Thierry Wolff

Thierry Wolff, Logistics Director at UFP International in Troyes

Who are you?

“My name is Thierry WOLFF, and I’ve been a logistics manager for around thirty years. I came to Aube in 2008 to set up UFP International in the Aube logistics park. I’m married with one child and I’m 53 years old.

Can you tell us a bit about your company?

“UFP International is a wholesaler of IT products. We mainly supply printer consumables and cartridges. 80% of our business revolves around these products and we have a further 20% in computer accessories such as mice, hard disks, keyboards, etc. For the past 2 years, we’ve also been offering a number of other hi-fi and media products. Headquartered in Seine-Saint-Denis, the company has around 200 employees in France and over 1,000 in Europe. Turnover in Europe is €1,300,000,000. In Troyes, we have 80 employees in the logistics centre”.

Why did you choose to set up in the Aube logistics park?

“At the time, the company wanted to reinternalise its logistics, as we were subcontracting to a service provider in the Paris region. For reasons of service quality and responsiveness, we wanted to move away from the Paris region, while maintaining a certain proximity. We wanted to move very quickly, so the opportunity offered by a building that had already been built on the Aube logistics park and that met all our specifications, particularly in terms of the 30,000 m² of floor space we were looking for, encouraged us to move to Troyes. Here, we also found a relatively large local distribution and transport network compared with the size of the town. So we have local hauliers who have their own network of connections for national distribution. We were pleasantly surprised to find these resources directly in the local area and with local contacts. As far as maintenance is concerned, the town also has a large number of SMEs and very small businesses with high-quality expertise, which means we can find local manufacturers of metalworking parts or spare parts for our products.

How did you go about recruiting for the new site?

“When we first set up, we recruited 95% of our staff directly from the region, since only 3 or 4 of our employees came from the Paris region. The main recruitment channel was temporary work, and the employees with whom we were satisfied were subsequently taken on on permanent contracts. Over time, we continued to use temporary work as our main route. We also worked for a while with a group of employers that allowed us to have 3 or 4 employees on a timeshare basis.

How do you manage the different peaks in activity?

“We have a low level of seasonality, with 20% more business mainly in October and November. To manage these peaks, we use overtime for our employees and some temporary staff over the period. This mainly affects the goods-in department, which is the activity most affected by seasonal fluctuations.

What are your plans for the future?

“For the past 2 years, the company has been determined to diversify its product offering. We want to offer our customers a wider range of products, so we are offering additional media products such as televisions, sound bars, computer screens, etc.”