Built with pride #1

From an idea to a machine

VHM loves bottlenecks. Half a word from a customer about an annoyance or desire in his operational process is enough to get the wheels turning immediately. Thinking in solutions and possibilities: “out-of-the-box.” As long as that box is central. As a specialist in box&bigbag handling, VHM contributes to every logistics process. Where can you automate, where can you avoid forklift movements or just increase capacity.

For example, Rik van Hees noticed during a meeting with a potato processor who was about to purchase a Turnr, that this was not yet the ultimate solution. Because how great would it be if you didn’t have to empty the whole box, but could take out exactly the amount you needed?

In a world where consumers expect on-demand availability (read: when nice weather is on its way, the store shelf must be immediately filled with BBQ products…), as a retail supplier you need more flexibility. It is necessary to be able to run smaller batches and be able to switch quickly. And in the case of potatoes; once out of the box, into the processing line for good. So now if you can send exactly this many pounds into the processing line and save the rest for another batch, that’s product-friendly, efficient, waste-reducing and cost-saving. Win-Win-Win-Win!

“What can’t be done has never been done” A motto that hung on a two-meter-wide sign at Rik’s place when he still had his own office. He has since ceded his office to his VHM colleagues and grabs a flexible workspace when he is in the factory. But the motto is still unchanged. And the idea that arises in conversation with this customer is transformed into a concept idea in no time. And so begins the manufacturing process of a new VHM machine. With a simple sketch on a whiteboard and a story towards Engineering…. an idea not yet implemented anywhere in the world.

One more question from Rik to the customer: “When do you need it?”
“Yesterday?”
“Ok, in two and a half months we will come and install it…”

Read more: Built with pride, part 2.