Meeting customer expectations while promoting sustainability
Today, Dominique Leroy, CEO of Proximus, and Hilde Essers, Chairman of the boardof H.Essers, signed the extension of their existing warehouse agreement in Courcelles, near Charleroi. The 10-year agreement will run until 2026 and will enable both parties to focus on further developing a state-of-the art Proximus Distribution Center in terms of delivery, efficiency, IT capabilities, flexibility and stock accuracy.
Back in 2011, Proximus took the decisionto centralize its logistic operations in one location in order to increase efficiency, simplify the processes and promote more sustainable activities. Since then, Proximus and the Limburg family company H.Essers, a leading player on the European market since 1928, jointly operate the Proximus Distribution Center in Courcelles. This move enabled Proximus to simplify its logistics by regrouping the 5 activities spread over 20 locations and 32 logistics partners in one location and 1 logistics partner. As a consequence, products are now delivered quicker and larger orders are more easily anticipated during peak & off-peak periods.
Dominique Leroy: “By centralizing our logistic operations, we have managed to reduce CO2 emissions by 170 ton and have cut the transportation distances by 200,000 km. Thanks to the partnership with H.Essers in the Proximus Distribution Center of Courcelles, we have also been able to rethink the processes around the repair and swaps of modems and decoders, for example. This has enabled us to reduce the refurbishment period by more than 10 times.On top, the extension of this agreement will allow us to reply to the overnight delivery needs of our customers. .”
As customers today demand a faster and more complete service, mainly driven by e-commerce, the ProximusDistribution Centerwill support sales and repair activities with even fasterdeliveries. It will alsogive the customer the ability to decide where and when he wants to receive his order with a follow-up of the delivery status.
Boosting local employment
Additionally, the extended partnership between Proximus and H.Esserswill contribute to the local economic environment by further assuring employment to the approximately 220 employees, of which almost half work for a sheltered workplace. Furthermore, the re-engineering of the logistical chain and the focus on meeting customer expectations have also some indirect impact on employment in the region.
Dominique Leroy: “H.Essers has demonstrated that it is a true partner by continuously investing in IT, processes and resources to make the Proximus Distribution Center more efficient and now future-proof for Proximus. This agreement is a powerful illustration of Proximus’ focus to deliver a superior customer experience, without losing sight of our economic and environmental duty as a public company.”
Hilde Essers:“As Proximus’ strategic logistics partner, H.Essers keeps innovating and improving its logistics services for the telecom business. Key is to meet the future quality, flexibility and agility requirements for end customers, stores and technicians. The successful “reengineering project”, launched in close cooperation with Proximus, resulted in an omni-channel automated picking and packing solution based upon e-commerce needs.This project and the cooperation in general between Proximus and H.Essers can be defined as a real partnership always aiming for a win-win situation.”
The Proximus Distribution Center in a few key figures
The total site currently operated by H.Essers in Courcelles covers an area of 40.000 m². For the Proximus activities, H.Essers built in 2011 a new logistics hall of 22.500 m² which received its BREEAM certification “GOOD” in 2012* and covered best-practices in the following categories: Health and Wellbeing, Energy, Transport, Water, Materials, Waste, Land use and Ecology, Pollution, Innovation.
On a yearly basis, more than 2 million kits are assembled and more than 1 million order lines are processed and distributed, representing approximately 2 million pieces of Fix devices (modems, decoders, phones….), 3 million pieces of mobile devices and 900.000 pieces of network equipment.
From the integration in Courcelles in May 2014 to date, 300.000 modems and 700.000 decoders have been refurbished and repaired on site.
*BREEAM (Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method) is the world’s leading and most widely used environmental assessment method for buildings. It sets the standard for best practice in sustainable design and has become the de facto measure used to describe a building’s environmental performance.
For more detailed information, call the Press Relations department
For Proximus: 02 202 44 44
Jan MargotHaroun Fenaux
+32 475 58 50 37+32 476 60 03 33
For H.Essers
Sara Geris
+32 496705879 -
About H.Essers
Leading logistics service provider H.Essers is a family business established in 1928 by Henri Essers. Nowadays, the company is active throughout Europe and beyond, providing personalisedand integrated transport and logistics solutions for sectors such as chemistry, pharmaceuticals/healthcare and high-quality goods.
The company currently has over 950.000 sqm of warehouse space, a fleet of 1.460 vehicles and 3.050 trailers and employs 5.400 people over 67 branches in 15 countries worldwide. Over the last years, the family business has undergone significant expansion through strong organic growth and a number of strategic acquisitions. In 2016, the company recorded a turnover of € 571 million euros.
About Proximus
Proximus Group is a telecommunications & ICT company operating in the Belgian and international markets, servicing residential, enterprise and public customers. Proximus’ ambition is to become a digital service provider, connecting everyone and everything so people live better and work smarter. Through its best-quality integrated fixed and mobile networks, Proximus provides access anywhere and anytime to digital services and easy-to-use solutions, as well as to a broad offering of multimedia content. Proximus transforms technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Cloud and Security into solutions with positive impact on people and society. With 13,633 employees, all engaged to offer customers a superior experience, the Proximus Group generated an underlying turnover of EUR 5,871 million end-2016.
Proximus (Euronext Brussels: PROX) is also active in Luxembourg through its affiliates Telindus Luxembourg and Tango and in the Netherlands through Telindus Netherlands. Its subsidiary BICS offers best-in-class international wholesale solutions for voice and mobile data service providers worldwide.
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