Provence businesses inject added value into the logistics sector

At the intersection of warehouse management software publishing and logistical flow consulting, the Aix-based company ACSEP, founded in 2006, brings real added value to logistics specialists and distributors. Its latest innovation is a customized software package that improves supply chain operations for a Bolloré subsidiary, a project that earned it the innovation prize at the Rois de la Supply Chain Awards in January. The real beneficiaries of this application are consumers who make purchases online.

Do I have to use radio frequency to manage my warehouse? Should I integrate voice commands? How will my software interface with that of my carriers? These are just some of the many questions logistics providers ask, though they do not necessarily find the right answers.
In 2006, a group of software publishing specialists in Aix-en-Provence sensed the wave of digitalization sweeping through supply chains and founded ACSEP, a logistics optimization consulting company.

"At the time, publishers were offering few services. And yet clients had tremendous needs in terms of traceability, quality and productivity," notes Didier Santurette, Director of Development at ACSEP. Highly targeted, short-term consulting assignments that are increasingly admired by industrial firms, logistics platforms and distributors.

For example, ACSEP redefined Findus's information system for southern Europe. Last year, Bolloré sought out the company for its plans to organize electric package delivery to a network of downtown pick-up locations open 24/7.
"We developed the IzyBlue solution, which integrates the flows of La Redoute and C Discount. We convey data about the parcel's location and handle hosting and support for IzyBlue," explains Didier Santurette. This feat was recognized by logistics professionals in January at the 2017 Rois de la Supply Chain awards, where ACSEP won the prize for innovation.

International outreach, made in Aix-en-Provence

For the management team at ACSEP, their location at Parc de la Durane in Aix-en-Provence is a real advantage. "We are close to a great international airport and a high-speed train station. What makes it different from Paris? Quality of life!" the Director of Development replies.

The company, which has grown up alongside the major logistics zones at Miramas, Fos, Port-Saint-Louis du Rhône and the Rhône-Alpes basin, has completed 1,500 projects in ten years for €4.2 million in annual total sales. This impressive track record led the company to close its Paris site in 2015 and consolidate its staff at a single site in Aix-en-Provence.

Some eleven years after it was founded, the company employs 35 people and is continuously hiring. Exports account for 15% of its sales as it supports the international expansion plans of its clients, such as Carrefour and ID Logistics, or E-Leclerc in Spain. For the Beaumanoir Group (Cache Cache, Morgan), a clothing company based in St. Malo, ASCEP manages the hotline for its WMS (*) solution in the Shanghai warehouse. "We have done projects in Dubai, Poland and Russia, and now we are planning to create a subsidiary in Europe. We just opened a branch in the Caribbean to expand in distribution," adds Didier Santurette.

(*) Warehouse Management System.

Photo: Didier Santurette, Director of Development at ACSEP.