Guy Cotten Automates Its Logistics to Reconcile Growth and Working Conditions

Like Chancerelle, Hénaff and Kerné cider house, Guy Cotten and its famous yellow raincoat are part of Brittany’s entrepreneurial heritage. Since 1964, this family-owned company has outfitted maritime professionals with a raincoat that has become iconic. But the brand has grown considerably since its beginnings at the port of Concarneau, where Guy Cotten introduced his revolutionary product to sailors. “We have significantly expanded our range in recent years,” sums up Julien Bertholom, export sales assistant. Fishing, agriculture, boating, industry, cleaning and construction: the catalog has diversified considerably. The company generates approximately €18 million in revenue, 45% of which comes from exports, and employs 300 people across its subsidiaries and factories, half of them in Brittany across three sites, supplemented by a factory in Madagascar dedicated to agricultural products.

The company’s expertise is based on a key technique: high-frequency welding, which is essential to ensure seamless PVC waterproofing. Innovation is concentrated primarily in production equipment, with machinery developed in-house to facilitate manufacturing. This expertise also extends to cutting, a stage that remains entirely in-house: “All our fabrics are cut on site; it is about control,” Julien Bertholom emphasizes. Whether intended for workshops in Brittany or Madagascar, all patterns are produced in Trégunc, while 90% of raw materials are sourced in Western Europe, with only a few technical fabrics coming from Asia.

This industrial strategy has resulted in several major investments. In 2019, just before COVID, Guy Cotten built a 4,500 m² site in Trégunc, centralizing fishing-product manufacturing and all cutting operations, with production rates of between 750 and 1,000 items per day. But logistics is now where the company is preparing to take the next step. The current person-to-goods setup operates in a 6,000 m² building, where five employees handle picking, packing and putaway, walking up to ten kilometers a day during peak sales periods in a warehouse that is not all on one level—a source of physical strain and risk. To address productivity and ergonomics challenges, Guy Cotten acquired a new 5,000 to 6,000 m² building in early 2025, located in the same business park as the factory. Built in the 1950s, it requires a complete renovation: floor and roof repairs, insulation, a suspended ceiling and reversible heating. The company will occupy only 2,500 m², with the remainder intended for other businesses. The new logistics solution will occupy 500 m²: a Scallog goods-to-person robotic system. Scallog is a French specialist in order-picking automation.

The choice of partner was not a default one. Guy Cotten carried out an in-depth review, considering several options, including AutoStore and dynamic shelving systems. “But our volumes are not high enough for those solutions,” explains Julien Bertholom. Ultimately, another company consulted—showing fair play—recommended Scallog. The principle behind its technology? Autonomous robots move within a defined area to bring mobile shelving to operators. “ The shelf comes to the person, and the operator does the ‘ picking ’ ”, the manager summarizes. Specifically, five robots will transport 126 mobile shelving units, including 18 wire-mesh pallet racks for fast-moving products, to a picking station and a replenishment station. This automation will handle 1,500 of the brand’s 1,660 catalog items. With 680,000 items shipped annually, 45% of them for export, the stakes are high. Especially since the company handles all its shipments directly, without an external logistics provider. “ All products manufactured in our various workshops are brought together in one place and then shipped around the world ”, says the export sales assistant.

Beyond productivity gains—one operator will be able to prepare up to 30 orders simultaneously—it was the human dimension that weighed most heavily in the investment decision. The daily ten kilometers will be a thing of the past, as will poor movements and awkward postures, which contribute to musculoskeletal disorders. “ The goal is not for the machine to replace people. It is to simplify a task that was not necessarily very pleasant ”, our interviewee insists. This message won over the teams. “ The project was presented very early on, and employees seemed quite enthusiastic about working with this tool ”. The transition is being carefully orchestrated through twice-monthly meetings bringing together Guy Cotten’s management, Scallog and the company’s IT provider. The schedule has been finalized: after months of renovation, the warehouse and its robotic solution will go into operation in the first half of 2026. This modernization is part of the company’s growth trajectory, which draws on its past to look toward the future, like certain catalog items that have existed for more than 50 years. The Rosbras jacket, a flagship product sold for more than half a century, remains a bestseller today. Its longevity illustrates the Guy Cotten philosophy: no fleeting collections, but products designed to last. “ Thanks to our professional customer base and our presence in both hemispheres, the brand does not experience marked seasonality. Our garments sell year-round ”, Julien Bertholom explains. We will not venture an ironic remark about the boost provided by Finistère’s 200 rainy days a year.