A world premiere in Aube for wine and spirits logistics with Gamba and Rota

Published the 06/06/23 | Territorial life

Gamba and Rota operate a new robotic storage system, “Autostore”, a global first for wine and spirits logistics.

Strong Growth for Gamba and Rota

Gamba and Rota, established in 1947 and led by Alain and Patrice Gamba, is located in Vendeuvre-sur-Barse, in the Aube region. The company employs over 200 people. Historically, its business involved transporting logs to sawmills and beer barrels to breweries. Today, the transport division has 220 internal registrations and additionally relies on solutions and resources from the Astre group, which has over 17,000 registrations and a pallet network covering 45 countries. The logistics activity started in 1994 with the construction of a dedicated storage warehouse. The synergy of these two activities enables the company to manage all logistics shipments for their clients through its fleet and partner network. In 2012, the logistics division saw significant growth with the construction of a temperature-controlled and highly secure warehouse, catering to a new clientele in wines and spirits. The shift towards an e-commerce channel led the company to focus on detailed logistics, handling items not just by pallets but also individually or in small parcels. “Faced with this skill upgrade, we had to find IT, technical, material, and customs solutions, as the wine and spirits activity is very specific,” explains Alain Gamba, CEO. For the security aspect, they were supported by Aquilaë, a company incubated at the Technopole de l’Aube, with the deployment of intelligent video technology.

Towards Cutting-Edge Logistics

In response to high demand, the company invested in building a new 6,000 m2 logistics warehouse and acquiring a state-of-the-art storage and order preparation system, enabling them to handle their e-commerce orders for wines and spirits. “The Autostore solution was chosen because it met our criteria for density, speed, e-commerce processing capacity, reliability, security, and flexibility,” details Lucien Pitiot, head of the logistics project service, responsible for the installation of the new system. These investments were made at the Vendeuvre-sur-Barse site. “We aim to concentrate all our activities on a single site. This allows for greater synergy across each branch of the company and brings activity to the region. Being located in Sud Champagne is also economically beneficial as we are at the crossroads of Europe, close to major cities like Paris, Lyon, or Strasbourg,” comments Alain Gamba. Business Sud Champagne supported the company in the preparation of their files, with the mobilization of Grand Est Region / Feder (European Regional Development Fund) aids for the acquisition of the new robotic system. The company received support of €600,000 for a cost of €3.2 million. “It’s true support. We are delighted to have benefited from the expertise of BSC. This technical and administrative assistance is a boon,” emphasizes the CEO. The construction and fitting of this platform were completed in January 2023. The inauguration took place in April 2023.

How Was the Autostore Solution Conceived?

The Autostore system stores and prepares orders. It comprises a total of 40,000 bins of identical size but different configurations, and 21 robots, with a capacity of 600 order lines per hour. Twelve stations are dedicated to packaging and customization for e-commerce orders. “As client requests become more detailed, it is necessary for them to have a logistician who can support them and implement their commercial ideas operationally,” details Anne-Marie Seurat, Commercial Director. “A significant engineering effort was made because we had to rethink the organization of the bins to adapt them to our activity. We created a shared system, with 32 possible bin configurations to store our clients’ products. Our inventory management tool has been interfaced with the system that manages the robots, and the content and type of bins,” explains Lucien Pitiot. “We have retained all our operators because they have unique expertise related to the specificity of wines and spirits. We have preserved the professional expertise and reassigned it to value-added tasks, such as customization, engraving, personalized notes, photography, specific packaging, etc. This is what differentiates us as we offer a large number of services to our clients,” explains Emmanuel Dutertre, Logistics Director. This industrial tool serves tailored services. Automation brings industrial performance, combined with technical expertise. “Robotization does not diminish the human element, it serves the human,” concludes Alain Gamba.