Renault invests €2.5 million in Cergy-Pontoise site

A cornerstone of the Renault group’s After-Sales department dedicated to logistics performance

The Cergy-Pontoise site is an integral part of the global logistics structure and strategy for products sold by After-Sales – including spare parts, various after-sales products, accessories and merchandising – that are required for maintaining, repairing and equipping Group brand vehicles (Renault, Dacia, Renault Samsung Motors). The site manages 86,000 line items and ships 45,000 orders a day to the four corners of the globe. Some 90 trucks enter and exit the plant every day to deliver the 450 French sales network points via distribution platforms. Shipments are also made to the 31 other warehouses worldwide, 15 of them in Europe, 16 outside Europe. Total warehouse floor area is 92,000 m ² .

Investing to enhance ergonomics and productivity

The aim of the investment is to rationalize the ergonomics of the workstations through optimized organization.

The introduction of an improved system in the new workshop enables operators to move not only horizontally but vertically, too. They control the platform that positions itself in front of the part at the right height and they no longer have to bend down or reach upwards to pick parts. “High picking” thus becomes an ergonomic task.

As part of the reorganization, 40,000 out of the 86,000 line items are to change “address”.

Redesign benefitting employees and the environment

The idea of sustainable development is an integral part of the Cergy 2012 project, which consists in reorganizing the reception, storage and shipment areas but also in optimizing the fill rate of storage areas. On completion, five storage areas will have been redesigned and reorganized in the site’s five logistics buildings. The movement of parts – and hence of people – will be reduced by abandoning rental premises and through a grouping process at the site.

Environmental impact has been analyzed. Investments provide for an upgrade of the heating management system to make it more efficient. The priority is on local and renewable energies, with site heating coming from a latest-generation biomass boiler. And so the entire chain, from production through to use, is environmentally virtuous.

Beyond this investment, the consumption of energy and raw materials is reduced by raising staff awareness, through the team coordination system. Water and electricity consumption have been cut by 7% to 10% in the last three years, for an average decrease of 74 metric tons of CO 2 emissions a year.

A model of social and cultural diversity

“We favor diversity in our teams,” says site director Francesca Gamboni. “A company that reflects the world around it is obviously going to perform better, for the benefit of its employees and customers alike.”

With 936 employees, 17 different nationalities, and 22 apprentices in training, the Cergy site is a key economic player in the Val-d’Oise département north of Paris.

Women are playing an increasingly important role in logistics – long an exclusive reserve of men. Women hold positions of the highest responsibility at Cergy, namely half of the seats of the management committee. In addition, all the operating managers are women, each one responsible for an average 300 people.

Renault’s After-Sales department is committed to equal opportunities and relies on the Cergy Pontoise site. The department signed a partnership agreement with ESSEC business school early this year concerning the French program called “Une grande école: pourquoi pas moi?” (“A top-level university for me, too”). Under the partnership, high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds in Val-d’Oise get to find out about the business world. Site staff take the students on visits of their workplace as part of “discovery days”, while young graduates organize conferences to show them the diversity of their trades. More than 60 students in the program have visited the Cergy site since the start of the year.