Saint Gobain, the choice of POWERCHOCK safety

POINT.P : a company recognized in the world of construction

POINT.P, the Saint-Gobain Distribution Bâtiment France, brand has more than 1,000 sales outlets and 11,500 employees in France. As France’s leading multi-channel distribution network, POINT.P markets all types of building products, solutions and services to make a comfortable and sustainable living environment accessible to everyone. Close partner of building professionals and individuals, POINT.P mobilizes the best of the housing community (industrial partners, craftsmen, specifiers, etc.) to make their projects a success.

A strategic logistics warehouse

Brie-Comte-Robert (77), in the Paris region, is home to one of Saint-Gobain Distribution Bâtiment France’s three largest logistics facilities: manages more than 40,000 items, supplying all of the group’s 2,000 points of sale, including POINT.P. Built in 2007 and covering an area of 121,000 m², the site employs approximately 250 people, 20 of whom work specifically on the reception and dispatch of goods throughout its 81 loading docks. In the high season, from April to July, the flow of trucks intensifies on the logistics platform, which can receive up to 70 trucks per day – with as many leaving.

Adoption of an effective wheel lock system for a “Zero Accident Tolerance” policy

At POINT.P and throughout the group, safety in the workplace is a very important issue: “30 or 40 years ago, accidents were frequent in companies. Since then, real efforts have been made to limit this occurrence. In our company, safety is a very important concern. Our policy? “Zero Accident”. We apply this naturally across all of our sites. We do a great deal to ensure that our employees do not get injured and that they can work in the best possible conditions,” says Gilles Lefaut, head of maintenance at Saint-Gobain’s Ile-de-France site.

As soon as it took possession of the premises in 2010, POINT.P deployed wheel chock systems on all of its loading docks, but these quickly proved to have limits – at the risk of compromising the safety of forklift operators during transshipment operations.

Gilles Lefaut and his teams are looking for a new safety partner, as they want to be part of a continuous improvement process and are especially concerned about preventing accidents at the docks caused by trucks moving unexpectedly.

The meeting with GMR Safety and the choice of POWERCHOCK

“We had looked at cylinder restraint systems from another manufacturer, but were not convinced mainly because the maintenance cost was too high. And then one day, we were introduced to one of the GMR Safety employees, Vincent Trémouilhe. I immediately found the idea simple and interesting, the management followed and we started to launch the first tests”, explains Gilles Lefaut. Point.P became one of the first GMR Safety customers in France.

“We have been equipped with POWERCHOCK wheel locks for more than five years now. If I compare with our old systems, it’s night and day. It is true that the investment is greater at the time of purchase, but the level of security has increased”, he declares. The sturdiness of the Powerchock wheel chock, which is also linked to the dock door – as recommended by the CRAMIF – made the difference.

Today, all 81 loading docks are equipped with the portable immobilization solution, the Powerchock 3 model

Ensuring the maintenance of dock security devices
Easy to maintain, a technician employed at the logistics base maintains the Powerchock equipment when necessary. SGDB France also offers a five-year warranty on its restraint systems. “Without having real statistics yet, we already feel the benefits. The system can quickly be up and running again in case of problems, as everything has been designed to be efficient and practical. Compared to our previous systems, our technician spends much less time on it. He may have to intervene two or three times a year, as opposed to ten or twelve times previously”, analyses the maintenance manager.

A privileged partnership

After a phased installation of about ten truck wheel blocks per year since 2017, the logistics base in Brie-Comte-Robert is now fully equipped.

“Our collaboration with GMR Safety is very good. As proof of this, we have allowed many companies, including some very big names, to visit our logistics base to see the Powerchock system in action. Most of them were quickly convinced – as we were”, concludes Gilles Lefaut.