November 20, 2025

30-year-old high-bay warehouse gets new lease of life from Toyota Parts Centre Europe and E’Log

How do you prepare a warehouse built in 1992 for the future? This was the tricky question facing Toyota Parts Centre Europe in the Belgian city of Diest. The workload is set to grow significantly in the coming years. Together with E’Log, Toyota Parts Centre Europe opted for a large-scale retrofit on one condition: day-to-day operations must never grind to a halt. E’Log quickly proved to be more than just a supplier. An agile partner that thought things through, switched gears quickly, and kept the project simple – with no unnecessary complexity, always focusing on the end result.

Four cranes. Four crane rails. New travel and hoist motors. And a high-bay warehouse that is ready for the decades ahead again.

From 30 years of loyal service to a new start

In Diest, everything revolves around safety and reliability. The warehouse is one of Toyota Motor Europe’s logistics hubs. Along with thirteen other depots, the site handles 120 million parts and accessories every year to 44 European markets. From screws to bumpers, small clips to whole doors.

But growth also means pressure.

“By 2030, we expect to achieve a 38% increase in parts sales,” says Mark Seurs, maintenance manager at Toyota Parts Centre Europe. “So we need to be smart about using the space we already have. The high-bay warehouse plays a key role here.”

This particular high-bay – an automated warehouse more than 30 years old – was once intended for slow movers: large, bulky parts that rarely moved at all. These days, Toyota Parts Centre Europe is opting for a smarter approach. No more slow-moving parts, but components that rotate faster and can be stored more efficiently.

“The high-bay warehouse offers enormous potential,” says Mark. “By finding a smarter way to store bumpers and headlights and using the crane movements more efficiently, we can make better use of the 5,000-plus pallet locations. But the system needs to be reliable for this to work. We simply can’t afford downtime in the future, so we need to ensure in advance that it’s business-proof.”

What started out as separate maintenance jobs has grown into a single integrated project. E’Log had already been servicing the installation for two years and knew every nut and bolt. Three clear trouble spots emerged from that experience: wear on the rails, outdated motors and too little certainty about spare parts. It was time to make a move.

Smart modernisation instead of replacement

A new construction? That was never an option. The existing one was still solid. The solution was a technical retrofit that combined all the requirements: efficiency, reliability and minimal downtime.

The approach: step by step. One crane at a time was taken out of service, ensuring that the warehouse remained operational five days a week. Four crane rails were upgraded. Four high-bay cranes were overhauled. All the travel and hoist motors were replaced.

A plan for spare parts was also developed. Critical parts were identified and stocks built up, to ensure that Toyota wouldn’t be unpleasantly surprised by a lack of parts at the wrong time.

“E’Log knew our installation inside out,” says Mark. “That gave us confidence. Together, we worked out what was most critical. Besides thinking things through with us at the technical level, they are also very practical: how do you keep everything running while you are innovating?”

The project coordination was tight. Progress meetings were held every week. Each phase went better than the one before. Small details were adjusted along the way, which kept up the pace and ensured peace of mind. There was no unnecessary complexity, just clear steps and a transparent approach. E’Log’s maintenance engineers were there from start to finish. Their knowledge, experience, and flexibility inspired confidence.

Adjusting where necessary

Like any big project, there were also a few surprises. The new rail was ten millimetres higher than planned, which meant that the software and sensors needed to be adjusted. And the motor sets in stock weren’t a perfect fit for the existing cranes.

“That was a bit of a shock,” Mark recalls. “We were just about to get started, and suddenly the rail turned out not to be perfectly aligned. But thanks to the escalation plan and short lines of communication, the issue was resolved within a few hours. The work never ground to a halt.”

Safety was always a priority. E’Log worked closely with Toyota’s HSE manager and their maintenance partner Bilfinger, which supports the internal maintenance team at Toyota Parts Centre Europe.

“Safety is our top priority,” says Mark. “E’Log and the other partners adapted well to this requirement. Everything was prepared thoroughly in advance, especially the coordination between the works at height and those on the ground. This allowed everyone to work safely. And if something didn’t go according to plan, we discussed it at the very next weekly meeting. That level of openness simply worked really well.”

An installation that can grow with the future

Four cranes and four rails later, the high-bay warehouse is as good as new. Perfectly aligned. Reliable. And ready for growth.

“It will keep us going for years,” says Mark with satisfaction. “The reliability is back to what it should be, and we have a partner who is helping us figure out the next steps.”

The benefit doesn’t lie so much in the new features as in what was held onto: continuity. The retrofit made the warehouse more stable and efficient, without operations having to stop for a single day. Today, Toyota Parts Centre Europe can make better use of the system than ever before: more capacity, more certainty and less unexpected downtime. Just what the organisation needs for future growth.

“If I had to give the project a score, it would be eight out of ten,” Mark concludes. “There’s always room for improvement, but our collaboration was open, professional, and focused on solutions. That’s the most important thing for us.”

The retrofit proves that innovation doesn’t always mean having to start over. Sometimes, it’s smarter to build on what is already there. With the right expertise, the right people and a partner who thinks things through with you, even a 30-year-old installation can effortlessly keep pace with the future.