FrieslandCampina: Continuing to produce during a rebuild

FrieslandCampina has several cheese plants in the country, but the plant in Gerkesklooster is special. This is not only because of the production of various types of cheese with different fat percentages and the supply of raw materials for vegetarian products such as Valess, but also because the factory is currently being expanded. And that, while production continues as usual.

Initially, it was the closure of another FrieslandCampina plant that necessitated the expansion in Gerkesklooster. "We had bet on accommodating that capacity," explains Henk Jonkman, Project Manager Technical Projects at FrieslandCampina. But when milk quotas were abolished in 2015, the supply of milk increased dramatically. "We are a cooperative. What we are offered, we process. So the production of cheese increased."

A process in which nothing can go wrong, in other words. "That's why we ordered a large part of our products from KLINGER ," says Geert. "The products are of high quality, but "They delivered the best quality and service. That means saving time and we don't have to worry about it for the time being. That's worth a lot." Equally important, the service is excellent. In this kind of process you don't need a box-shopper, we were really looking for a party that does what it says and also delivers on time. Sometimes even 'tomorrow'. AND thinks along with us."

This had already been noticed at KLINGER . They jumped on this by immediately putting together a flexible team internally that focused entirely on this job. With one contact person. Samira (inside sales) took the lead at KLINGER and continuously acted as a single point of contact to Geert and Henk.

"Sometimes reality is different from the drawing. Then you have to be able to switch quickly. Sometimes order today, install tomorrow. With KLINGER you can do that."

"Everything that happened at KLINGER in the warehouse went through me. I knew exactly when which shipment had to be ready and when it was delivered to FrieslandCampina. Including the right drawings, instructions and certificates. If there was anything, I was Geert and Henk's first point of contact. By keeping the lines of communication short, everything was tightly organized and there were no surprises," says Samira. Geert adds: "Because of the enormous size and the time pressure, sometimes something had to be delivered at very short notice. Simply because we had forgotten to order something. Or we adjusted something in the plans. Sometimes reality is different from the drawing. Then you have to be able to switch quickly. Sometimes order today, install tomorrow. With KLINGER you can do that."

Samira kept a record of all orders, including delivery times. "We packed everything by department in the factory. In addition, all products were given the tag numbers from FrieslandCampina's engineering plan. In other words, their own numbers, so they could see on the shop floor, based on those numbers, exactly which element had to go where." And to make sure everything arrived properly and on time, everything was delivered by their own truck. "We didn't want to run any risks or lose any time." Henk responds, "The fact that they have their own warehouse at KLINGER is also a godsend. They deliver from their own stock, so fast. They also think about the way it is delivered. For example, we received a shipment appendages . Marc Westerhuis, our Sales Engineer at KLINGER, immediately proposed to add the right flange gaskets. That seems like a simple solution, but it saves us a lot of time and convenience. Exactly what we need with such a large-scale and complex project."