Fabio Rinaldi: "Bigmat prepares the overall recovery of activities"

Quelque 80 % des points de vente de l’enseigne ont repris leur activité, en mode « dégradé » selon le président du directoire de BigMat qui revient sur la crise sanitaire et économique qui frappe le secteur.

"The year 2020 will have nothing in common with 2019" indicates immediately Fabio Rinaldi, Chairman of the Bigmat France Executive Board.Indeed, the group of independent distributors achieved some 963 million euros in turnover last year (with 90 members and 290 points of sale), an increase of 4.5 % compared to 2018.He also recruited 8 new members.

And the year 2020 had started very well with a good dynamic of internal and external growth, according to the chairman of the executive board who had planned to exceed one billion turnover excl..The group has completed some flagship and structuring projects launched two years ago, in particular concerning its purchasing policy.

He has indeed left the CMEM (Multi-Ensign Materials Center) to regain his independence and his negotiation power with his 300 suppliers.A bet carried out for the group, the amount of purchases of which represents 700 million euros, 500 of which made with the referenced suppliers.

3 new members in anticipation at Bigmat

In addition, new steps have been started to recruit members and three of them should join the group in the coming months, said Fabio Rinaldi.Bigmat had also started another project, which continues and accuses no delay, despite the crisis: the constitution of a centralized database for a common information system.

The economic and health crisis suddenly put a sudden stop to the activity of distributors, from the first government announcements, contributing to disorganizing the entire interdependent sector, that is to say suppliers and work companies.

"Confusion was born quickly, because the list of closed businesses was published on March 16, but it excluded negotia in materials," says Fabio Rinaldi.However, how to keep the activity of employees present in the points of sale in complete safety when a general confinement had been decided?wonders the Chairman of the Management Board.

"We were not prepared for a massive influx of customers"

Indeed, the maintenance of the activity of the trading could have created a panic movement, like what happened in food surfaces."We were not prepared for a massive influx of customers worried about their sites and we recommended that our members close their points of sale while waiting to be able to quickly reorganize us" specifies Fabio Rinaldi.

The profession was able to think for a week to share the best practices to deploy in points of sale so as to guarantee the safety of employees and customers.

"It is under these conditions and on the basis of the volunteer of the employees that we were able to resume our activities on March 23," explains Fabio Rinaldi.Note that the first health recommendations guide was born in the materials distribution sector.

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The crisis has enabled distributors of materials to quickly set up new delivery tools, such as the drive."This has shown us that we may have tend to censor on this type of commercial practices when are able to organize ourselves very quickly and meet the demand of our craftsmen," explains Fabio Rinaldi © Probemat in Ste Reine de Bretagne

80 % of active members, in "degraded mode"

Today, according to the latter, 80 % of the brand's points of sale have resumed their activity, achieving around 50 % of the usual turnover.The Drive, the Click and Collect, but also the deliveries on site allow distributors to ensure the supply of materials that their customers need.

"There are fewer workforce in points of sale, and we had to adapt a sales organization, without physical contact, to a customer activity also reduced by half" takes up the chairman of the executive board.

Fabio Rinaldi notes that large projects have not really restarted and that suppliers in particular of concrete floors have stopped their factories while waiting for the publication of a guide to good practices approved by the government.(Fib/ unicem).

Stocks to be reconstituted among traders

Consequence: the stocks of materials of the merchants have significantly decreased and would not provide the needs of all customers, in the event of full and immediate recovery of the activity.A resumption which first supposes the reorganization of all the logistics chain, today impacted by the crisis.

At the same time, concerning the finishing activities of the grouping, carpentry and tiling, the show-room of members who essentially welcome individuals could not reopen their doors.Some marginal deliveries could however be made, specifies Fabio Rinaldi.

Do not break the payment chain in the construction industry

Pending the end of containment and a global recovery of activities, instructions have been given to members concerning the terms of customer and supplier payments."Craftsmen and our members can benefit from the state systems and therefore, rather than refusing a payment deadline, they must activate these aids in priority, so as not to break the payments chain" insists Fabio Rinaldi.

Communication was therefore made in the Bigmat network to remind members to respect their payment deadlines.According to the Chairman of the Management Board, it is essential that craftsmen can settle their traders who can in turn settle their industrial suppliers.

However, it remains difficult to provide a clear and precise recovery scenario, according to the Chairman of the Management Board."Will the activity resume in July or after summer?It’s too early, the crisis was brutal and can continue.Everything will depend on its duration and our customers.The French have planned to do work and the activity can gradually resume.But we do not know how companies will come out of this situation ”tempers Fabio Rinaldi.

For his part, the Chairman of the Management Board, estimates that the health and economic crisis makes you lose 3 points per month of pandemic to the group's activity.Which could generate a drop in annual turnover between 5 to 10 % for 2020.

At Bigmat, the teams are in any case mobilized to use a so -called normal activity and readjust."Our employees and employees have shown solidarity and engagement and fight alongside members and trades of negotiations for activities to work" underlines Fabio Rinaldi who concludes: "We must avoid falling back on yourself, andShare our experiences a lot.The strength of our group allows it and it is an important advantage of our organization ".

The group ordered a hundred thousand masks for its employees and customers.By the end of April, the stocks in masks, will be reconstituted, assures the chairman of the executive board.

Source: Batirama.Com / Fabienne Leroy