On Tuesday 13 September, Sioen will receive Minister of Defence Dedonder at its sites in Mouscron and Ardooie. The visit is part of the attribution of the public offering for the "Belgian Defence Clothing System" (B.D.C.S.) to Sioen, Seyntex and Crye Precision in April of this year. Over the next 15 years, Belgian soldiers will be equipped with new operational clothing and accessories for a total budget of 410 million Euros.
"Protection through innovation" has been Sioen's baseline for more than 60 years. This slogan is put to practice in the logistics centre in Mouscron. For our vertically integrated company that has almost all the steps of the value chain in-house and does it ourselves – we produce yarns, fabrics, color dispensations and garments ourselves – this logistics center is the final cornerstone.
It was festively opened in 2000 at the Sioen business site in Mouscron, where also a spinning mill, weaving mill, coating and extrusion factory are situated. We are proud to show the Minister and her delegation around this semi-automated distribution centre. After major investments in a new WMS system, in high-performance machines and in people, this logistics center is a rock solid entity to process both large orders (pallets/boxes) and piece orders.
In addition, a new building permit has been submitted to build an additional logistics centre 10,000 m² and 20 metres high behind the existing site and should be operational by the end of 2024.
At noon, the delegation will go to Sioen's headquarters in Ardooie, where the minister, accompanied by the top of Defence, will meet the people behind the "Belgian Defence Clothing System" (B.D.C.S.) of Sioen and Seyntex for a state of affairs.