

IS GETTING GREENER

Distrilog

AND COVID-19

Extension

OF OLEN DEPOT

Dear Member of the Distrilog Family, FIRST OF ALL, MY BEST WISHES TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY IN 2021!

2020 will definitely go down in history as the famous COVID-19 year. Within the Distrilog channels, it will be remembered, in addition to COVID-19, as the year in which we achieved unprecedented volumes for our retail and e-commerce customers in non-event conditions. Thanks to this growth, we were able to compensate for the decline in sales in other customer segments.

2021 heralds a more hopeful future. The light at the end of the tunnel is in sight thanks to the approved vaccines being distributed. In any case, Distrilog is off

to a good start. We broke ground in January for the expansion of our warehouse in Olen and obtained the ISO 45001 and FSSC 22000 certificates. In addition, 2021 represents a year of additional investments in the professionalisation and greening of Distrilog’s services and operations. Better tracking of goods through the introduction of a scanner for drivers, a further reduction in our CO2 emissions through the purchase of new LNG vehicles, and lower energy consumption thanks to the installation of LED lighting in three warehouses are just a few examples. You can learn all about it in this magazine.

We hope you enjoy reading it!

PHILIP SALAERTS

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2021

3D design of the extension in Olen

Looking ahead at

2020 WAS AN UNUSUAL YEAR – TO SAY THE LEAST. WHAT PLANS AND ACTIVITIES CAN WE LOOK FORWARD TO IN 2021?

and trailer park will first be installed, before commencing the structural work. All work should be complete by the end of 2021.

Extension of Olen depot

Scanners for drivers allow better tracking of goods

The Olen depot is to be extended this year. A further 9.000m² of floor space will be built beside the present 15.000m² warehouse. This extension will have 30 docks, and support the existing crossdocking hub. Also, the warehousing will be increased with an additional +/- 7.000 pallet spaces, in order to continue serving existing clients in Olen and provide room for new opportunities.

The earthworks required to prepare the land for building began in early January. A handy new circulation path

Following a thorough testing phase, the use of Tx-Flex scanners by drivers has been steadily rolled out per depot since the beginning of December.

These scanners are really handy to operate, and make life easier for drivers by replacing and simplifying the paperwork. Bluetooth is used to connect the scanner to the on-board computer. The barcodes on every pallet are scanned as goods are loaded or unloaded.

For clients, this means an improvement in the tracking of their goods,

immediate notification of any damage along with a photo, plus the digital signing of delivery notes. This simplifies the administration for drivers. After activating the SIM card, the scanner can also be used as a telephone. Finally, the driver can also consult his schedule for the next day from home.

Implementation of these scanners is also another step towards our goal to achieve a paperless service provision.

Safety first In 2021, in an effort to monitor and improve the driving behaviour of our drivers and the external conditions in which they work, Distrilog Group will equip part of its fleet with an extra black box and dashcam. This investment follows a test case with Route42,

targeting the safety of our drivers.

Specifically, this concerns 20 vehicles, 5% of the fleet, which will be equipped with this additional apparatus in the spring of 2021.

Implementation of AFAS This year, we are rolling out a new Human Resources system, called AFAS. This software guarantees a transparent and simplified process for HR management. The system will also be more accessible to our employees, allowing them to become involved in tracking their own personal file.

Distrilog is getting greener SUSTAINABLE LOGISTICS IS ONE OF DISTRILOG’S SPEARHEADS. FOR EXAMPLE, IN 2014, OUR COMPANY WAS AWARDED THE “LEAN AND GREEN AWARD”, WE SIGNED THE “SUSTAINABLE LOGISTICS” CHARTER, AND WE TOOK PART IN THE FLEMISH INSTITUTE FOR LOGISTICS “POWERING LOGISTICS PROJECT”.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HOW DISTRILOG IS GETTING EVEN MORE FOCUSSED ON SUSTAINABILITY?

Cardboard machine: an example of the circular economy

The first corona wave accelerated the purchase of this cardboard machine. Automation of the operation has meant that a number of employees can now be used for storage and order picking. A smart increase in efficiency.

LNG: our fleet continues to expand Since the first order in 2015, 21 LNG trucks are currently on the road for Distrilog Group. Due to the ever-increasing diesel bans in cities, and objectives to reduce CO₂ and transport emissions by 30%, we can offer our customers a perfect answer with this green fleet. In 2021, we will further expand the fleet by 10 more vehicles. In addition to the introduction of LNG, we also made some other optimisations to help the climate, such as increasing the load factor and including return freight.

HVO diesel: running on waste products and fats Maes Energy & Mobility recently opened two HVO filling stations in Puurs and Londerzeel, and Distrilog Group could not afford to miss this opportunity. Our company immediately jumped on the bandwagon.

HVO stands for Hydrated Vegetable Oil and the product is made from waste products and fats from the food industry. It is currently the most sustainable fuel for diesel vehicles on the market, with as much as 89% fewer CO₂ emissions, 30% less particulate

LED lighting: an investment in more energy-efficient depots In 2021, the lighting in the warehouses located at Victor Dumontlaan 2 and 3 in Willebroek and the garage in Westmeerbeek will be replaced by energy-efficient LED lighting.

Our depots located in Evergem, at Weverstraat 2 in Londerzeel, at Rijksweg 19 in Bornem and at Victor Dumontlaan 40 in Willebroek have already been fitted with energy-efficient LED lamps. A clear saving on energy consumption.

Multi-modal transport: reducing number of trucks on the road

Containers from Antwerp and Rotterdam delivered close to the depot? We do this at Distrilog Group by making optimal use of the inland terminals at TCT Willebroek, TTB Brussels and the Kluizendok in Ghent.

This is how 87% of the 24.472 Distrilog containers were delivered in 2019. In 2020, this number was 85% of the 21.643 containers, a slight decrease due to the smaller volumes resulting from the corona crisis.

By using multi-modal transport, we can avoid major road works and the associated congestion. In addition, this meant we were able to save 18.293 truck trips last year.

ISO Standards Our Breendonk site has obtained the ISO standard 45001. This is the new international management system standard for working healthily and safely that replaces the OHSAS 18001 standard as of 1 January 2021. We were also able to extend our certificates for the standards ISO 9001 – for quality management and the effectiveness of business processes – and ISO 14001 – focused on the continuous improvement of environmental performance.

the

The depot at Weverstraat 2 in Londerzeel obtained the FSSC 22000 certificate, which is a comprehensive food safety standard recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative. With this international recognition, we meet the food safety requirements of diverse global retailers and large companies.

DISTRILOG • 3

Our site located at Koning Leopoldlaan 5 in Puurs recently welcomed a brand new cardboard machine.

This machine is fully automated and folds – as the name suggests – cardboard boxes intended for Delhaize e-commerce. The machine is fed with cardboard sheets made from the boxes in which the products are delivered to the depot. The new boxes are therefore 100% recycled cardboard. And they are also fully recyclable after use. The machine has a number of different speeds, depending on how busy it is. The boxes can also have a theme printed on them for Christmas and other holidays.

matter, and 9% less nitrogen oxide compared to regular diesel. Moreover, no modifications are required to the diesel engine of modern trucks, while HVO can be used by itself or in a mixture with fossil diesel.

Distrilog and COVID-19 THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS SHAKEN OUR DAILY LIVES. IT WAS AND IS STILL MASSIVELY AFFECTING OUR SOCIETY. THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY ALSO HAD A LOT TO ENDURE. NONETHELESS, IN CERTAIN SECTORS, THE LOGISTICS AND TRANSPORT WORLD CONTINUED TO OPERATE AT FULL SPEED AND EVEN PEAKED HERE AND THERE. AT DISTRILOG GROUP, WE CHIEFLY NOTICED THE EFFECT ON THE AVERAGE SPEED OF OUR TRANSPORT AND THAT VARIOUS E-COMMERCE ACTIVITIES ROSE STEEPLY. Increasing volume of e-commerce activities The popularity of Delhaize’s e-commerce has increased sharply since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of the associated essential transport guidelines. The increased interest reached an unprecedented peak during the last week of November. The increase in orders is clearly noticeable in the volumes, which doubled during Black Friday week. The increasing volumes strongly boosted the increase in number of staff.

This was chiefly achieved by recruiting additional temps.

Reduced traffic jams and an increase in speed of commercial shipping

On the other hand, the Do-It-Yourself sector came to a standstill once the lockdown was announced in mid-March. The transition to e-commerce occurred rapidly and Distrilog also adapted rapidly in terms of picking and packing. “In three days’ time, we also started making home deliveries for some of our customers. Our operations were not yet equipped for communication with the end customer, so we sped up the implementation of a new software system,” said Philip Salaerts, operations director at Distrilog Group.

For IKO, a specialist in roof insulation, we continued the roll out of e-commerce activities for the Hubo and Gamma e-shops. A small comparison: in 2019, the Hubo e-shop made 62 shipments and the Gamma e-shop made 300 shipments. These numbers rose to 400 and 780 shipments respectively in 2020, of which 230 and 350 during the months of March and April when the physical stores were closed.

Distrilog uses the e-shops of Hubo and Gamma to deliver Coeck Concrete Factory orders directly to the consumer.

In the months of March to June, we normally retrieve 2 trailers per day from Coeck. This number increased to no less than 13 trailers per day during the lockdown.

The impact of COVID-19 on our transport is also not to be underestimated. The appeal by the Security Council to work from home and resulting reduction in traffic jams led to a significant increase in our commercial shipping speed. Distrilog’s average shipping speed increased by almost 2 km/h compared to 2019 and hasn’t been this high in six years. If we examine the past two years in detail, the impact of COVID-19 is clearly visible. At the start of the pandemic in March, our average shipping speed increased significantly and peaked at almost 27,5 km/h in May. The first relaxation of measures in June led to a significant decrease. Once the rules were tightened again, our average shipping speed increased again.

The guidelines on essential transport also affected traffic jams. In November 2020, the annual average for the severity of traffic jams on the main roads in the Flemish Region was 418 kilometre hours per workday. This is the lowest level since observations started. “The government is currently forcing us to invest even more in working from home. We will continue to reap the benefits of this in the first three to four months of 2021. However, this effect is likely to diminish after that. As of September or October of 2021, I expect that we will be back to the old level in terms of our average shipping speed and traffic jams,” said Philip Salaerts.

4 • DISTRILOG

Strong women in the men’s world of transport and logistics TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS… A REAL MAN’S WORLD? MELISSA, YANNICK, ANN, BELINDA, AND NATHALIE ARE PROUD THAT THEY CAN STAND UP FOR THEMSELVES AS WOMEN.

MELISSA VAN DEN HENDE

YANNICK WOUTERS

ANN BUYL

BELINDA D’HONDT

NATHALIE VAN OVERLOOP

27 years old Transport planner/ Container planning (BDK) Employed at Distrilog Group since April 2020

54 years old Chauffeur CE + mentor driver (Olen) Employed at Distrilog Group since 2013

50 years old Site manager (Ghent) Employed at Distrilog Group since August 2020

51 years old Night Team Leader (W17) Employed at Distrilog Group since 2009

48 years old HR director (BDK) Employed at Distrilog Group since April 2020

We make no distinction in the Distrilog Group between men and women. We like to start with a person’s competences and their motivation for carrying out a particular job. Even when it comes to a typically male profession.

“From my first job interview to right now, no one has ever looked at me funny or given me the feeling that I couldn’t do my job. Of course, you have to fight prejudice when you get your CE driving licence, but that was an extra incentive for me!” said driver Yannick. Site manager Ann is also convinced that Distrilog is a woman-friendly company: “I haven’t worked here long, but already I see that women are also well represented in the different offices.

In the Ghent warehouse, the ratio of women-to-men is quite small, which is logical given the ergonomically demanding work.” Nathalie, our new HR director, is a woman we welcomed into the Breendonk office during the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s nice to work in a dynamic,

operational environment like the one at Distrilog Group, where you must be flexible, have a connection with the work floor, and can see what you are working for.

Working with people, the variety, the helicopter view, problem-solving, and developing a long-term vision… these things really fascinate me.”

in any situation. “Of course, you can definitely make your presence known, stand tall, and let everyone know you aren’t inferior to men.” Belinda knows that women may like nice compliments, “Did you know that we’re sometimes told by the guys that we as women are sometimes stronger than certain men?”

According to transport planner Melissa, being a woman in a predominantly male workplace might have its advantages: “I notice that my male colleagues are very tolerant.

They are always ready to help when I need it. I’m not sure whether that’s mostly due to my gender or my young age, but it does make it a nice environment to work in.”

Ann believes you mustn’t take advantage of male colleagues’ good will, though, “As a woman, you also have to be able to roll up your sleeves and not overuse your femininity. Showing your can-do spirit is really appreciated!”

For team leader Belinda, it’s important to just be yourself

The women in our company are more than welcome.

However, that doesn’t mean that we can’t laugh at the stereotypical division of roles between men and women in the workplace. “I really enjoy the typical man-woman jokes. Laughing and even joking back is how we keep the atmosphere perfect,” said Melissa. And do these women like working at Distrilog Group? “If it’s up to me, I’ll keep working here until I retire. I know the ins and outs of the company and love my job! What more could you ask for?” concluded Yannick.

DISTRILOG GROUP · KONINGIN ASTRIDLAAN 14 · B-2830 WILLEBROEK (BREENDONK) · T +32 3 860 00 86 · SALES@DISTRILOG.BE · WWW.DISTRILOG.BE