From carts in Druten to a mechanized warehouse in Wijchen

Molco Car Parts supplies car parts to garages and wholesalers in Western Europe. The range comprises more than six million article numbers, of which 22,500 are in stock, spread over more than 100 brands. Speed is everything in this market. A garage has a car on the lift and it has to be finished the same day. Whoever does not deliver loses the customer to the competition.

How the warehouse works

When Molco Car Parts started with Ceyenne WMS in 2021, they worked from a 2,000 square meter warehouse in Druten. Employees walked through the warehouse with carts, nine orders per cart. The WMS controlled the scanners, but the physical work was manual. In May 2023 Molco moved to a new building in Wijchen: five times as large, with an extensive conveyor system. Since then Ceyenne also controls the conveyor software that runs the mechanization.
The heart of the warehouse is a conveyor system from supplier Maas: a conveyor belt that runs through the shelving area, divided over ten zones on two floors. Ceyenne WMS orchestrates the process. It selects the right box size based on the article dimensions, determines which employee picks which order, and routes every box via the belt to the zones where articles are located. After the last zone the box is closed, strapped and sorted per carrier. The employee on the floor only needs a scanner. It tells him which article to pick, from which location, and how many pieces. The system does the rest.

"Basically everything is arranged for you. The user can do 95% of all work in the warehouse with just a scanner"

Marc de Jong Manager Operations & IT, Molco Car Parts

A system that grows with you

In Druten, Molco was already reaching its limits. More than 1,500 pallets were stored externally and shuttled back and forth. In Wijchen there is room for that, with the possibility of adding two extra floors. The WMS did not have to be replaced: Ceyenne was already running and grew along when the mechanization was added.

That growth continues. The warehouse is now at its capacity limit. The system can handle more, but the process cannot be optimized any further within the current layout. The next step: a Packsize machine that builds made-to-measure boxes from the article data in Ceyenne. 600 boxes per hour, each made to measure. In addition, a Lantech case sealer is being installed as part of the ongoing renovation.

Ceyenne will soon also control the Packsize. Which boxes can be closed right away and which first have to be filled is determined by Molco with its own tool. Boxes that fit perfectly go straight on, boxes that still need filler material take a different route.
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"In terms of process we are now at the most efficient I can get out of it. And then you have to shift gears. You can work longer or start earlier. But you can also make the mechanization more efficient."

Marc de Jong Manager Operations & IT, Molco Car Parts

How the collaboration works

Every new project follows the same pattern. Molco determines what it wants to achieve, Diract comes on site, and together they work out a blueprint. Only when that is in place does development begin. That means you know in advance exactly what you will get and what it will cost. What Marc appreciates is that Diract contradicts where necessary. Molco looks from its own experience, but Diract brings the experience of more than sixty other implementations.
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"Diract has many other customers who do something similar. They may have much better ideas for the same problem. Then the consultant would come with: couldn't you do it this way instead? That gives us insight. That is a very pleasant collaboration."

Marc de Jong Manager Operations & IT, Molco Car Parts

What Marc is proud of

For the conveyor system Diract works together with Maas, the supplier of the conveyor belt. Ceyenne WMS says what has to happen, Maas's software translates that into physical movements. That collaboration also proved itself when things got tense: the handover of the building ran late, leaving two weeks to test before go-live. The first three, four weeks were headless chicken mode. Diract and Maas pitched in intensively, and within three weeks everything ran stably.
Ask Marc what he is most proud of, and he starts with the results. Molco can do 40 to 50 percent more with the same people as in Druten. The quality score is 99.95%: of all items picked, practically all go right. In a market where a wrong part means a car stands still on the lift, that is a figure that matters.

New employees are trained in two weeks. The system directs the work, so people do not have to learn everything by heart. For items that often cause mistakes, warnings appear on the scanner. Because the work has become simpler, Molco can train employees broadly: picking, goods receipt, replenishment. That gives flexibility and variety.

The delivery times speak for themselves. Via its own routes, an order that comes in before half past ten is delivered the same afternoon. Via parcel services delivery follows the next working day. And via night service, garages can order until seven in the evening and it is ready the next morning in a box at the door. All carried by a system that ties everything together, from webshop to shipping sorter.

What really makes Marc happy when he walks through the warehouse has nothing to do with the system. Despite all the growth, all the mechanization and all the changes, the culture has remained the way it was.

"What I am most proud of is the people. We used to have about ten people in the warehouse, now that has increased fivefold. My colleagues and I have tried to keep the culture the way it was in Druten. Everybody can walk into my office, and I also sometimes join in on the floor when it is busy. That is what I am most proud of, that we are able to safeguard that."

Marc de Jong Manager Operations & IT, Molco Car Parts

Want to know more?

Curious how mechanization fits your warehouse? View all forms of mechanization that Ceyenne WMS integrates with, or schedule a conversation so we can think along on your situation.
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