Technology by the Book

Florian Liévain Project Department Manager for Book Distributor Sodis

Refurbished beginning and end-of-line packaging equipment from Durrenberg has helped the operations of book fulfilment experts Sodis become more efficient and sustainable.

Formed in 1971, Sodis is a logistics branch of the Madrigall group, one of the top-three publishing companies in France which originated back in the beginning of the XXth century when Gaston Gallimard launched the now famous editing company that still bears his name. Sodis is responsible for fulfilling and shipping B2B orders on behalf of 500 publishing houses to some 7,500 libraries, bookshops and online retailers such as Amazon in France and around the world. Each day, around 4,000 boxes and 53,000 command lines are prepared for distribution at its Lagny-sur-Marne facility in the Seine-et-Marne département, 30km East of Paris.

In the 1970s Sodis commissioned one of the earliest automated warehouses with a system consisting of tray erectors and a box-to-man picking loop. By the end of the 1980s, block-and- brace heat-shrink tunnels and lidding machines had been installed, which did a thoroughly good job for over 35 years.

But as time passed, although the equipment was operating as expected and comfortably handled Sodis’ existing throughput, maintenance of the ageing equipment started to take longer and cost more. Furthermore, its customers were asking to reduce or eliminate plastic in the packaging, which was not only unsustainable, but was also costing them additional time spent separating it out from cardboard at the point of recycling. Backed by a healthy market for books, the company decided to renew its automated system through a two-year project launched in 2022 to answer the challenge.

Cost-Effective Proposal

As part of this project, Sodis purchased six refurbished machines from packaging specialist Durrenberg. Durrenberg’s cost-effective proposal allowed Sodis to squeeze the project from the initial three-year planning into two years. The existing tray erectors and heat shrink tunnels were replaced by two refurbished modern tray erectors and two wedging machines of just a few years old, and the lidding machines were replaced by two more contemporary machines with height reduction capability.

« Only a few solutions can be used for our activities, products and conveying technology, » explains Florian Lievain, Project Department Manager for Sodis. « So we decided to use a combination of technology with height reduction coupled with cardboard wedging, which we see has been functional already for a few years at Union Distribution, another distributor of the Madrigall Group. »

The wedging machine (red) next to the closing machine with height reduction (grey)

The machines supplied by Durrenberg went through its standard refurbishing process where second-hand machines are thoroughly cleaned, adapted to the required project specifications, all worn or likely-to-wear parts replaced, and potential obsolete electronic components replaced for more up-to-date componentry. As a result, the machines are offered with a nominal one-year warranty. The new set-up at Sodis now has the capability to package up to 6,000 boxes per day should that be necessary.

Multiple Goals

« It wasn’t just the technology that drove us to Durrenberg, it was the process, » says Lievain. « They were very professional. During the first part of the project, we decided to use Durrenberg because of their value for money and because of the experience of the Durrenberg team. Thanks to their aptitude in realising the first part of the project and the confirmation that they were really serious and professional, we decided to continue with them for the second part. »

Through this single move, Sodis has managed to achieve multiple goals on a tight budget. The number of pallets and all the associated wrapping and loading activities have been reduced, as the volume of the packaging has now been optimised to the goods inside and thus takes up less pallet space. As well as the removal of plastic materials from the boxes, energy costs are lower due to the installation of more modern machinery. Although speed at end-of-line was never a prime objective of the renovation, the potential exists for a greater speed should it be required in the future. Not only are maintenance costs reduced, but greater machine uptime is assured.

Lievan concludes: « The equipment is today reliable thanks to the availability of the Durrenberg team during start-up, both for the adjustment and ramp-up of the equipment, but also subsequently for training and support of our industrial maintenance technician team. They proved once again their sense of service. There were no negative impacts for our customers, and that’s the most important for us. »

One of the two tray erectors supplied to Sodis by Durrenberg