Luís Simões presents its 2021 Sustainability Report, which includes the major milestones of the company during this year. A year of global challenges, with impacts directly on businesses, people and markets. It has been and will be a path of transformation that will take it into the future, enabling the company to face the challenges and opportunities of the sector.
The commitment to digital transformation
With this commitment, Luís Simões has managed to make 2021 a year of growth, with a 7% increase on sales compared to the previous cycle. To this end, Luís Simões developed a business strategy guided by digitalization, technology and sustainability, with a double objective: to increase the quality of the service offered to customers and to promote integration with business partners.
“2021 was a year of transformation, during which we managed to overcome ourselves, creating value for society and for our customers and employees. The logistics sector is going through a time of great challenges on an Iberian and global scale and we want to position ourselves at the forefront in order to continue to offer the best quality in our services and processes,” explains José Luís Simões, President of Luís Simões. “Our way to evolve is to transform our activity and invest in innovation”, he concludes.
Technology, digitalization, and sustainability: three growth areas
As far as technology is concerned, we have to highlight the Guadalajara Logistics Operations Centre (LOC) which was fully operational this year. With three large warehouses, this efficient LOC has a fully automated warehouse that manages the logistics operations of multinational FMCG customers, such as Nestlé or Unilever.
In addition, there was also an investment in the automation processes in the other warehouses, with the ultimate mission of increasing service quality and energy efficiency. For example, at Cabanillas del Campo facilities, AGV systems have been implemented for the operation and pallets handling, that contributed to the reduction of energy consumption (thanks to the use of lithium batteries), to the productivity increase and to the reinforcement of the operations security.
Another of Luís Simões’ major commitments is digital transformation. The group implemented several initiatives in this area that allowed to increase the traceability of goods, simplification of the management process and improvement of the communication with employees, suppliers and customers.
In 2021 Luís Simões also maintained its commitment to contribute to a more environmentally responsible logistics future. In this context, we can highlight the acquisition of two new gigaliners, making a total of 14 units in circulation, which reduces GHG emissions by up to 30% per ton transported. Furthermore, fleet renewal continued through the acquisition of more efficient vehicles. The Luís Simões fleet is characterized by being one of the youngest in the sector, with an average age of about 2.5 years, a value much lower than the average age of the goods transport trucks in the Iberian Peninsula.
Finally, we can also highlight that the company shares its sustainability performance with its customers through the Ecovadis and the SEDEX platforms.
Talent and quality: Luís Simões’ differential values
Quality in customer service and a commitment to in-house talent have been the two pillars that we could find in all the implemented initiatives. The technological advances applied have freed teams from the most routine tasks and made their daily work easier, giving them the opportunity to dedicate more time to activities of added value to the business. In addition, the group has maintained the telecommuting or the home office system introduced during the pandemic for those functions that allow it, favouring an hybrid model that contributes to the well-being of its employees and to the conciliation of professional and family life. .
Luís Simões also created a solid training program aimed at developing the skills and knowledge of teams. In total, 21.386 hours were dedicated to training of employees, whether in person, online or in e-Learning format.
Simultaneously, Luís Simões managed to guarantee the excellence of its services, which reflected in the support to customers and in the recognitions it received. We must highlight the renewal of the Good Distribution Practices for Medicines at the Cabanillas del Campo warehouse, and the attribution of the Innovative Statute granted by COTEC (PT) for its initiatives in innovation, compliance with financial solvency standards and its economic performance.
See the 2021 Sustainability Report and Accounts here