Co Design&Build
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At the end of December 2018, the general shareholders' meeting of OpenBox approved the accounts closed on August 31st. For the third consecutive year, growth has been fundamental for OpenBox with turnover of more than €25m, up by 134%.
The company is being restructured and recently hired a new project manager, bringing the number of employees to eight. We are pursuing growth, but remain attentive to controlling our overheads. The economic model remains the same: we convert fixed costs into variable costs (support services provided by BEG Ingénierie) and our team is 100% operational. OpenBox can provide design/execution services at competitive prices thanks to a light and agile structure. After Jadéo, GLD, Transports Charvin and the developer DCB Logistics, other companies have entrusted us with their projects, such as Papeteries Pichon (Manutan Group) and France Machines Outils. A big name in retail sector also entrusted us with the refurbishment of a platform in the Paris region in early 2019. We will soon start a 70,000 m² project in the west of France, and a 37,000 m² project in the Paris region. OpenBox Co Design&Build currently manages more than 150,000 m² of works. What is your role in the Papeteries Pichon project? We are providing project management for Papeteries Pichon. So, we have provided support from the start as technical advisers for the construction of the building up to launch of the automated process. How is the collaboration with the OpenBox teams going? In both design and construction, the OpenBox staff were highly attentive to our requests and they anticipated the process-related constraints from the design phase onwards, enabling the project to be completed smoothly and on time. Despite these constraints, OpenBox also created an elegant architectural style which is very appreciable for a company for which this will be the place of work. We also appreciated the responsiveness of our contacts. The operation evolved in a professional but very pleasant atmosphere. For you, how does Co Design&Build come to life? At this stage of the project, what stands out most are the concepts of transparency and dialogue: we had access to all the contractors’ quotes, which is not always the case. This enabled us to measure our negotiation leverage on global purchases and to arbitrate more easily regarding the execution of additional services. All necessary information was available and all choices and decisions were made through balanced dialogue. Was that a highlight of this project? The special feature of this project was the integration of an automated Savoye process. Throughout the project, we had to coordinate between the construction workers and the automation technicians, who did not necessarily take the same approach. This was all done in a cooperative manner, and even enabled us to get ahead of the schedule. OpenBox and Papeteries PICHON invited, on Thursday, March 28, the companions, elected officials and project partners to celebrate the progress of the construction of the new logistics base of Papeteries Pichon (Manutan Group) in Veauche, around the traditional "Gigot Bitume" . More than 100 people attended the event around Mr. Christian Sapy, Mayor of Veauche, Mr. Jean-Claude Schalk, Mayor of Andrézieux-Bouthéon, Mr. Guy Françon, Mayor of Saint-Bonnet-les-Oules, Mr. Thierry Cappé, Managing Director of Papeteries Pichon and Bertrand Chabanne, President of OpenBox. Guests saw a cell of 12000 m² (one of the first in France) that will house a Magmatic, as well as offices, bathed in natural light. Thierry Cappé and Bertrand Chabanne pointed out the effectiveness of the Co Design & Build method, which has been guiding teams from the beginning and has establish relationships of trust and effective collaboration.
Architect XXL Workshop / AMO: ETYO / Automation: SAVOYE See the reference sheet Thomas Mohr joins the OpenBox Co Design & Build team as Project Manager. With a degree in Civil Engineering, Thomas Mohr capitalise more than 10 years' experience as Construction manager of logistics platforms and business buildings, acquired by two major design-builders.
He led 24,000 m² and 66,000 m² projects for Goodman, Prologis and Intermarché. As Project Manager, he will lead Co Design & Build operations from design to SAV. He joins the OpenBox Technical team composed of 3 Project Managers and a Studies Manager. At the SIMI, Salon de l'Immobilier d'Entreprise, Bertrand CHABANNE details the current and future projects of Openbox Co Design&Build. Papeteries Pichon (Manutan Group) decided to construct their new logistics platform on the Forez plain and the operation was monitored by Loïc Thomas, project manager.
OpenBox designed and executed this project: 21,600 m² of fully automated warehouse space and high-quality offices. A new Decree, published in April 2017, allows the surface area of storage units to be doubled to 12,000 m², whereas until now it had been capped at 6,000 m². The building will double the order processing capacity of Papeteries Pichon, which is growing rapidly. We are currently raising the superstructure of the building. The slab will be poured at the beginning of 2019. This step is particularly important for the success of the operation as it is the main interface with the automated process. The structures supporting the various logistic areas are extremely sensitive to changes in position. The tolerance levels are in the order of a millimetre and have required the deployment of a finite element model in order to predict the differential settlement under each of the supports. From the beginning of the project, the staff from OpenBox, Etyo (Project Management Assistance), Savoye and Papeteries Pichon worked together using the Co Design&Build method: regular meetings and the co-creation of solutions taking into account the technical, architectural, logistical, environmental and security constraints, as well as the transparency of procurement prices. Special attention was paid to the architectural quality of the buildings, including the offices and common areas, in order to meet the requirements of the Manutan Group, winner of the “Best Workplaces France” label. The layout of the roadway to the offices enhances one’s arrival the site: there are walkways, a treated water retention pond on landscaped grounds, a covered gallery and common entrance for the offices and warehouses located at the rear. The architects, XXL Atelier, also designed the building to have interior patios bathed in natural light. The ergonomics, the choice of materials, the treatment of façades, the landscaped areas, everything has been designed to highlight the building and warehouses. Construction using Co Design&Build will ultimately enable the difference between the price agreed in the contract and actual costs on the basis of certified accounting to be shared. OpenBox is growing and being restructured. Since April 2018, price studies, which had been partially outsourced until now, have been carried out internally by the newly created Design Department. We use the ATTIC + costing software. “This software can set up an intelligent digital model and survey the measurements automatically as the project takes shape,” says Frédéric Lamblot, Head of Design.“ We can share our models with architects, clients and subcontractors, which improves efficiency. Moreover, internalising the price study enables us to be increasingly relevant in the responses we provide to our customers: technical details, options, resolution of inconsistencies, we review the project globally and transparently.“ In the process of being put in place following a first training session in September, this tool should be fully operational in early 2019. Why did you choose OpenBox?
Our project was strategic: there were challenges involving time, business continuity, installation... We had already managed one property project, but we did not have all the resources needed to succeed by ourselves. OpenBox provided us with support at a very early stage. However, we also conducted a competitive bidding process in order to obtain the best proposal. Their experience and knowledge of the regional eco-system, their prices and their motivation made all the difference. Regarding the project, they were available and ready to listen, they put forward the best solutions. Their obvious knowledge of logistics and its constraints is reassuring. What's more, it's a small, dynamic and innovative company. We were attracted by their way of working and their mindset. We are proud today to have helped them to grow. How did the collaboration with the OpenBox teams go? We never doubted their professionalism. They are experienced and know how to find the right people. They are also very attentive and have handles our requests, even the last-minute ones. They use a model that enables this to happen. We felt we were supported before, during and on delivery of the project. Despite the difficulties associated with their profession, I believe they always have the desire to satisfy their customers. How did the delivery process go? Delivery is always a delicate moment. We quickly realized that OpenBox shared, as we do, the desire to maintain a steady pace and to remove any reservations as quickly as possible. They remained highly available during the acceptance period and they resolved problems as they arose. What does Co Design&Build mean for you? We had to ask OpenBox to adapt their proposal, which they agreed to very quickly. They were very transparent, especially regarding costs over the entire project, and changes were far easier to manage. OpenBox has also collaborated with numerous stakeholders with a great deal of integrity (three project management assistants, a developer and an investor). Regarding the sharing of savings, as commonly happens with Co Design&Build, we preferred not to consider this alternative during the competitive bidding stage. We only addressed this proposal after selection. They agreed to pay €60,000 for renovations to our old platform. This is a kind of variation on the sharing of savings offered by Co Design&Build. You have been in your new building for a few months now. Are you happy with it? Everyone is happy with our new working environment. As part of the acquisition of Transports Charvin by BBL INVEST, it was a question of successfully accommodating four of the group’s companies at the same site and making people comfortable there. We wanted a high quality, well thought-out building: the choice of materials, the architecture, the services and the organisation of the building are all elements that have created a great logistics platform to work at! Last July, OpenBox and DCB Logistics thanked the project’s partners and associates around a traditional ‘gigot-bitume’ [leg of lamb wrapped in kraft paper and cooked in molten bitumen]. This new 23,000 m² temperature-controlled warehouse (+15°C / +18°C), which was completed at the end of July, is dedicated to food product storage, order preparation, co-packing and transportation. 3 cells were built, a fourth remaining as a further extension. OpenBox’s expertise on this type of logistics platform enabled the challenges of this complex project to be addressed with all of the stakeholders. More information on the project. Gilles Saubier, Groupe STEF, Dominique Berger, Vaulx-Milieu, Bertrand Chabanne, OpenBox, Didier Caudard-Breille, CEO DCB International, Jean-Marc Portanguen & Laurent SEVEN, DCB Logistics, Hugues Golzio, CEO BEG Ingénierie
Crédit photos: Groupe DCB International et Béatrice Bocquet Construction workers continue to make progress on the GLD site despite the heatwave. Tune in next September for the latest instalment of the "Co Design&Build" journey.
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January 2024
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