Four warehouse received the highest award in safety during Warehouse Day. Abbott Biologicals and Janssen Biologics won gold in the small warehouses category, Schneider Electric and DHL Supply Chain in the large warehouses category. Jury chairman René de Koster praised the high level of the participants. "That is super. I visit many foreign warehouses, but when it comes to safety, we are way ahead in the Netherlands."
This is the second time Abbott and DHL have won the highest award. DHL's distribution centre in Bergen op Zoom was the very first winner of the election in 2006 and was now able to climb the podium again. Jury chairman René de Koster, professor in logistics at Erasmus University Rotterdam, praised the company's eagerness to experiment with new technologies such as smart glasses for order picking. Site manager Johan Schouwenaar of DHL gave some of the credit to Ricoh, the client in Bergen op Zoom. "In regular consultations with Ricoh, safety and ergonomics are always high on the agenda. They have also co-invested in new technologies such as blue spot and smart glasses."
Financial performance
Abbott Biologicals from Olst won earlier in 2013, but had now entered with another, smaller warehouse. The initiative for this came from the employees themselves, says warehouse manager Edwin Henssen. "I am especially proud of the employees' safety awareness, which is at a high level. And that in a warehouse in which - even though it is small - still a lot of pallets are moved." De Koster described it differently: "Abbott has a warehouse in which American efficiency is coupled with a Dutch working climate."
Schneider Electric from Helmond also participated last year, but had to settle for second place then. "Warehouse safety was already at a high level in this company. Yet Schneider managed to improve safety even further. In addition, Schneider is the example that shows that safety and financial results go hand in hand," De Koster said. DC manager Hugo van Goor also praised his people. "It has taken five years to get where we are today. As management, you can put safety first, but it is the people who ultimately have to deliver."
Silver for Jumbo
Janssen Biologics saw its first participation in the election immediately rewarded with gold. De Koster praised the company's investments in safety training, among other things. "Even the columns in the warehouse are painted in safety colours. Those really can't be missed," the jury chairman spoke. Supervisor Frans van de Vegt pointed especially to the behavioural observation programme. If an incident occurs, work is stopped and everyone goes to the relevant location. There, causes and solutions are discussed. "I am especially proud of how we have embedded safety in our daily work," said De Vegt.
In addition to the four gold awards, Jumbo's distribution centre in Breda received silver - a day after the supermarket chain received a petition from trade union FNV about the high workload in logistics. De Koster pointed to the transformation the company has gone through, including two acquisitions in a short time. "The high growth sometimes puts pressure on efficiency and safety. There is still some room for improvement in that area to qualify for gold."
Docdata and Fast & Fluid
Honourable mentions went to the two other nominees: Fast & Fluid from Sassenheim and Docdata in Waalwijk. "Docdata in Waalwijk has an incredibly complex process with many people, many customers, high peaks and many process changes. As a result, safety does not yet get the attention it deserves," explains the jury chairman, who calls Fast & Fluid's participation a courageous decision. "Interesting to see how students from the ROC are being trained, but in the area of safety there is still considerable room for improvement."
This is the first time that the jury did not declare a clear winner in the two categories, but rewarded two companies with gold. Jury member Jan Hommes, also director of the BMWT: "As a jury, we see the level of entries going up every year, while the warehouses are less and less comparable. After all, there are big differences between a retailer's warehouse and a pharmaceutical company's. That is why we decided to work with three categories: gold, silver and bronze. This will give participating companies a better idea of where they stand in terms of safety."
Marcel te Lindert - journalist logistics and supply chain
Image:The winners of the Safest Warehouse Prize 2016 on stage, from left to right: Jumbo Supermarkets, Janssen Biologics, DHL Supply Chain and Schneider Electric. Bottom row from left to right: Abbott Biologicals and Fast & Fluid Management. Not pictured: Docdata Fulfilment.
