How Salins Cut Carrier Wait Times by 50% with Alpega TMS
A digital transformation success story in warehouse and transportation management
In logistics, efficiency and precision define success. For Salins Group, one of Europe’s leading salt producers, managing thousands of shipments each year across five countries demanded more than manual scheduling and outdated communication tools.
When seasonal demand spikes created truck queues stretching for kilometers outside their warehouses, Salins recognized the need for a smarter, data-driven approach.
Their partnership with Alpega TMS marked the start of a digital transformation that would dramatically improve operational efficiency, optimize resource allocation, and reduce carrier time on site by 50%.
From Fax Machines to Full Digital Control
Before 2007, warehouse scheduling at Salins was handled manually, often via fax.
Each location operated independently, with limited visibility into truck arrivals or load times. The result: congestion, long carrier wait times, and missed opportunities to share best practices across sites.
As the business grew, and demand fluctuated sharply during winter snowstorms, these inefficiencies became costly. Up to 400 trucks a day could arrive at a single warehouse during peak periods, overwhelming operations and damaging carrier relationships.
To sustain growth and deliver on service commitments, Salins needed a modern, centralized way to manage dock scheduling and communication.
Implementing Slot Booking from Alpega TMS
In 2007, Salins implemented Alpega TMS’s slot booking solution (then Transwide) to digitize and standardize warehouse scheduling.
The impact was immediate and measurable.
The system allowed teams to:
- Plan truck arrivals and departures precisely
- Allocate labor efficiently based on real-time data
- Predict optimal slot durations to minimize idle time
- Communicate seamlessly with carriers and measure their on-time performance
“It helped us know which trucks were coming and when,” explains Alban Capron, Head of Transport at Salins. “With better visibility, everything became smoother — and carrier wait times dropped.”
Reducing Total Time on Site by 50%
Before Alpega TMS, trucks typically spent 2.5 to 3 hours on site, much of it waiting.
Today, that figure is down to 1.5 hours, representing a 50% reduction in total time on site.
This improvement translates into:
- Faster vehicle turnover
- Better warehouse productivity
- Reduced congestion and CO₂ emissions
- Happier carriers and more reliable partnerships
The efficiencies gained have also freed up time and resources for Salins’s teams to focus on value-added activities, from improving service levels to supporting strategic growth.
Data-Driven Workforce Optimization
Slot booking didn’t just improve planning; it changed how Salins managed its workforce.
With clear visibility into actual loading and unloading durations, warehouse managers could deploy the right number of operators per shift, avoiding both understaffing and overstaffing.
Data replaced intuition.
This transparency made it easier to justify resource allocation decisions to management and maintain performance as volumes scaled.
Building Stronger Carrier Collaboration
For Salins, efficiency was only part of the equation. Maintaining trusted carrier relationships was equally critical.
Alpega TMS provided the visibility and reporting tools needed to track on-time performance, benchmark service levels, and share metrics transparently with logistics partners.
This openness fostered accountability and strengthened collaboration, ensuring that every stakeholder in the supply chain operated from the same set of reliable data.
A Long-Term Partnership for Continuous Improvement
After more than 14 years of collaboration, Salins continues to expand its use of Alpega TMS across additional sites in France, Italy, and Spain.
The company is now preparing for new advancements, such as the integration of electronic consignment notes (eCMR), which will deliver even faster, real-time synchronization between carriers and warehouse teams.
As Salins’s logistics evolve, Alpega TMS remains a trusted partner supporting scalability, sustainability, and innovation.
About Salins Group
Founded more than 150 years ago, Salins Group produces high-quality sea salt through sustainable methods across France, Spain, Italy, Tunisia, and Senegal.
Its brands, including La Baleine and Le Saunier de Camargue, serve food, agriculture, industrial, and chemical markets worldwide.
About Alpega Group
Alpega Group is a leading global provider of modular transportation management solutions.
With over 30 years of logistics innovation and a network of 80,000 carriers, Alpega connects shippers, forwarders, and carriers to streamline operations, improve visibility, and reduce emissions, driving smarter logistics for a greener tomorrow.