KEONYS and the DELMIA Ortems teams support LAVIGNE in its strategy of planning and scheduling

The implementation of the tool, the alignment of the company’s processes and the change management strategy: three axes that now position LAVIGNE as a leading player in the wall calendar market.

Created in 1958 by Jean LAVIGNE, LAVIGNE has maintained its vocation as a specialist in high quality illustrated calendars for companies. .

The activity has diversified and LAVIGNE is now more widely positioned as a distributor of business gifts. The company proposes to companies a wide range of diaries, desk pads, greeting cards, cartographic products and corporate gifts. In line with new trends, LAVIGNE has considerably increased its range of personalized products.

The activity of the postman’s almanacs is one of the pillars of LAVIGNE. Created in 1965, this specialized division became one of the first national publishers.

Since 1997, LAVIGNE has been a subsidiary of the EXACOMPTA-CLAIREFONTAINE group, a leader in the stationery items and diary sectors.

Photogravure and printing are entrusted to the specialists (in the group) best equipped to respect the very high quality criteria that LAVIGNE requires, the shaping and customization work are carried out in the Mayet unit (Sarthe).  Founded in 1985, it has grown over time to reach today 6,000 m².

A manufacturer that focuses on diversification

The production site has a constantly evolving machine park and can therefore process several million items each year. Nearly 100 people work there during the peak period of activity, from mid-June to mid-December. 85% of the year’s turnover is produced between September and mid-November, the factory then runs in 6-7 days at a rhythm of 3*8hours to satisfy between 7000 and 8000 customers such as artisans, local companies, large groups and of course the postmen…

LAVIGNE is not only a printer, it is above all a manufacturer. The company designs, manufactures and assembles wall calendars, standard or customized almanacs; its positioning is based on high-quality products, with unlimited customization capacity, particularly thanks to their design office and the consequent investments made in the machine park now equipped with a transplant machine that is unique in France.

In tune with its market, LAVIGNE is diversifying by offering a collection of bank boards, diaries, desk pads, pads, paper pads, greeting cards (and goodies) by capitalizing on and adapting existing production lines.

New challenges to stay a leader

The company had to cope with peaks in production during the high season and last-minute orders from customers who absolutely wanted deliveries in week 40. “Meeting deadlines and increasing customer satisfaction are at the heart of our priorities,” explains Christophe Trouille, site manager. “The need to acquire a software solution that would provide better visibility into production schedules became essential”. The establishment of a scheduling and planning solution results in the acquisition of DELMIA Ortems.

“Before DELMIA Ortems, there was no real planning,” says Sylvie Bérat, Production Manager. “We acted on instinct and habit, the work cards were placed each week manually by task type and with the intervention of the team leaders, it was more a matter of feeling than of structured planning.”

DELMIA Ortems, a small revolution

DELMIA Ortems was first deployed on the wall calendar line in 2016 after the migration to SAP ERP. The deployment took 39 days: “exemplary project management!” according to Christophe Trouille. “We now have a schedule of charges that we can control,” enthuses Sylvie Bérat. “We all share the same data sources and the same quality of information at the same time”.

The team of 25 sales representatives covering the French territory now has reliable information on the visibility of production progress; they are immediately informed if there is a time lag or a delay. DELMIA Ortems allows to communicate in a reliable way on the exact situation of the planning with the management of special affairs which is administered at the headquarters in Issy Les Moulineaux.

A 30% increase in operations in 2018

DELMIA Ortems provides a better fluidity of production flows in the production workshop, which saves time and also provides peace of mind in terms of management. In 2017, the service rate was 88% on average over the high period, while being above 95% over some weeks.

Work orders integrate with each other for better results in customer service. “it’s a new breath”. Everything is scheduled, but we still have the flexibility to prioritize planning,” notes Sylvie Bérat. DELMIA Ortems permits to work by format (from the largest to the smallest) on each production line (1 hour of calibration required between the smallest format and the largest) with a decreasing size grouping.

LAVIGNE can now anticipate delivery if the product is already ready for delivery. “The schedule is blocked at 15 days and we adapt the capacities every week according to the workshop, we can even carry out prediction simulations,” emphasizes Hervé Pyckaert, Methods Manager.

The company is proud to announce that it has recorded 18,000 wall calendar operations in 2018, a number that has increased by 30% compared to the previous year. Thanks to the scheduling and planning solution, LAVIGNE can now deliver at least one third of its orders in advance, a significant value in a highly seasonal business in response to a flow of orders arriving in waves.

An outstanding team

The change management was naturally carried out by a specific support of the DELMIA Ortems teams adapted to the expression of LAVIGNE’s needs.

“The deployment went extremely well, it was a real success in terms of project management which was based on a very structured methodology over 39 days, either in video-conferencing or on the field; the support team is extremely professional, responsive and perfectly masters its area of expertise to answer our new needs,” says Christophe Trouille.

LAVIGNE is already considering the evolution of the DELMIA Ortems solution.

The supply board is delivered every morning to ensure greater efficiency. On the other hand, for the time being, it is complicated to manage stocks to fully use the solution; indeed, if we take into account last minute requests without neglecting an order, the material must be permanently present in stock. This area of improvement is under study.

The integration of almanacs in DELMIA Ortems with consideration of volumetric constraints is the next step. This is a more complex project because of the 21,000 references to manage, the 120 varieties of decorations and the number of departments in France.

A new stage, a new challenge, that the LAVIGNE and KEONYS teams are ready to face!

Find the complete customer testimonial.