GXO Renews Agreement with Mars

Rhea-AI Summary

GXO Logistics, Inc. renews its 15-year partnership with Mars in France, enhancing supply chain operations with advanced automation solutions. The partnership focuses on storage, distribution, and value-added services for Mars brands, including Petcare, Snacking, and Food & Nutrition segments. GXO plans to implement additional innovations on-site to further improve efficiency and productivity. The collaboration between Mars and GXO also prioritizes sustainable growth, with initiatives to reduce energy consumption, CO2 emissions, and transportation costs.

15-year partnership enhancing supply chain operations with automated solutions

PARIS, France, April 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GXO Logistics, Inc. (NYSE: GXO), the world’s largest pure-play contract logistics provider, announced today that it has renewed its contract with major consumer packaged goods company, Mars in France, a partnership that started 15 years ago. GXO manages storage, distribution, returns and value added-services for a number of Mars brands across its Snacking and Food & Nutrition segments.

“We are delighted to expand our partnership with Mars in France,” said Rui Marques, Managing Director, France, GXO. “For many years, we’ve been leveraging our industry-leading automation expertise to help Mars transform its supply chain, and we’re excited to expand the deployment of automated solutions to further enhance efficiency and improve our team members’ experience.”

GXO’s 60,000-square-meter warehouse in Boigny-sur-Bionne has leveraged advanced automation solutions since 2018, including a layer picking robot that can prepare up to 60,000 packages per day. Recently, as part of the contract extension, the team developed a solution that enables new product ranges to be integrated into those managed by the robot, thus optimizing and increasing package preparation capacity. In addition, the facility uses adaptive technology, including tools such as ergonomic scanners and e-beacon technology that automatically scan pallets loaded for shipment. As part of its commitment to continuous improvement, GXO plans to implement additional innovations on-site, including an automated inventory system.

Henri Harfouche, French market supply chain director of Mars, said, “The Mars factory, based in Saint-Denis-de-l’Hôtel, historically has produced pouches and cans for our major Petfood brands. In 2023, we invested €85 million to address increasing demand and improve environmental performance while confirming the attachment of the group to the French territory and in particular to the Loiret. In the meantime, we’re excited to continue working with GXO, taking advantage of their industry-leading capabilities and warehousing solutions. With GXO’s support, we’ve been able to optimize our operations and increase throughput as well as better serve our clients’ needs.”

Mars brands served at the site include Petcare (PEDIGREE^®, WHISKAS^®, CESAR^®, SHEBA^®, ROYAL CANIN^®), Snacking (M&M’s^®, TWIX^®, SNICKERS^®, Celebrations^®, FREEDENT^®, SKITTLES^®) and Food & Nutrition segments (BEN’S Original^®, EBLY^®, SUZI WAN^®).
In addition to their high operational standards, Mars and GXO share a desire for sustainable growth, ensuring best practices are integrated across their initiatives. Mars worked with GXO to install LED lighting on-site in 2024, with twilight and motion detection, lowering energy consumption by approximately 22% compared to the previous year. In 2023, new initiatives implemented for order preparation and loading efficiency helped optimize truck capacity and removed 1,500 truck movements from roads, reducing CO₂ emissions by approximately 1,400 tons annually compared to 2022 as well as reducing transportation costs significantly. The facility also houses more than 20 sheep to maintain green spaces on site in a sustainable manner.

The site’s location has also enabled rail transportation from production facilities located in Germany. This new agreement will see the use of three trains per week, which is equivalent to the volume handled by roughly 70 trucks, and consequently reducing long distance transport miles traveled by a forecasted amount of 3,600 trucks per year.

GXO’s industry-leading automation and technology are helping boost safety, efficiency and productivity for customers globally. In 2023, GXO increased its total tech and automated systems by about 50% compared with 2022. GXO is also accelerating the deployment of machine learning and artificial intelligence to further boost productivity.

Watch the video to discover the solution in action. 

GXO in France

GXO has been helping customers in France optimize their logistics for several decades and operates over 70 warehouses throughout the country. Currently ranked the #2 top logistics service provider in France by Supply Chain Magazine, GXO manages logistics for customers in a variety of sectors, including ecommerce, retail, FMCG and technology. In France, GXO employs nearly 10,000 team members and hired nearly 1,000 additional team members in 2023.

About GXO Logistics

GXO Logistics, Inc. (NYSE: GXO) is the world’s largest pure-play contract logistics provider and is benefiting from the rapid growth of ecommerce, automation and outsourcing. GXO is committed to providing a diverse, world-class workplace for more than 130,000 team members across more than 970 facilities totaling approximately 200 million square feet. The company partners with the world’s leading blue-chip companies to solve complex logistics challenges with technologically advanced supply chain and ecommerce solutions, at scale and with speed. GXO corporate headquarters is in Greenwich, Connecticut, USA. Visit GXO.com for more information and connect with GXO on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. 

About Mars, Incorporated in France

Mars, Incorporated, a family-owned global business, has been established in France for 50 years and has over 4,000 Associates. It operates 9 sites, including 8 factories spread across the entire territory. Through three business segments, Mars Petcare, Mars Wrigley, and Mars Food & Nutrition, the group produces and sells in France nearly 30 of the world’s best-loved brands, such as M&M’s®, SNICKERS®, PEDIGREE®, WHISKAS®, SHEBA®, and BEN'S ORIGINAL™. With more than 2.5 billion euros in annual sales in France; Mars, Incorporated uses its economic performance as a lever to achieve a positive impact on people, pets, and the planet. The world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today: this is the Purpose that drives our actions at Mars.
www.mars.com

About Mars, Incorporated

Mars, Incorporated is driven by the belief that the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today. As a global, family-owned business, Mars is transforming, innovating, and evolving to make a positive impact on the world. Across our diverse and expanding portfolio of quality snacking, food, and pet care products and services, we employ 140,000+ dedicated Associates. With more than $47 billion in annual sales, we produce some of the world’s best-loved brands including Ben’s Original™, CESAR®, Cocoavia®, DOVE®, EXTRA®, KIND®, M&M’s®, SNICKERS®, PEDIGREE®, ROYAL CANIN®, and WHISKAS®. We are creating A Better World for Pets through our global network of pet hospitals and diagnostic services – including AniCura, BANFIELD™, BLUEPEARL™, Linnaeus and VCA™ – using cutting edge technology to develop breakthrough programs in genetic health screening and DNA testing. 

For more information about Mars, please visit www.mars.com. Join us on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.

Media contacts

GXO
Anne Lafourcade 
+33 (0)6 75 22 52 90 
anne.lafourcade@gxo.com 

Matthew Schmidt 
+1 203-307-2809 
matt.schmidt@gxo.com 

Attachment

• Pallet robot at Mars

FAQ

What is the nature of the partnership between GXO and Mars in France?

GXO Logistics, Inc. has renewed its 15-year partnership with major consumer packaged goods company, Mars in France, focusing on storage, distribution, returns, and value-added services for Mars brands across its Snacking and Food & Nutrition segments.

What automation solutions are being used by GXO at the warehouse in Boigny-sur-Bionne?

The warehouse in Boigny-sur-Bionne utilizes advanced automation solutions, including a layer picking robot that can prepare up to 60,000 packages per day. GXO has also developed a solution to integrate new product ranges managed by the robot, optimizing package preparation capacity.

How has GXO contributed to sustainability in its partnership with Mars?

GXO and Mars have implemented sustainable initiatives, such as installing LED lighting on-site to reduce energy consumption, optimizing truck capacity for order preparation and loading efficiency, and utilizing rail transportation to reduce long-distance transport miles traveled by trucks.

What are some of the Mars brands served by GXO at the site in France?

Mars brands served at the site include Petcare (PEDIGREE®, WHISKAS®, CESAR®, SHEBA®, ROYAL CANIN®), Snacking (M&M’s®, TWIX®, SNICKERS®, Celebrations®, FREEDENT®, SKITTLES®), and Food & Nutrition segments (BEN’S Original®, EBLY®, SUZI WAN®).