Home: Issue 4 2009 › The garbage guys
The garbage guys
03/11/2009 | Channel: Recycling, Business, Manufacturing
Geesinknorba offers solutions to meet a wide range of waste management needs
One inevitable by-product of every business’ activity is waste; it is unavailable and can be time consuming to deal with, which is why it’s extremely important for a reliable company to offer the tools to efficiently handle all waste. One such organisation is the knowledgeable GEESINKNORBA, which specialises in competent refuse collection and compaction, offering one-stop shop solutions in the field of waste management.
GEESINKNORBA has been active for 134 years. The Geesink family founded it in 1875 and Norba, being the second half of the enterprise, started operating in 1913. Providing an overview of its more recent history, supply chain director Henk Jonker says: “In 2000 Geesink acquired Norba, bringing the two companies together. Today GEESINKNORBA is among the top three players in its market and offers a strong product portfolio that includes refuse collection vehicles (RCVs) for a wide variety of applications. This consists of simple refuse bodies as well as very complex units to handle a multitude of different containers and bins. Its portfolio offers rear loaders in various sizes, split multi-fraction units, side loaders as well as static and portable compactors and sweepers. We only deliver country-and-customer specific solutions to meet the exact requirements of each situation.”
There have been changes to the company’s structure of late, with US-based Platinum Equity acquiring GEESINKNORBA from its previous owner Oshkosh in July of this year. Commenting, Henk says: “PE acknowledges us as an established business that has long-standing relations with highly valued customers. Less hierarchy, shorter lines and quick decision taking are the aspects currently benefiting the change over.”
Continuing, he outlines GEESINKNORBA’s main markets: “We’re active in the UK, Benelux, Scandinavia, France, Spain and Eastern Europe with the company’s own branch offices. Other European countries and countries outside Europe (such as in the Middle East) are supported by dealer organisations. Apart from our production facility in Emmeloord, we operate branch facilities with in-house chassis mounting plus various staffed service centres in our key European markets.”
Henk explains GEESINKNORBA’s activities in further detail: “At our Emmeloord site we’re focusing on the production of complete refuse collection kits. Kits are to be mounted on a chassis of the customer’s choice at Emmeloord or the branches, and will be either diesel, natural gas or electrically driven. We can create the perfect match of new technologies between body and chassis in close co-operation with all the leading chassis producers.
“Relating to this is our latest development that was successfully introduced; the hybrid plug-in refuse collection vehicle compliant with latest CE-regulations, which is a hybrid chassis that’s diesel/electrical-powered and a refuse collection unit driven by battery power. Whist operating the refuse collection functionality it runs on electricity and when driving for longer distances it runs on the diesel engine. It offers 20 per cent more fuel efficiency compared to conventional methods, it’s environmental friendly and it provides a significantly reduced noise level. Units will be operating all over Europe shortly.”
Naturally, being a waste management company, GEESINKNORBA takes more than a passing interest in environmental issues and it’s for this reason that Henk is very proud of the firm’s plug-in: “Most countries have become extremely sensitive to environmental protection and emphasise managing waste of different types, which is why the development of the hybrid plug-in units is perfectly timed. Requests from bigger municipalities to collect waste during the night in order to improve accessibility makes demands on the noise level. Environmental awareness in itself makes demands on the technology to collect garbage, diesel/natural gas/electricity. Bringing these together, GEESINKNORBA developed the hybrid plug-in and will continue to seek further improvements.”
Its commitment to innovation is one of GEESINKNORBA’s main qualities and its environmentally friendly solutions, such as the plug-in hybrid technology, sets a new standard in the refuse collection market. In fact, GEESINKNORBA has also set new safety standards among refuse collection vehicles. “All of our products meet the highest European safety standards and are fully compliant with CE-regulations,” Henk notes. “These quality trademarks are vital to us in terms of staying ahead of the competition and indicating our commitment to innovative new technological solutions in refuse collection.
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“Another strength is the reputation we have built up as a reliable manufacturer that guarantees low cost of ownership – our products offer a long lifecycle, resulting in lower purchase cost, and we have much lower maintenance costs than any other manufacturer. Today, fully automated vehicles – only requiring a driver – are in operation widely; they’re the fulfilment of the long-lived dream of many communities and private waste disposal companies to manage easy and cost-efficient refuse collection systems.”
GEESINKNORBA’s considerable success would not be possible without support from its suppliers and the company makes a distinction between its supply partners and suppliers. Suppliers within GEESINKNORBA handle standard commodities, with parts available at various suppliers. “It’s important here to create the right portfolio for a particular set of suppliers to be able to manage cost in a good way,” Henk asserts. “Fair competition on price and lead-time are key and logistic concepts such as Vendor Managed Inventory are increasingly used.
“Playing a different role are our supply partners as they determine the success of our company – they’re part of the strategy and are selected according to commodity strategies; based on logistics demands, technology, level of innovation, quality performance, strategic fit and competitiveness, a future strategy for the particular commodity is defined. Within the selection process it’s determined to what extent each supplier fulfils requirements. The aim is to have three to five suppliers per commodity, depending on its nature. By taking this approach, GEESINKNORBA should have a supply base of 150 direct suppliers. Currently we’re at a level of 600, so we have a long and difficult road ahead of us still.”
Another way in which GEESINKNORBA is improving efficiency is by integrating its data and processes into one single system, with assistance from supply chain expert TruEconomy. Henk explains: “We are implementing a new ERP (enterprise resource planning) system with TruEconomy Consulting, an organisation that is helping us to make lasting improvements to our performance by implementing this in the shortest possible time.”
Streamlining both its operation and supplier base will no doubt enable GEESINKNORBA to prosper in the future and has helped the company to adjust to the new economic situation emerging through the recession. “We divide waste into residential and commercial,” Henk reveals. “The latter has slowed down in the recession; people created less of it, meaning there’s been less work for those who collect it and fewer orders with us have been placed. Residential waste, however, shows no sign of slowing down. Underlying that, the service business that goes out and collects it is under financial pressure but it has to keep going – it can’t just stop spending. We have seen a reasonable downturn in the market but recently there have been signs to suggest that business is moving back up to the level we saw before the recession.”
Henk recognises that the next period of GEESINKNORBA’s development will be coloured slightly by the fact the world is slowly moving out of a phase of recession. “The coming year will be a period of stabilisation in industry,” he explains. “The downturn took a great deal of confidence out of the market and our first objective is to stabilise and/or extend our position in our existing markets. Naturally we are eager to conquer new markets, although this has to be done in a controlled way and it is too early to state what the time frame will be. There’s no denying that competition is tough but new developments such as the plug-in hybrid, as well as new options and variants, certainly work in our favour.”
GEESINKNORBA has been active for 134 years. The Geesink family founded it in 1875 and Norba, being the second half of the enterprise, started operating in 1913. Providing an overview of its more recent history, supply chain director Henk Jonker says: “In 2000 Geesink acquired Norba, bringing the two companies together. Today GEESINKNORBA is among the top three players in its market and offers a strong product portfolio that includes refuse collection vehicles (RCVs) for a wide variety of applications. This consists of simple refuse bodies as well as very complex units to handle a multitude of different containers and bins. Its portfolio offers rear loaders in various sizes, split multi-fraction units, side loaders as well as static and portable compactors and sweepers. We only deliver country-and-customer specific solutions to meet the exact requirements of each situation.”
There have been changes to the company’s structure of late, with US-based Platinum Equity acquiring GEESINKNORBA from its previous owner Oshkosh in July of this year. Commenting, Henk says: “PE acknowledges us as an established business that has long-standing relations with highly valued customers. Less hierarchy, shorter lines and quick decision taking are the aspects currently benefiting the change over.”
Continuing, he outlines GEESINKNORBA’s main markets: “We’re active in the UK, Benelux, Scandinavia, France, Spain and Eastern Europe with the company’s own branch offices. Other European countries and countries outside Europe (such as in the Middle East) are supported by dealer organisations. Apart from our production facility in Emmeloord, we operate branch facilities with in-house chassis mounting plus various staffed service centres in our key European markets.”
Henk explains GEESINKNORBA’s activities in further detail: “At our Emmeloord site we’re focusing on the production of complete refuse collection kits. Kits are to be mounted on a chassis of the customer’s choice at Emmeloord or the branches, and will be either diesel, natural gas or electrically driven. We can create the perfect match of new technologies between body and chassis in close co-operation with all the leading chassis producers.
“Relating to this is our latest development that was successfully introduced; the hybrid plug-in refuse collection vehicle compliant with latest CE-regulations, which is a hybrid chassis that’s diesel/electrical-powered and a refuse collection unit driven by battery power. Whist operating the refuse collection functionality it runs on electricity and when driving for longer distances it runs on the diesel engine. It offers 20 per cent more fuel efficiency compared to conventional methods, it’s environmental friendly and it provides a significantly reduced noise level. Units will be operating all over Europe shortly.”
Naturally, being a waste management company, GEESINKNORBA takes more than a passing interest in environmental issues and it’s for this reason that Henk is very proud of the firm’s plug-in: “Most countries have become extremely sensitive to environmental protection and emphasise managing waste of different types, which is why the development of the hybrid plug-in units is perfectly timed. Requests from bigger municipalities to collect waste during the night in order to improve accessibility makes demands on the noise level. Environmental awareness in itself makes demands on the technology to collect garbage, diesel/natural gas/electricity. Bringing these together, GEESINKNORBA developed the hybrid plug-in and will continue to seek further improvements.”
Its commitment to innovation is one of GEESINKNORBA’s main qualities and its environmentally friendly solutions, such as the plug-in hybrid technology, sets a new standard in the refuse collection market. In fact, GEESINKNORBA has also set new safety standards among refuse collection vehicles. “All of our products meet the highest European safety standards and are fully compliant with CE-regulations,” Henk notes. “These quality trademarks are vital to us in terms of staying ahead of the competition and indicating our commitment to innovative new technological solutions in refuse collection.
')";>“Another strength is the reputation we have built up as a reliable manufacturer that guarantees low cost of ownership – our products offer a long lifecycle, resulting in lower purchase cost, and we have much lower maintenance costs than any other manufacturer. Today, fully automated vehicles – only requiring a driver – are in operation widely; they’re the fulfilment of the long-lived dream of many communities and private waste disposal companies to manage easy and cost-efficient refuse collection systems.”
GEESINKNORBA’s considerable success would not be possible without support from its suppliers and the company makes a distinction between its supply partners and suppliers. Suppliers within GEESINKNORBA handle standard commodities, with parts available at various suppliers. “It’s important here to create the right portfolio for a particular set of suppliers to be able to manage cost in a good way,” Henk asserts. “Fair competition on price and lead-time are key and logistic concepts such as Vendor Managed Inventory are increasingly used.
“Playing a different role are our supply partners as they determine the success of our company – they’re part of the strategy and are selected according to commodity strategies; based on logistics demands, technology, level of innovation, quality performance, strategic fit and competitiveness, a future strategy for the particular commodity is defined. Within the selection process it’s determined to what extent each supplier fulfils requirements. The aim is to have three to five suppliers per commodity, depending on its nature. By taking this approach, GEESINKNORBA should have a supply base of 150 direct suppliers. Currently we’re at a level of 600, so we have a long and difficult road ahead of us still.”
Another way in which GEESINKNORBA is improving efficiency is by integrating its data and processes into one single system, with assistance from supply chain expert TruEconomy. Henk explains: “We are implementing a new ERP (enterprise resource planning) system with TruEconomy Consulting, an organisation that is helping us to make lasting improvements to our performance by implementing this in the shortest possible time.”
Streamlining both its operation and supplier base will no doubt enable GEESINKNORBA to prosper in the future and has helped the company to adjust to the new economic situation emerging through the recession. “We divide waste into residential and commercial,” Henk reveals. “The latter has slowed down in the recession; people created less of it, meaning there’s been less work for those who collect it and fewer orders with us have been placed. Residential waste, however, shows no sign of slowing down. Underlying that, the service business that goes out and collects it is under financial pressure but it has to keep going – it can’t just stop spending. We have seen a reasonable downturn in the market but recently there have been signs to suggest that business is moving back up to the level we saw before the recession.”
Henk recognises that the next period of GEESINKNORBA’s development will be coloured slightly by the fact the world is slowly moving out of a phase of recession. “The coming year will be a period of stabilisation in industry,” he explains. “The downturn took a great deal of confidence out of the market and our first objective is to stabilise and/or extend our position in our existing markets. Naturally we are eager to conquer new markets, although this has to be done in a controlled way and it is too early to state what the time frame will be. There’s no denying that competition is tough but new developments such as the plug-in hybrid, as well as new options and variants, certainly work in our favour.”
