Distrilog supports Total during their biggest shutdown ever
On September 15 2025 Project Extension V started at the refinery, the biggest shutdown ever on the Total site. During this project, Distrilog played a central role in the logistical support.
Project Extension V
Normally, during a shutdown, one installation is taken offline and inspected, parts are replaced, and repairs are carried out by a single mechanical contractor. However, for Project Extension V, the scale was exceptionally large. No fewer than 13 installations were shut down simultaneously and 6 mechanical contractors were involved in the work. In addition, around 2,000 extra contractors were deployed on site to ensure the project ran smoothly.
Because production was temporarily halted, the project was under enormous time pressure: every day of delay meant a loss of approximately 2 million euros. Timely delivery of spare parts and proper stock management were therefore essential.
Distrilog played a crucial role
A huge amount of technical equipment was needed to carry out all maintenance activities: bolts, nuts, pumps, valves, pipes, and much more. The complete coordination and availability of these parts were managed by Distrilog. From the shutdown warehouse, the team ensured that every contractor had the right materials available on time, allowing the work to continue without delays.
When all activities were completed according to schedule in mid-December, a new logistical challenge emerged: processing large quantities of unused materials. Everything was returned to the shutdown warehouse, where the Distrilog team inspected, registered, and re-entered the items into the system. The materials were then transferred to the central warehouse, also managed by Distrilog, to be placed back into stock. At the beginning of April, the final return pallet was processed, successfully concluding one of the largest logistical operations ever carried out on the site.
Challenges
The scale of the project brought several challenges. Due to the large volumes and the number of parties involved, there were initial concerns that the shutdown warehouse would become a bottleneck for the operations.
In March 2025, a small project team was therefore assembled to tackle a first major challenge: the lack of storage space in the warehouses. At certain times, occupancy rates reached as high as 120%. In theory, a shutdown warehouse should only contain temporary stock needed for the next shutdown. In practice, a large amount of material had accumulated over the years. Some parts had been ordered for previous shutdowns but were never collected and had remained in storage for years. Through targeted actions, the accumulated stock was transferred in time to the central warehouse, while older materials were inventoried, relocated, or removed. This created enough space again to handle the expected project volumes.
A second challenge was staffing. Normally, the shutdown team consists of 6 employees, which is sufficient to support a single shutdown. Due to the exceptional scale of Extension V, additional shifts and weekend work were required. Because working in a technical warehouse is complex and training takes months, the team was already expanded in the summer of 2024 with 6 additional employees. In spring 2025, another 5 employees joined the team and an extra supervisor was appointed to manage the larger workforce.
In addition, structure, communication, and coordination were extremely important. Daily team board meetings were organized, and status updates were shared with all involved parties. Problems were identified as quickly as possible and root causes were addressed immediately. Thanks to this approach, the team was able to respond easily to last-minute changes and process all volumes on time, without any safety incidents.
A major success
Thanks to the proactive collaboration between Distrilog and Total, Extension V became a major success. Continuous improvements were implemented throughout the project and this culture of ongoing improvement continues to this day. Extension V ultimately became a remarkable team achievement that everyone can be proud of.
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