The Tilburg-Waalwijk region has been named Logistics Hotspot of the Netherlands for the second year in a row. The hotspot left other regions in the election behind because of three key pillars: cooperation municipality, motivation of personnel and availability of infrastructure.
A panel of 33 logistics experts gave Tilburg-Waalwijk the most votes. West Brabant finished in second place, followed by the big surprise Almere-Lelystad-Zeewolde. The latter knocked superpower Venlo-Venray out of the top three for the first time since 2005. The top ten looks as follows:
1. Tilburg-Waalwijk
2. West Brabant
3. Almere-Lelystad-Zeewolde
4. Venlo-Venray
5. A12 Corridor (Lansingerland-Zoetermeer-Zuidplas-Waddinxveen)
Twente (Almelo-Hengelo-Enschede)
Rivierenland (Tiel-Geldermalsen-Zaltbommel)
8. Oss-Veghel-'s-Hertogenbosch
9. South Limburg (Maastricht-Heerlen-Sittard-Geleen)
Keyport Central Limburg (Roermond-Weert)
Seven categories
The election, an initiative of Logistiek.nl, judges regions on seven criteria. Besides cooperation of the municipality, motivation of staff and infractructure, the availability of staff, availability of land and premises, accessibility of logistics hubs and sustainability play a role. Tilburg-Waalwijk scored lower on these last four categories.
In the subcategory best national e-fulfilment hotspot, Tilburg-Waalwijk finished first together with Utrecht-Nieuwegein-Vianen.
Triple helix collaboration
Sandra Smits, chairman of Midpoint Brabant's Smart Logistics steering committee and operational director of Kivits Drunen from Waalwijk, is proud of the prolongation of the logistics hotspot. "This prolongation is partly due to the successful triple helix cooperation of entrepreneurs, government and education." Smits also says that Central Brabant's focus on digitalisation, sustainability and labour market development has contributed to achieving first place in the hotspot election for the second time. "We want to be and remain frontrunners in smart and sustainable logistics and so achieving this title again is a huge boost."
Pictured: Sandra Smits (Midpoint Brabant) and Berend de Vries (Alderman Economy, Tilburg)
