A Black Friday that just won't end. That's how Jeroen Dekker describes the hustle and bustle at Active Ants. The e-fulfilment company expanded its workforce by about 40 per cent in recent weeks. Because the one-and-a-half-metre distance could not be guaranteed when settling in, a mobile settling-in trolley was designed.
Due to the corona crisis, a large number of Active Ants' customers are running into a storm. Baking supplies and dietary supplements from online shops are in demand. "It has exploded a bit. Sometimes it's so much that we can't get it out the door the same day," says entrepreneur Jeroen Dekker.
Dekker's company is lucky that the capacity of its AutoStore system had been expanded just before the corona crisis. The fulfilment centre in Nieuwegein now has 80,000 storage bins. That's 20,000 more than in February. "That worked out well. Our warehouse in Nieuwegein is now completely full."
Extra staff
Many new employees were flown in in recent weeks. Besides the permanent staff, Active Ants normally works with schoolchildren, students and temporary workers. Now many part-time workers from the hospitality and event brance are being added. "These are hard workers who do an excellent job with us," he says. The labour market has completely turned around in three weeks, Dekker observes. "We had been struggling very hard to get enough people for two years. Now we have more people than we can handle. Our recruiter has never been so busy."
Remote onboarding
All that new staff needs to be inducted. A challenge, as Active Ants has to ensure a one-and-a-half-metre distance between employees on the shop floor. "In most places, this works well, for example through walking routes and changing break times. Only onboarding was a problem. Pointing something out on the computer to another person does not work remotely." Together with Dirk, Active Ants''handy man', Dekker came up with the idea for a mobile onboarding trolley. "Now there is a mobile plate between the staff. Just like at the tills in supermarkets. That works very well." Active Ants has now rigged up six work-in trolleys. The idea was shared on LinkedIn and found eager support from online players such as Coolblue and Wehkamp. "They requested the 'blueprint' from us," laughs Dekker.
Delays new Roosendaal warehouse due to Corona
Meanwhile, Dekker also has to turn his attention to the opening of a new building in Roosendaal. This warehouse will accommodate 200,000 storage bins of goods-to-man system AutoStore. The opening of the location is scheduled for summer 2020, but the entrepreneur expects delivery of some machines to be delayed due to the pandemic. "Besides the AutoStore system, many other machines need to be installed, such as the packing machines. We are waiting for a supplier from France. But that country is completely locked in right now. We have to deal with that. I fear we will still have to pack manually in Roosendaal when it opens."
