From pink pallet slip to digital solution in eight weeks: van Eupen (Sesé Germany) relies on Logistikbude

For contract logistics and warehousing service provider van Eupen (Sesé), pallets are the backbone of daily operations. But until last year, they were still managing their load carriers manually: with a pallet note, pen and Excel spreadsheet. This changed as a result of the cooperation with Logistikbude. Within a few weeks, van Eupen (Sesé) digitized its entire load carrier management system. Today, administration is simple, digital and without delay. The only question left to those responsible in retrospect: “Why didn't we address this earlier? ”

Pallets as far as the eye can see: Anyone who looks around the van Eupen (Sesé) headquarters in Essen or at the warehouse in Unna quickly realizes that everything is standing still there without the wooden load carriers. “The pallet is our number one means of transport,” says Dr. Michael Ott, Logistics/Warehouse Manager at van Eupen (Sesé), in a nutshell.

van Eupen Logistik GmbH & Co. KG is a medium-sized company with a clear focus on contract logistics. Since 2017, it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of the Spanish Sesé group of companies based in Zaragoza, which offers transport and logistics solutions along the entire supply chain. By taking over van Eupen, Sesé in Germany is able to cover a broad portfolio of modern logistics services — from warehousing and transport management to reverse logistics, repair management and professional refurbishment services.

Proven but outdated processes

As central as euro pallets are to the daily operations of the contract logistics provider, their administration remained cumbersome for a long time — and simply no longer up to date.

“Warehouse employees filled out pink pallet slips, which were then processed by hand and later transferred to Excel,” recalls Pascal Benkel, project manager at van Eupen (Sesé).

As is often the case, the longer processes are established, the harder it is to change them. But the topic has been moving in the past year. Project managers like Benkel brought the issue to management — and received the green light to introduce a digital solution.

“The implementation can barely run much smoothly”

As a Dortmund start-up, the Essen-based company was already familiar with Logistikbude. Since its founding in 2021, the “Bude” has completely dedicated itself to the digital management of load carriers — from vegetable crates and butcher boxes to special racks and euro pallets, as they are used thousands of times in warehouses such as van Eupen (Sesé). With its software solution, the young company is on the way to establishing a new, digital standard for controlling load carriers. The Bude and van Eupen (Sesé) quickly got to know each other for the first time. Eight weeks later, pallet notes and Excel spreadsheets were a thing of the past at the contract logistics company.

“The implementation could barely run much smoother than at van Eupen (Sesé),” says Dr. Philipp Hüning, CEO and co-founder of Logistikbude. The standard version of the software already met the logistics service provider's requirements in full; individual adjustments were not necessary. Instead, the focus was on data migration: Existing inventories were added, legacy issues were cleaned up and customer profiles were created.

“Once all relevant data had been properly stored, the implementation was completed after two weeks,” says Benkel. “To be honest, we were surprised how quickly the team at Logistikbude was ready for us. ”

Fewer errors, less effort, more transparency

Since then, van Eupen (Sesé) has benefited from the results of digitization. “What particularly impressed us is the simplicity and efficiency of the tool,” says Ott. The process remains familiar: After trucks dock at the warehouse, employees record pallet movements — but no longer on paper, but directly digitally via a tablet. Each booking is immediately assigned to the corresponding account. The information is therefore available in real time, meaning that there is no need to transfer it later. “In this way, we save time and avoid errors that can necessarily occur during manual transfer,” explains Benkel.

Saved almost 20 working hours per week

Another advantage: transparent communication with freight forwarders and transport service providers. All business partners receive a web link at regular intervals, which they can use to access the respective bookings and confirm or comment on them.

“This saves us countless phone calls and emails in day-to-day business — and above all time and nerves,” summarizes Benkel. “In total, we gain almost 20 hours of working time per week, which we can use for other tasks. ”

In the future, Logistikbude's software solution will also be used at other Grupo Sesé locations. “The process is standardized and tested. As a result, implementation costs and time are low — and the solution pays for itself within a few months,” says Hüning and adds: “The hurdle of bringing your own container management up to date has never been lower. ”

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