Food Manufacturer’s Upgrades Support Expansion Objectives

To better support its customer service strategy, North American food manufacturer Leclerc Group sought updates to old automation hardware and out-of-date legacy software technologies across four facilities.

viastore SYSTEMS provided networkwide upgrades to existing operational systems and a new WMS, as well as updated PLCs, real-time graphical dashboard monitoring of system function, and other technologies to support the Leclerc Group's goals for forklift free operation.

Canadian food manufacturer Leclerc Group operates multiple locations relying heavily on automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) for raw materials and finished goods storage. The company considers automated material handling systems critical to their success and profitability, having installed their first AS/RS system in 1998.

With an eye toward being forklift free and making additional investments in automated systems in order to reallocate their current labor force to value-added tasks, the company developed plans to expand their existing automation. Further, as part of their customer service strategy, Leclerc Group continues to consider expanding its production facilities to support anticipated growth and meet changing consumer demands.

Aging System Facing Critical, End-of-Life Issues

Hampering the company’s goals, however, were old hardware and out-of-date software technologies that were growing more expensive to support via their original suppliers.

System documentation was outdated as well, rendering the software unsupportable internally. Facing critical end-of-life issues, Leclerc Group’s management initially sought to update their systems with their original software vendor, but the two sides were unable to agree on an approach.

“At Leclerc, we manufacture cookies and granola bars. Our products are shipped to 25 different countries from our four automated warehouses in North America,” explains Stéphane Labillois, Vice President of Transport and Logistics. The facilities are located in Hawkesbury, Canada; Quebec City, Canada; Montgomery, Penn.; and Kingsport, Tenn.