WAAK is co-engineering partner in JACOPS’ logistics transformation

In a sector where efficiency and error-free processes are crucial, JACOPS is fully committed to logistics innovation and automation. What started as a straightforward assignment evolved – thanks to WAAK’s quality- and process-driven approach – into a project in which WAAK acts as a co-engineering and even co-development partner. For this project, JACOPS relied on the expertise of both WAAK Packaging and WAAK Metal Assembly. Discover how WAAK supports its customers in delivering challenging and technically complex projects.

JACOPS NV, specialised in electrotechnical infrastructure works

JACOPS NV is a Belgian installation company that has been dedicated to integrated solutions for complex infrastructure and technology projects since 1976. The company develops and implements electrotechnical systems for traffic infrastructure, the telecommunications sector, utilities and railways. JACOPS is a genuine West Flemish family business employing over 1,000 people. Its head office is located in Deerlijk, complemented by several entities spread across Belgium.

JACOPS: Optimising logistics through centralisation

These different locations present significant logistical challenges for JACOPS. The company therefore aims to substantially reduce this dispersion and centralise as many activities as possible in Deerlijk. With this objective in mind, JACOPS is currently building a new site where all warehouses, workshops, training facilities and office spaces will be integrated.

New facility with streamlined and fully traceable logistics flow 

Driven by the ambition to centralise operations as much as possible, JACOPS also developed the idea of streamlining and making its logistics flow fully traceable. The new building will feature vertically oriented warehouses and a 12-by-12-metre automated storage system. With these (semi-)automated warehouses, JACOPS aims to increase efficiency and reduce operational costs.

To ensure full traceability, JACOPS approached WAAK with the request to equip the plastic bins or totes in their lift system with LPN (License Plate Number) labels. Each bin was assigned a unique identification number, and four identical labels had to be affixed to every bin. It was essential that all attached labels displayed exactly the same number. This task was ideally suited to our Packaging Department, which was able to rely on WAAK’s existing in-house developed scanning control system.

WAAK's quality control approach proves decisive for JACOPS

Five operators work on the production line. Four of them each apply one label, while a fifth operator scans all the labels. Filip Snauwaert, Business Analyst at JACOPS, explains the approach: “The system devised by WAAK Plastic Assembly and Packaging is very simple yet highly efficient. If not all labels are scanned, or if a label is applied incorrectly, the system immediately detects and flags the issue, allowing the error to be corrected on the spot. This approach ensures that the final result is flawless.”

This level of quality control was a decisive factor for JACOPS in choosing to partner with WAAK. The process makes errors virtually impossible. Since the start-up, we have already equipped more than 14,000 bins with LPN labels, out of a total of 56,000.

Discover the benefits of working with a social enterprise such as WAAK

Co-engineering department of WAAK optimises JACOPS' product design

Over time, JACOPS gained more insight into the way we work. Based on that experience, six months later they asked whether we could develop a solution for stacking their cable reels. For its infrastructure projects, JACOPS stores many cable reels in its warehouse, each weighing between 400 kg and several tons.

JACOPS aims to maximise stacking in racks, including for its reels. To achieve this, the company had designed a reel holder: a frame that can be placed on a pallet and securely clamps the reel in place. JACOPS had already searched the market for standard solutions, which existed in plastic but proved far too expensive. As a result, JACOPS, with the help of the co-engineering department of WAAK Metal Assembly, developed its own metal prototype.

Our co-engineering team thoroughly reviewed JACOPS’ design and identified several opportunities for optimisation. The design was not only adapted to be manufacturable by our employees, but it was also further aligned with the customer’s requirements. The new design was tested in a real-life environment with a reel weighing 1,832 kg. The test model met JACOPS’ expectations and was approved for production.

Reel holder redesign: Cost-efficient and easier to manufacture

The reel holder consists of laser-cut parts that are bent and tubes that are cut to size. An operator then positions the laser-cut parts and tubes in the correct locations using a calibration jig, and a welding robot joins them together.

The operators then remove the welded reel holder from the welding robot and place it on a pallet. Next, an operator secures the holder to the pallet with screws and applies the correct LPN labels.

We have organised the workflow so that two operators can work continuously. While the welding robot is operating, one operator prepares the components for the next task, and the other secures the finished reel holder to the pallet.

This approach is not only the most cost-effective solution for the customer; it also enables us to operate in the most efficient manner. Thanks to this approach, we can meet JACOPS’ target of completing 1,000 reel holders by the end of March 2026.

From co-engineering to co-development: Thinking along with the customer

As the icing on the cake, JACOPS also asked us to optimise the layout of the shelves in the vertical lift system for semi-long goods up to 4,000 mm in the warehouse. The co-engineering department of WAAK Metal Assembly designed a structure that allows a flexibly adjustable compartment layout for the most heavily loaded shelves within the system. Combined with the plastic bins featuring LPN codes, the system can now locate all items even more efficiently and accurately. The JACOPS project demonstrates the extent to which WAAK goes to support customers in realising challenging and technically complex projects.