Bacou-Dalloz to present a single face to distributor customers; looks ahead to going global
Waukesha, WI — July 15, 2003 — Personal protective equipment manufacturer Bacou-Dalloz, in an attempt to providing top brands in all product categories, has initiated Project One, a transformation of its supply chain to create a single platform to serve its distributor customers in the Americas. A key component of Project One is a new distribution/mixing center to be built in the Ohio Valley.
The manufacturer said the center would be designed based on logistics solution provider RedPrairie's distribution best practices and will be powered by RedPrairie supply chain solutions.
Bacou-Dalloz Group was founded in September 2001, through the merger of the Bacou Group and Christian Dalloz. These companies had grown through worldwide acquisitions of brands that include UVEX, Howard Leight, Perfect Fit, Whiting + Davis, Survivair, Biosystems, Titmus, Laser-Vision, Lase-R-Shield and Securitex. The Project One total supply chain transformation is designed to pull many of these brands of head and body protection equipment together to present a single face to their distributor customers.
Project One includes a new Ohio Valley mixing center. "This initiative will enable our distributor customers to place a single order across most Bacou-Dalloz brands, and receive a single shipment and invoice," said Peter Moore, Bacou-Dalloz vice president Ð Supply Chain. "The new facility will serve as a mixing center for nine plants and six distribution centers in the Americas and additional international facilities. Thus, we needed functionality for inbound, cross-dock and outbound processing."
When Bacou-Dalloz began searching for a supply chain execution (SCE) solution to power its new mixing center, the company looked beyond its local needs to find a system to potentially serve its European and Asian businesses as well. "RedPrairie has a supply chain execution (SCE) system that could fill that need and allow us to track inbound and outbound shipments globally," noted Moore.
Bacou-Dalloz also was looking for a full suite of SCE applications, including the ability to provide visibility over the Web for its distributor customers. "We want them to be able to see and track their orders to build confidence in the mixing center process," said Moore. "We really liked the look and feel of RedPrairie's Web interface and felt it would be easy for our distributor customers to use."
"Another important advantage of RedPrairie's SCE is its Productivity Management solution," continued Moore. "We intend to use the provider's industrial engineering expertise to help us design the layout of the new distribution center to gain maximum efficiency."
Commented John Jazwiec, RedPrairie Co. Results leader: "It isn't often that you get the opportunity to go into a situation like this and help the customer build a distribution facility from the ground up. Bacou-Dalloz recognized they could use the expertise of our engineering staff to their advantage not only in the systems area, but also in developing best practices and facility layout. This is an advantage too often overlooked when companies evaluate solution providers."
The new distribution center is projected to go live in 2004 to service shipping sites in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
