ULMA maintains its growth in France with the arrival of a new director for its subsidiary
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Since last December, the French subsidiary of ULMA HANDLING SYSTEMS has a new director, David García. Julián Garmendia, who previously held this position in Spain, continues to hold his position in France, but will now share responsibilities with Mr. García. With the arrival of Mr. García the aim is to maintain the growth of the French subsidiary, as its evolution over the last two years has exceeded forecasts. The subsidiary employs 29 workers, divided between sales, project management and after-sales service.
Mr. García has essentially developed his career in the world of logistics, where for the past 18 years he has held a position as a Solutions Development Consultant for a world leader offering a complete range of intelligent solutions for internal logistics and maintenance, in charge of the definition of projects mainly in Spain and France. In 2014 and 2015 he dealt with the definition of complete solutions of "turnkey" logistics equipment (IT and devices) of two important projects for his group, in a distribution centre for Redoute and two Drive order pick-up points for Carrefour.
Therefore, Mr. García joins the leadership of ULMA HANDLING FRANCE with extensive experience. The group has a large presence in France in large distribution and equips most of the major brands. It is particularly known for its experience in automated warehouses, for the distribution of fresh and frozen products and robotic multi-product picking.
ULMA Handling Systems, a strong presence in France
Ulma has been present in France for 20 years, with the installation of the first deposits in 1998. From there, the company has experienced continuous, steady growth. Mr. García stated: "The logistics market in France is in full expansion. There are many projects launched by most of the market players. For this reason, ULMA faces more challenges with its customers than with its competitors, and our goal is to offer increasingly efficient services and the most suitable solutions for our customers.
The logistics specialist stands out in France, but also in all of Southern Europe, in large distribution as well as in the agri-food sector, and in the field of controlled temperatures. This is all due to historical reasons: Ulma was one of the first companies to approach automation in Spain in these sectors. And thanks to its strategic collaboration with the Japanese world leader Daifuku it achieved an important technological advantage over its competitors at that time.
An increase in activity linked to technological announcements.
Regarding his arrival, Mr. García stated: "I am very happy to support ULMA in its development. My goal is to reinforce the structure and support the teams and the after-sales service in the many future projects. We want to consolidate our leadership position in the agri-food sector, large distribution and temperature controlled systems and invest in other sectors such as e-commerce, for example."
ULMA announces very important short-term projects in the large distribution sector, particularly in establishing supply systems for department stores. IKPAL multi-reference automatic palletizing robots are developed in France for the preparation of pallets sent to supermarkets. Ulma develops numerous projects of this type in France, and its robots present interesting and very competitive features. Important developments in progress modelled on U-Mind; it is a package of logistic software programs incorporating state-of-the-art technology combined with cloud-based functionalities that allow the processing of operational information together with information on the facilities' life cycle.
ULMA is very active in the field of large distribution, but also in the industrial field. "We also have projects in progress with manufacturers supplying spare parts for maintenance. It is a delicate area since they must meet their customers' demands quickly. This forces them to have a large stock, which must be correctly automated and managed." ULMA supplies systems and software.
Listening and support
To finish Mr. García stated "My goal is to sustain the market demand without neglecting our regular customers. We remain responsive to their demands for modernization, their need for maintenance and also for new systems. We plan to hire staff to consolidate our response in the key sectors. For example, our computer after-sales service is located in France, in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, and is fully dedicated to computer support 24 hours a day. Our competitors generally provide this service in English. We provide it in French because we believe it is easier for our customers to receive it in their own language."