Issuu

magazine

SUMMER 2022

LARGEST KEY ACCOUNT PROJECT DELIVERED:

DHL - ZALANDO IN MADRID THE HOBBY OF JARNO HUMMELINK

ORGANIZING OVER DE TOP FESTIVAL NEDCON USA PRESENT AGAIN

MODEX TRADE SHOW IN ATLANTA

18 24 1

CONTENTS I PASS THE PEN TO

JESSICA KÖPPEL

THE BIGGEST KEY ACCOUNT PROJECT EVER DELIVERED

ZALANDO - DHL IN MADRID A DAY IN THE LIFE OF

26 THE HOBBY OF ACCOUNT MANAGER

CLARKE MORIAN

MARTIN FRANEK

HOW ARE THINGS NOW WITH

LAURENS GERRITSEN

COLOPHON

AND FURTHER…

EDITORIAL TEAM

THE HOBBY OF JARNO HUMMELINK

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: COMPUTER SIMULATION

NEDCON USA PRESENT AGAIN AT MODEX

THE HOBBY OF PETR BÍBL

Gerard Kant Rob van Lier William Krabbenborg Kristian van Petersen Willem Schreurs Kasper Vrijbloed Volker Müller Daniela Stehnova Lori Goodwin Amber Hengevelt

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF DAVEY GERRITZEN

DESIGN

NEDCON ON THE WAY TO A GREEN(ER) FUTURE

COLUMN BY KASPER VRIJBLOED

loek & feel

PRINT HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT IT YET?

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SUMMER 2022

Drukkerij Westerlaan

PREFACE

DEAR COLLEAGUES, Just before the vacations, it is time to reassess the first half of the year and the first quarter of our business year. The last Corona lockdown seems a long time ago. That’s not surprising since the focus is on the war in Ukraine and its consequences. Who would have expected this war? It is especially terrible to see the enormous human suffering that seems to be the result of decisions made by a few individuals. It shows how important safety and security are. From a purely economic point of view, Europe already had to deal with Covid consequences, but now there are also things like much higher energy prices and thus much higher inflation. Raw materials are becoming a scarce commodity more than ever. In recent months, NEDCON also experienced the necessary hectic. Steel and transport prices went through the roof, this caused a great deal of unrest with suppliers and customers, and it is “all hands on deck” for many employees. The company has been very busy over the past few months managing this s ituation. It is good to see that in addition to the hectic schedule, we were also able to continue working on all kinds of improvement initiatives. For example, we are currently making concrete steps with regard to production in the USA!

It is, of course, very positive that we are still busy issuing quotations and carrying out projects. We still see a high number of very large projects. Those projects bring with them a different dynamic, which we are learning to deal with. Other projects are also progressing well, so for the time being we face the future with confidence. This is despite the fact that there is, however, currently less consumer confidence. In any case, we closed the previous business year well. Our turnover increased enormously compared to the previous year, but this was accompanied by pressure on the margin, particularly due to the steel and transport increases. Nevertheless, the result was pretty good and we are also already very full with projects for the current business year. Many of you may be going on vacation in the coming weeks. Take this magazine with you, I would say, and see what a great company we work in. Once again, there are some great personal interviews in there as well as information on interesting projects and developments. Thank you all for your tireless efforts this year and enjoy the summer. Hans Jacobs

PREFACE

COMPANY LAWYER

JESSICA KÖPPEL What is your best trait? I can find something positive in most situations and I rarely lose my sense of humor. My experience is that with a smile on your face and a positive attitude, you get a lot further in life.

What is your worst trait? Unfortunately, I often lack patience with myself and sometimes with others.

What is your favorite food? That hasn’t changed since I was a child: My favourite dish is “Linsen mit Spätzle” (lentils with a specific sort of pasta) cooked by my grandma. It’s a traditional dish from my home region.

What kind of music do you like to listen to? I like to listen to many different types of music. Rock, pop and sometimes classical music. However, my long-time favourite is the band “Die Fantastischen Vier” (German rap). They started to make music over 30 years ago and their music has accompanied me through almost all phases of my life.

What are your hobbies?

By Kristian van Petersen

What is your name? Jessica Köppel

Since when have you been employed?

When I have time, I love to travel. I love exploring new places and want to see as much as I can from the world. This year we have a holiday planned on the US West Coast and we are really looking forward to it. I also enjoy scuba diving while travelling. Besides that, I like meeting up with friends, cooking and I have promised myself to finally start with piano lessons this year.

January 1, 2015

What is your position?

What can we wake you up at night for? You better don’t, I need my sleep.

Company Lawyer

Where were you born? I was born and raised in Ellwangen/Jagst in South Germany (Baden Württemberg).

What is your family situation like? My partner Sebastian and I live together in our small appartment in Bocholt.

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Who would you like to have a biscuit with? Dr. Angela Merkel.

Do you have a motto or slogan you would like to share with colleagues? ’’Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you’’, by Walt Whitman. This quote is very inspiring to me because I believe

I PASS THE PEN ON TO…

that a positive attitude makes a big difference. Focusing on the positive aspects of life makes it easier to deal with challenging situations.

What dream do you most want to see come true? I would love to experience that it is possible for all people to live a life according to their wishes and ideas.

What do you like to do on the weekends? On long weekends we like to travel or visit my family in South Germany. On ‘’normal’’ weekends, we usually start with a lazy Friday evening. Then on Saturday and Sunday I like to be out with friends, cook and go for long walks.

What news has impressed you the most in the past six months? The conflict in Ukraine. It is unthinkable to me that something like this can still happen in the present day and that we are not able to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.

What is your favorite vacation destination? There are still many places I would like to visit. So far, my trip to Argentina has impressed me the most. The country is so big and has everything to offer, from the warm north close to the Brazilian border to the glaciers and endless landscapes of Patagonia.

What employer(s) did you have before NEDCON and what position(s) did you hold there? Before NEDCON, I was a trainee lawyer and went through various stages: With judges, the public prosecutor’s office, with public authorities and at last for half a year in a law firm in Dublin.

Do you remember what your first day at work was like? Yes, I can still roughly remember that. I got a tour of the office and was introduced to all my colleagues. After that, I tried to find my way around the internal network system, which, to be honest, still challenges me to some extent.

What is/was your biggest challenge at NEDCON? The greatest challenge for me was getting an overview of our product and the project processes. I have to admit that I was surprised by the complexity and finesse behind our racking systems. Each project is different and comes with its own

challenges. This is what makes the work so exciting and never boring.

You moved from the south of Germany to Bocholt. Why did you choose to do so and how did you experience it? After I had been offered a job at NEDCON, I started looking for a suitable place to live. That turned out to be Bocholt. I was lucky enough to find connections and make friends quickly. I also enjoyed a very warm welcome from my colleagues at NEDCON, which made it easy for me to settle in quickly. So the process of moving was quite easy for me. Now, after more than seven years, I can say that I have found myself a new home here.

What do you like about working at a Dutch company and what do you find less great as a German? Are there things you had trouble getting used to? What I like very much is the relaxed way of interacting with each other. In many German

I PASS THE PEN ON TO JESSICA KÖPPEL

The question from Renata Pinedo… What is your favorite memory of working at NEDCON? The best memories are the many moments when I could laugh with my colleagues. The business trips are particularly worth mentioning here. It’s always fun to get to know colleagues a little better in private, which works best when we travel together.

companies, things were a bit more formal and hierarchical a few years ago. That is changing more and more now. However, before working at NEDCON, I never experienced that all colleagues were on first-name basis with each other. But I quickly got used to that. What I still can’t get used to is the fact that milk is served at lunch. This is a culinary peculiarity that remains strange to me.

Which project has stuck out to you the most and why? That was the Siemens Henkel project. I was involved from the very beginning and was also part of the sales process. The contract negotiations in Vienna were challenging, but also a lot of fun. Last December, at the end of the project, I was invited to be there during the acceptance and to take a look at the facility. That was quite a highlight and a nice personal completion of the project, which we were able to realise successfully with a lot of team spirit and dedication from all departments.

What other position within NEDCON would you like to fill for a week? I would like to work in the production facility for a week and take a closer look at the manufacturing process. I

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would find it exciting to learn more about the processes and individual steps from the steel strip to the finished components.

If you were a director of NEDCON for one day, what would you do or change? That’ s a tough question and one day would be far too limited to get an overall-overview in order to then initiate appropriate changes. Therefore, in this one day, I would focus on defining a strategy to ensure that our subcontractors are also fit for the upcoming, ever-increasing challenges for sustainability and Health & Safety.

What will NEDCON look like in 5 years? What is the biggest change you predict? I think that in the coming years we have to focus more on

SUMMER 2022

environmental protection and adapt our processes in this regard. As we want to grow further, I also foresee that in five years’ time we will be working in a new office complex where there will be space for more people and we will also have flex offices for making it easier to work collaboratively.

I pass the pen on to… Roman Bleha.

And I would like to ask him the following… Our projects are getting bigger and bigger and the requirements, e.g. environmental regulations, are getting stricter and stricter. What are the main challenges for production that you see in the coming years and how do we want to approach them? ■

COLUMN By Kasper Vrijbloed unfortunately soon the breath cauht. Russia carried out a massive invasion of Ukraine and mass boycotts followed. The world in disaster.

The mystery of connection For almost 12 years now I have been sitting in the stands together with a friend at the home matches of soccer club De Graafschap. Acquaintances regularly ask me how I’ve managed to stay so long there, as a soccer fan. And they don’t say it out loud but the pitying look in their eyes says: ‘at that club that can’t play soccer’. We have also bought a season ticket for the coming year. So that we can keep chilling in the stands and we don’t have to miss a game. And suddenly there was a scarf of De Graafschap on all our desks with a message. NEDCON has become the official sponsor of De Graafschap. This soccer club is not often associated with achieving success, so it still came as a surprise to me. So what was the reason for NEDON to choose a partnership with De Graafschap? The mystery of De Graafschap’s appeal... It sounds like a nice subject for this column. Fortunately, there was also room again for a lighter subject. Corona kept his head down and all of Europe breathed a sigh of relief at the end of February. But

Surely this new crisis cannot go unmentioned in the column? Directly or indirectly, it affects almost everyone in the world and therefore also NEDCON. My age may play a role in the doubt I feel. After all, I was born in October 1962. This month is known as the month of the ‘Cuban missile crisis’. The world was on the brink of nuclear war. The Cuban crisis was quickly defused but that did not prevent the 30 years that followed from East and West being diametrically opposed to each other. The situation is different now, of course, but East and West again seems to appear two deeply divided worlds. It is not very strange that because of this war and the boycotts, gloomy images from decades ago come to the surface, is it? But let me be complete: there wasn’t much we could do about the cause of the gloomy worldview at the time, except protest occasionally. But there wasn’t really any gloominess itself. It was more a time of lots of music, fun, freedom and unlimited possibilities. Back to NEDCON, the organization had to respond to a great deal of uncertainty. It even had to take measures that had a significant impact on its clients. These are not measures you like to take. But let’s remain optimistic. I have little knowledge of economics

and in this blissful ignorance I still see a half-full glass. After all, isn’t economics about distribution of scarcity. And as an employee of NEDCON, when I think of scarcity I think of stockpiling and therefore ‘storage’. It just so happens that NEDCON understands both ‘distribution’ and ‘storage’. In a new world with great economic changes, even filled with boycotts, there are undoubtedly new opportunities. Having raised this positive outlook, I am still left with a problem in this column. How can you insert a war and boycotts into a column, in which you also want to deal with the mystery of De Graafschap’s appeal? That is of course not possible. You always fall short in the misery that the war has caused. An attempt to do so is more of an appeal to a flexible thought process. The historical connection of Ukraine and Russia is so great that Russia sees the capital Kiev as the cradle of both Russia and Ukraine. How is now a mystery to me, but we can only hope that the connection can one day be felt again positively by both parties. And thus can take the world a little further towards less division. I have not been able to unravel the mystery of De Graafschap’s appeal. But isn’t the beauty of a mystery that it remains a mystery? ■

COLUMN BY KASPER VRIJBLOED

Just an hour’s drive from Madrid airport, we find the 30,000 m2 distribution center of logistics and transport company DHL where they provide storage for Zalando, which is active in the online sale of shoes, clothing and fashion accessories. No less than 1 million items can be stored in this mega hall on shelves, supplied by NEDCON, which are located over 4 floors. By means of the pick tower supplied by us, the packages can be easily moved downstairs. Let’s find out even more about this fantastic NEDCON project. Vamos! By Marco Scheuter

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HIGHLIGHTED PROJECT THE LARGEST KEY ACCOUNT PROJECT EVER DELIVERED:

THE WAREHOUSE FOR DHL & ZALANDO NEAR MADRID! Last year, March 2020, NEDCON received a declaration of intent from DHL Spain to partner with us for the construction of a pick tower consisting of 4 levels for their end customer Zalando in the Madrid region. In the already existing hall, DHL is already taking care of logistics activities for Zalando at that time.

A complex sales process Jerry Lauers (BU Manager XLprojects): ‘’Partly due to the success of the project that was realized for Zalando in Sweden, we were selected for the Zalando/ DHL project in Madrid. The price negotiations were difficult and complex because Zalando negotiated in the process and the contract was finally concluded with DHL. An Efectis study (fire study) took place beforehand, which delayed the entire project by 4 months. In the end there was a new price negotiation and we could start.’’

Is Black Friday achievable? Marco Scheuter (Project Manager): ‘’From the start of the project it was clear that we had a pretty challenging schedule ahead of us; the start of the installation was planned for week 18 and everything then had to be built in a time frame of about 20 weeks. All with the goal of having a fully functioning warehouse before the start of Black Friday. This meant that from the time of receiving the order to the start of the

installation, there were about 10 weeks available. During the first few weeks, it quickly became clear to the project team that some things and instances would simply take time and would not be controlled by anything or anyone. First there was the usual coordination regarding a final layout. Then came a complete fire-study which had to be done and finally approved by the Spanish authorities.

Specifications of this project: ■ Warehouse area: 30.000 m2 ■ Installation lead time: 30 weeks ■ Project installed in 3 phases

■ Picktower installed ■ 100.000 shelves divided over 4 levels ■ 2000 tons of steel processed

HIGHLIGHTED PROJECT

DHL & ZALANDO NEAR MADRID

‘’For the fire-study we contacted Efectis, as Jerry also indicated,’’ says Marco. ‘’This company is skilled in such studies, and NEDCON had already gained experience with them in previous projects. Together we set up a plan on how to achieve a thorough report as quickly as possible that could be submitted to the Spanish authorities for approval. By agreeing well in advance with Efectis what we should take into account in our choice of profile, we were able to save the necessary time. But all in all such a study still takes about 3 to 4 months, so we had to adjust our planning.’’ ‘’Slowly but surely during the month of March it became clear how this trajectory would look like and what this would mean for the lead time of the project. Having a fully operational warehouse by Black Friday would not work and so this was adjusted to a realistic schedule, where the project was divided into 3 blocks. The new schedule: start assembly in week 39 of 2021 and completion of the entire warehouse

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was set for week 25 in 2022.’’

Controversial engineering Lieuwe Verhaag (Project Engineer): ‘’For me personally, this was the biggest project I ever did the engineering for, together with Martin Vyborny. It was wonderful to be involved from the very beginning. For this project, we did not - for the first time - use continuous profiles (in x-direction) in the aisles, but we only made use of cross braces on which our chipboard floor rests. These cross braces are based on our standard open box diagonals. This way of building a picktower was controversial at NEDCON and some colleagues had to be convinced in the beginning.’’ ‘’We were able to save a lot of steel this way and another advantage was that we produce these open box diagonals ourselves,’’ says Lieuwe. ‘’The final result is that we are now using this in several projects, like for example at Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof GmbH and at our new project Otto - NEON

SUMMER 2022

Warenverteilzentrum Ilowa. How great!’’

32000 installation hours A total of 32000 hours were reported for the installation of this project. It was therefore a challenge beforehand to find the right subcontractor and Site Manager for this project. In the end the installation company Euromontur from Spain was chosen. René van ‘t Hof (Installation Manager): ‘’The reason we chose a Spanish subcontractor was because of the regulations in Spain. Many subcontractors who are not from Spain have difficulty complying with the regulations in Spain. A second point that was taken into account was the language. Our client DHL’s employees speak limited English and we don’t speak Spanish, so what could be better than a Spanish speaking subcontractor? In addition, the availability of our own supervisors with the right credentials was an issue and as a result we chose to hire

HIGHLIGHTED PROJECT or snacks are brought around the warehouse. We also start every morning at 8 o’clock with a warmup, which immediately creates a good atmosphere. We see that the employee turnover is not high in our company, which will also have something to do with this.’’

Installation performance

the experienced Site Manager Danny Coetser Kruis. For the first 4 weeks of construction, Jetsko Borg taught Danny the ropes.’’

Installation in operational warehouse Danny Coetser Kruis (Site Supervisor): ‘’My first project with Nedcon was Zalando and I was happy to be back in Spain for Many reasons such as the food the weather and the happy people. I was lucky to work with a great team from both Nedcon and DHL and communication and cooperation was great throughout. Working in a Active warehouse always comes with many obstacles of which access and space is primary concern but with the flexibility of a good installation team we overcame all issues.’’

How did the customer experience the project? Salvador Nieto Muñoz (Operations Excellence at DHL Madrid): ‘’Our client Zalando already had a very good experience with NEDCON on another project, so it’s not

surprising that we got in touch for this one. From this distribution center we serve our customers in Spain but we also do parts of Italy. In the future we might also do Portugal.’’ ‘’We now have 1 million items in stock here, but in the future this number will be increased to 5 million,’’ says Rafael Perez Martinez (add position). ‘’On average, 4 trucks of packages leave from this warehouse on a day. This sounds little for a warehouse where so many products are stored, but the packages we send are small.’’

Clientes contentos

People Management on point Rafael: ‘’It’s not easy to find people at the moment, and I’m sure it won’t be any different in the Netherlands. I think that as an employer we are really involved with our people and that’s where we make the difference. For example, our General Manager is regularly on the shop floor in the warehouse and talks to employers to hear how they are doing. Events are often organized

PROJECT IN BEELD

‘’We have experienced the installation period as positive. There was a very good contact with your Supervisor on site, Danny, who we could count on,’’ said Salvador. ‘’He managed almost 50 people at one point (he often took on the management of other parties as well!) and therefore it was definitely not an easy project to manage, but he got it done. The biggest challenge for him was that part of the building was just in use so the installation had to be done around that. The installation of phase 1 was easy because there was enough space, but for phases 2 and 3 it was more difficult because our colleagues were orderpicking as usual.’’

Salvador: ‘’There are plans to expand in Spain. Perhaps that will happen in this building, but it may also be that a new depot will be moved into. That is not clear yet. From the above story, it is clear that we definitely want to do business with NEDCON again!’’ Marco: ‘’I would like to thank everyone who has contributed in any way to this wonderful project. As you can see on the pictures it looks very good and what is certainly not unimportant; a very satisfied customer!’’ ■

DHL & ZALANDO NABIJ MADRID

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INSTALLATION PHASE ZALANDO - DHL

TRANSPORT COORDINATOR

MARTIN FRANEK

03:58 AM - DON´T WASTE TIME WITH SLEEPING! ! For me is sleeping the biggest waste of time. I love Wednesdays and Fridays for the most of the year, because of early ice-hockey match. At 4:30 we meet with guys in the locker room, we have to dress up and than we go to warm up skating and shooting to be ready for the match. One hour of my favourite sport so early in the morning makes me happy, I don´t feel tired, I don´t feel pain and every time it´s nice to be on ice!

06:00 - 6:30 AM - NEDCON IS MORE THAN WORK I’m almost 7 years at NEDCON and I work in the Shipping department. Since I have a baby, I arrive at 6 am. This way I can spend more time in the afternoon with my family and I very much appreciate it that the working times are not strictly fixed. There is a human approach at NEDCON. My duty at NEDCON is planning and ordering containers for loading based on CP requirements and related activities. It’s not only sitting on the chair, but also cooperating with colleagues in our hall, solving issues during loading or physically checking every loaded container. In the last months we experienced a big increase of containers. I needed help from other colleagues with some work. Luckily we have a very good cooperation in our team and we are always willing to help each other.

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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF... 09:00 AM - „SHIPPING“ COFFEE TIME At this time, everybody should be at work and after some morning duties, there is some space to discuss with colleagues. We try to gor for coffee together and to find some minutes to talk about non-working activities. In case of nice weather, we can use our outdoor seating and enjoy the sun.

12:00 PM - LUNCH BREAK FUN Before noon, we are ready to go to our canteen for a lunch. We, from Shipping, would like to stretch our legs with walk around the factory to the mainbuilding, where the canteen is situated. After lunch begins our „lunch break fun“ which means petanque contest between transport coordinators. Every day is different, nobody is the favorite and we play interesting and balanced battles, sometimes on improved playground. After I beat my colleagues, I can happily go to my „machine“ and hardly work ;-)

15:00 PM - FAMILY AFTERNOON Since August 2021 my life has changed, because my daughter was born. I look forward to her smile every day I´m leaving my work. It starts to be more and more funny nowadays, because she begins to communicate with us. We would like to spent some time in the nature or in the garden. Important for me is, to spent time with my family.

19:00 PM - STAY FIT I don´t like to do nothing, I rest not so much – would like to be still in motion. If I „get“ time for myself, I regularly spend my time at an outside workout gym. I can „turn off thoughts“ and release excess energy. After „my time“ I would like to help my wife and take care about my daughter. We play together some more, read a fairy tale, I put her to bed and get her ready for bed.

22:00 PM - EVENING RELAXATION Late in the evening, I finally „meet“ my wife. As we are busy during weekends with some trips and meeting friends, we have to do some housework. Of course better is sometimes to talk each other, watch some movie and cook something delicious and drink beer.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF MARTIN FRANĔK

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LOGIMAT 2022

PROGRAM MANAGER CS PROJECTS

JARNO HUMMELINK

How did you end up at NEDCON at the time? When exactly was this?

By Gerard Kant

Can you briefly tell us about yourself? I am Jarno Hummelink, 32 years old and I live in the village Zieuwent about 20 km from NEDCON in Doetinchem. I live there together with my girlfriend Esther and our 9-month-old son Julian. The past year I have spent much of my free time in renovating our home, this can also be called a hobby of mine. In addition, I like to do fun things with the family, and I try occasionally to do some sport (running).

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I first came to NEDCON in 2007, for a work placement as part of my studies in Technical Business Admini stration. After this internship, I had a side job at NEDCON for about a year. Then in 2013 I was approached by NEDCON, where I first worked part-time to also finish my studies. This all took a little longer than planned, but in the end I have actually been working full time at NEDCON since 2015.

What was/were your positions within NEDCON? I started as a trainee, then I have been an admini strative assistant, Sales Engineer, Account Solutions Engineer and now I am Program Manager for the CS projects.

THE HOBBY OF... AND NOW ABOUT YOUR HOBBY: ORGANIZING THE OVER DE TOP FESTIVAL IN LICHTENVOORDE! How did you come up with the idea of organizing a festival? As with many good ideas, this one also came about in the pub. The Over De Top Festival had run 3 editions at that time and the team looking for replacement and expansion. After I had an intake meeting over a few beers, it seemed a good fit from both sides.

Since when have you been doing this? Since 2014, so already 8 years. In which, unfortunately, we were not able to run an edition in 2020 and 2021 due to corona.

What makes this hobby special for you? The special and fun part is that you meet so many different kinds of peole, both before and behind the scenes. Every year we are amazed by the willingness and atmosphere that all this entails.

Electro, Disco to Jazz, but also the Heavy Metal fans can enjoy themselves.

What does the core team look like and how many people do you need during the festival?

How long did it take you to establish a good festival?

The core team consists of 11 people. Around and during the festival weekend we are with 200+ volunteers.

We have grown gradually and therefore each year we can learn from the previous edition and put down new ideas in the right way. The cool thing is that when there is a mishap, we have still been able to bring it to a good end thanks to the flexibility of all our volunteers.

What is involved in organizing a festival? It goes from arranging the permit with the municipality to the crushing pump for the toilets and everything in between. We are usually busy 4 months after the festival with the organization of the next edition.

What is your specific function in the organization team? I am responsible for everything related to money and numbers, so I am the treasurer. Within the organization they also call me the ‘’penny pincher’’! ;-)

What makes the Over De Top festival unique compared to other festivals? We try to create a festival that offers something for everyone, we deviate from the mainstream. Think of theater, a children’s afternoon but also crazy activities and of course very diverse music.

Where and when is the festival organized? With the exception of the last two corona years, our festival takes place annually during the Whitsun weekend in Lichtenvoorde. So, we recently concluded another edition!

How many visitors do you attract and what type of visitors are they? We have been growing every year so far, this year we are aiming for about 6,000 visitors. Everyone is welcome whether you are 3 or 103. We try to put together a program as broad as possible, for both young and old. From Blues,

THE HOBBY OF JARNO HUMMELINK

“

THE UNLIT AGRICULTURAL VEHICLE FULL OF COLD KEGS WAS, ONCE BACK ON THE FIELD, RECEIVED UNDER LOUD CHEERING FROM THE PUBLIC

“

For you, what is the best act that has been at the festival so far? I don’t always get to see everything about the acts during the festival, although the backstage preparation often gives a glimpse of the act in question. One of the acts that stuck out to me was a Mexican band that turned old-skool Rock into Country music, something that has been done more and more in recent years. At the time, it was very surprising and innovative.

I heard something about ‘’Jarno’s transvestite show’’. Can you tell a little more about this? Haha, you are well informed I hear! This was typically one of those bands that is just a little different from “normal”, these guys had dressed up to the

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nines to be women. Besides their exceptional appearance, they could also make damn fine music. With that, this was really an act that fits the Over De Top f estival. My part, by the way, was just paying the bill and picking up the confetti from the ground, days after the festival ;-).

Can you tell us another anecdote about what happened to you during this festival? A few editions back we had underestimated the high number of visitors in combination with their thirst. At the time we discovered this, the beer truck had yet to leave Boekelo. This threatened a temporary reclamation what we wanted to avoid at all costs! So we went to all the pubs in Lichtenvoorde to pick up the cold kegs of beer. The unlit agricultural

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vehicle full of cold kegs was, once back on the field, received under loud cheering from the public.

Should the Feestfabriek (organizer of the Zwarte Cross festival) start to worry already? Haha, our ambition is to preserve the unique character of the f estival and that includes the small scale. We still want to grow, but we do not aspire to the visitor numbers that they have.

And next year another festival? Is the date already known so we can put it in the agenda? Yes, definitely. We are assuming that next year will be another successful edition. So put the 27th en 28th of May 2023 (Whitsun weekend) 2023 in your agenda! ■

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT HOW WE STAY SAFE AND COMPETITIVE WITH COMPUTER SIMULATION

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: USING FEM SOFTWARE ABAQUS

Since the consolidation of various product development and standardization disciplines into the Products & Technology department, the department has also expanded to include new colleagues. This brings in new knowledge that contributes to developments that help us to take big steps forward, as you can read in the following story. By Willem Schreurs

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT | COMPUTER SIMULATION

In this edition of the NEDCONNECT, we take a look behind the scenes at a development that actually started back in 2017. A typical research and development project that was initiated by a sales project and where the research ultimately improved the development greatly.

Optimizing rail tickness to save costs in projects Project Siemens Henkel, a NR5 system with pallet shuttle rails. At that time, a project of unprecedented size for NEDCON. More than 560 kilometers of rail on which the pallet shuttles ride. Optimization of rail thickness means considerable cost savings for this volume. A thinner rail, however, means a risk of crack formation if the shuttle frequently drives over the rail. A special test setup, in which a shuttle continuously drives over the rail with a full load and also applies the peak load that occurs when the shuttle enters and exits the crane, ensured that frequent testing could take place. Partly because crack formation was allowed up

to 100mm. The testing at that time showed that in practice the rails were better than could be calculated in 2017. With that knowledge a special entry guide was developed that can handle the peak load when entering from the crane. Therefore the rail itself could be made thinner for this project.

Virtually driving over a rail While Finite Element Method (FEM) analyses could already be carried out using the 3D drawing package SolidWorks, this knowledge was also used to invest in advanced FEM software Abaqus. This makes it possible to virtually drive a shuttle on a rail, simulating the complete behavior of the shuttle and rail. Previously, calculations were made where the load on 1 specific rail location and for just 1 wheel. Now it is possible to have all wheels moving on the rail at the same time and to see also the impact of the different wheel loads on each other. An advantage in the Siemens Henkel project was that relatively few cyles were required, which

made it possible to use thin rails. In systems with a higher number of cycles, thicker rails are used. The thicker rail has the consequence that the entry guide is activated less quickly, so that you cannot use that great advantage of the entry guide as well. Where in the past such optimization meant a lot of long term testing, now Abaqus comes into the picture.

From months of testing to results in a week Fatigue problems with pallet shuttle rails can be broken down into two topics. The “driving onto the rail’’ and the “driving on the rails’’. This second part has seen a spectacular development. We are now able to virtually drive a shuttle on a rail by means of FEM simulations, only this still took quite some time. The analysis of a particular combination of a type of shuttle and a rail with a certain shape and material thickness had to be done manually for each simulation. To be able to do the correct analysis with this was several days of work per situation.

Diameter of a wheel driving on a rail with defined parameters.

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PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT VIDEO

Are you curious to see what this simulation looks like? Scan the QR code!

Now it is possible to have the software create this automatically using a list of defined parameters. Generating a model for a specific shape shuttle, shuttle weight, rail thickness and lip height now only takes a few seconds. To get an optimized result, 9 analyses need to be performed, each taking about half a day. The total analysis can now be carried out in approximately one week where traditional testing could take up to several months. The result of this analysis is that for a shuttle with a total of 8 wheels, it is known exactly what stress occurs in the rail at each position of the wheel over the entire rail length.

Screenshot from an analysis where stress is determined at each position in the rail.

This result is translated into a software tool that indicates for all configurations how many cycles a rail can handle. This will allow the most optimized rail to be used for each project in the future.

system. It is expected that this can soon be analyzed as well so that a full simulation of the shuttle in the rail can be performed.

The other part of the research on rail optimization, entering the entry guide, is analyzed in a similar way. Here, a model is created that can simulate the entry of the shuttle on the rail. The complexity involved here is great. Consider the small difference in height that the shuttle has to overcome when it drives from the crane on the rail. In reality, this is only a few millimeters but this “falling” of the shuttle results in the shuttle bouncing into the entry guide. This causes a stress peak that affects the durability of the

The first shuttle and rail combination has now been extensively analyzed and is available for use. This technique can now be further applied to the shuttles and rails of other system partners, enabling us to offer a standard optimized solution for a wide range of possibilities. This makes the theoretical research practical and this development gives an impulse to the speed and possibilities with which a project can be optimized for our customers. ■

Impulse for project optimization

Example graph of the result. Depending on the given parameters “thickness” and “flange” the number of shifts determined for a specific shuttle with a given load is determined. This allows the customer to select the most appropriate version depending on the desired number of shifts.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT | COMPUTER SIMULATION

NEDCON USA PRESENT AT

MODEX IN ATLANTA

After two years of either a trade show that was a bust or no show at all, the 2022 Modex April 28-31 2022 in Atlanta, was a refreshing change. The show was very well attended by both exhibitors and attendees. After a few years of essentially no trade shows, the enthusiasm and energy was evident. Customers and suppliers had a chance to reconnect and spend some time face to face discussing old projects, new projects, new technology and just catching up. You really got the sense everyone was glad to be back.

New technologies Over the past two years, it has been a challenge to engage with our customers, this year at Modex it allowed us to reconnect in person and see and talk too many of our customers, both System Integrators and end-users. It was evident that NEDCON’s reputation and relationships are still strong and our expertise is appreciated. It was evident the industry was not sitting still while the pande-

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mic was making our everyday lives a challenge. There was new technology on display and there were many discussions of prototype and emerging technology. It was evident that the AMR/ACR robotics is becoming more prevalent in the US by the amount of exhibitors that show cased these solutions. We saw many different rack solutions for these systems and had conversations concerning the requirements different

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s uppliers’ desire. The common theme was our rack was high precision but for these solutions, we did not need to be as precise. The thought was that this solution had plateaued, but it has seen a resurgence here of late.

Challenging steel and transport market Another topic that was on everyone’s minds was the challenges in the steel and transportation

NEDCON USA

markets. The conversations seem to focus on when we might see a leveling out of the pricing of steel and when we might see a decline in transportation cost. The consent was the industry understands these challenges, but is trying to manage the rapid fluctuations the best they can. This can be a daunting task in a market that is very busy. A couple of System Integrators that are actively looking for US based high precision rack manufactures visited us. This is being driven by the high transport cost and the challenges seen in the port on the West Cost.

Successful again Once again, the booth was very nicely done. We had fresh flowers and plants to give that warm and welcoming feeling, we had snacks and beverages in the afternoon so we could mingle with our customers and talk about all kinds of topics. In all, it was a success and we were all glad to be back. Thanks to Team NEDCON USA for putting together a great 2022 Modex. The next Show is ProMat held March 20-23 in Chicago’s McCormick Place. Team NEDCON USA ■

NEDCON USA | MODEX IN ATLANTA

FORMER MACHINE OPERATOR PROFILING DEPARTMENT

LAURENS GERRITSEN

By Rob van Lier & William Krabbenborg

As soon as we arrive we see Laurens already standing in his beautiful garden in front of his house on the outskirts of Doetinchem. His wife is waiting for us in the backyard with coffee and a slice of cake. While enjoying a nice spring sunshine, we are curious what Laurens can tell us about his time at NEDCON. He started in production in 1987 and in 28 years he has made his way through NEDCON in an interesting manner that led to the partial establishment of production in the Czech Republic and a production location in Russia.

Rob - How did you feel about being approached? Nice! I received the previous edition of the magazine and it was great to read.

William - Do you still feel involved with NEDCON? Yes, I still feel a little bit involved in NEDCON. I regularly see updates pass by on LinkedIn and I still speak to former colleagues. For example, I sometimes run into them in the city.

William - Can you tell us a bit more about yourself? I will be 73 years old soon. I was born and raised in Doetinchem and I grew up in the house next door

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to where we live now. My father built that house himself and later we moved into our current house. I also renovated it all by myself!

Rob - What is your family situation like? Together with my wife Nolda I have two children, a daughter and a son. My son is in health care and my daughter started her own business in May and has her own administration office. Our daughter lives opposite to us and our son 1500 meters away.

William - It’s like a family neighborhood around here, Laurens! How old are they? Our daughter is 45 and our son 47. We also have two grandchildren aged 18 and 16, that’s great!

HOW ARE THINGS NOW WITH... Rob - Do your children take any knowledge from you? No, neither of them are in engineering at all. Apart from the professions, they don’t have anything to do with it in other areas either.

Rob - Can you tell us a little bit about your life? How did you end up at NEDCON? I have a technical education and before I started at NEDCON, I had several jobs. These jobs were all in and around Doetinchem. I also worked in the catering industry for a while, working with extraction systems, deep fryers and all kinds of other technical equipment. That company went bankrupt and then I came into contact with a former colleague. We decided to start our own business. Our business included making tools, also for NEDCON. In the end, unfortunately, it turned out that we were not such a good team. We therefore decided that one of us would quit, which was me. I was in my early 40s at the time. Hans Stegweg found out and he wanted me back in the company. So at that moment I officially started at NEDCON, but in a different position. I became machine operator in the profiling and tool maintenance department.

misunderstandings, colleagues found out early on. That was a very difficult and emotional period.

beams from Doetinchem also went that way.

Rob - How long did that period last, that you couldn’t say anything it?

We were taken over by voestalpine at the time. I do not know the story exactly but I think that had to do with the fact that we stopped in Russia. In the end I was there for about 5 years. I did experience it as a great time!

I think that lasted about two months.

William - How did you find being in the Czech Republic in the early days? Every country has its own culture and the Czech Republic’s is obviously very different from the Dutch. Also the language was a barrier. I didn’t speak English very well myself but with some I could get by in German. The language was actually the biggest problem.

William - You’ve also been through the reorganizations. How did you experience that?

Rob - But then comes the time when you are asked to travel a little further for NEDCON. The plan was to set up a production site in Russia. You were involved in that a lot, right?

Everything was kept quiet and I already knew quite a lot from my role; everything was going to leave Doetinchem and be built up in the Czech Republic. They had approached me to get it all going again there. Due to some

That’s right, it was in 2005. Hans Stegweg asked me at the time if I wanted to take on Russia. The painting line in the Czech Republic was dismantled and it was moved to Russia and shortly after that a production line for

William - What went wrong in Russia?

Rob - That means you really did travel a lot in your time at NEDCON! That’s right. Everyone in my family thought I was crazy to go to Russia on my own. The first time I flew to Moscow and there I had to take a cab to hotel Iris. There I was to meet a Danish colleague who was going to rebuild the coating line with me, which had come from the Czech Republic. After we met, we went for a drink at the bar. The other morning we drove in the car towards Vyshni Volotsjok. On the way things happened that could not bear the light of day. For example, halfway there was an exchange of certain things. Once we arrived at the new NEDCON location, the building looked terribly dirty and old. Everything had to be

HOW ARE THINGS NOW WITH LAURENS GERRITSEN

a very social person. I like to help people who are in trouble, in various ways. For example, I make a television for someone but I also work with the disabled. In fact, I do a lot of volunteer work now. From the organization where I work (Stichting Present) we also regularly go out with young people, into society, on Wednesday afternoons. Especially to show them what is going on everywhere. That is fun to do and I certainly get satisfaction from it.

done about it. Via an adventurous route, consisting mainly of dirt roads, we arrived at a hotel. Not only did the roads consist of sand, there was also brown water coming out of the tap. Moreover, we both had to get used to the food. But here again the language was the biggest problem. Fortunately I had my computer with me so I could translate a bit. It was a great adventure but all in all I had a very nice time in Russia.

Rob - What is your greatest memory of working at NEDCON? For me, the Czech Republic and Russia are the best memories. Moreover, working in the Czech Republic has left me with very nice contacts.

William - On average, how often were you away on a monthly basis? That was usually 50/50. I was in Doetinchem for a few weeks and then abroad again for a few weeks.

Rob - How was that for the home front? Nolda never really liked being alone in the evening and at night but she got used to it and fortunately it got better. Occasionally I felt alone too. Fortunately, at one point I knew the city of Pardubice well and the people who lived there as well. That was great!

William - Laurens, what is your best and worst characteristic? Or should I ask your wife? I am extremely stubborn yet also

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William - A nice bridge, what are your hobbies and how do you fill the week? I do a lot of volunteer work, about 1.5 days a week. That also includes handling the administration, attending courses and meetings. That’s all part of it, of course. I also enjoy playing cards, drink a beer on the terrace, and go walking and cycling. I also like to go camping sometimes with the grandchildren. Backpack on and go!

Rob - Do you still like to travel even now? Yes, we have been to quite a few places together. Next summer, in August, for example, we are going to Rhodes with the whole family. In the past, we have traveled around Africa, Sicily and Corsica, among other places. I love adventure.

William - When you think of highs and lows in your life, what comes to mind? We have experienced three young deaths, that has always stuck with me. And as far as highs go, of course, the births of my children and grandchildren.

HOW ARE THINGS NOW WITH… Rob - Do you have any particular musical preferences? No, not really. We never have the radio on either. We have a large social network, and we spend a lot of time together.

William - What has been your greatest development within NEDCON? What are you proud of? That’s where you get me thinking! At one point, a new roller conveyor machine came in in 1998. It was a gigantic challenge to get it running. Just like producing our own end plates in Pardubice. The fact that it finally worked was wonderful.

Rob - If I may summarize, do you look back on your time at NEDCON with satisfaction? Yes, I do. I’ve had great work, plenty of challenges and the opportunity to work with many great colleagues!

William - Do you have any plans for the future? I can’t think of anything right now but we want to make at least one more trip through Sardinia. That was planned, but corona threw a spanner in the works. So that is at the top of our list. If you are 73 and everyone is doing well, you don’t need much else. We are very satisfied.

Rob - Would you like to give your colleagues at NEDCON something to think about? Of course I wish everyone good luck and fun at work. Unfortunately I can’t be present at the barbecue because I’ll be away for the weekend with my

grandson. I would have liked to speak to a number of former colleagues again. Better luck next time! Oh yes, and I would like to visit the NEDCON location in the Czech Republic again one day ;-). ■

THE ONE OR THE OTHER? Camping in nature or the luxury of a hotel? The luxury of a hotel.

Sun, sea and beach or doing an activity? Doing an activity. I like cycling and walking! I have also walked the well-known ‘’Pieterpad’’ and several times the ‘’Nijmeegse Vierdaagse’’.

Cooking or eating out? Eating out.

Beer or wine? If I have to choose I will go for a glass of wine. But it doesn’t matter much to me.

Summer or winter? Summer.

Good book or a nice movie? Reading a book is not my thing so then I go for a movie.

HOW ARE THINGS NOW WITH LAURENS GERRITSEN

FROM ROCKER TO STARS: THE HOBBY OF

PETR BÍBL

My name is Petr Bíbl, I have been working at NEDCON since 2001, currently as a Quality Manager in Pardubice. Since the age of 18, I have been actively involved in rock music and even today, at the age of 47, I am a guitarist in a rock band with which I travel around the Czech Republic. Like every musician, I used to dream of becoming a big rock star. My dreams partly come true as I played with my band on hundreds events and creating my own music still fulfills me.

Thanks to late night returns from concerts, music has also led me to another great hobby, the real stars. Looking up at the dark, star-studded sky, I gradually began to find the courage to learn how to navigate the night sky, to venture into observing planets and distant celestial objects such as star clusters, nebulae and galaxies. It’s a bit of a paradox when, after recharging one’s energy during a noisy concert, one ends up seeking one’s peace somewhere alone, after nights with binoculars.

History lessons My first step towards astronomy was a theoretical foundation. All of us know or have heard of the basic

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constellations by which we orient ourselves in the sky. However, if you want to look for some distant objects among millions of stars, you should know much more about the universe. First, you need to know and understand the history of the universe, because when you look through a telescope at a distant celestial object, you are essentially looking into history. That object may not even be there today. This was the reason why I found my way to the observatories, where I was really fascinated by the lectures of Czech scientific aces. It is astonishing when these scientists convincingly describe how

THE HOBBY OF... everything in the universe came into being, what its evolution is like and whether the universe is finite. Science is beautiful and exceptional in this respect. I have often wondered how they can be sure of everything, how they can calculate it all. The big bang question is an example, but if one doesn’t believe them, one will hardly find the motivation to search for answers.

Unique birthday gift For my 40th birthday I met my wish to have a bigger stargazing telescope. It was also possible thanks to my colleagues contribution as a birthday present. Today there is a huge choice in everything, and this also applies to observing equipment. After comparing different types, I decided on the Dobsonian, which has a large mirror tube built on a bullnose design and can rotate the telescope in several axes. Thanks to the large body of the tube and the large mirror, you can again see much further into space. At the very beginning, I was looking primarily at details of the moon. I definitely don’t recommend observing the full moon; you’ll quickly find your eyes hurt despite the use of various attenuating filters. The first steps towards observing the planets Jupiter and Saturn followed. Under ideal conditions, the viewing of these two planets is magnificent, with details of Saturn’s ring or the large spots of Jupiter clearly visible. By contrast, you won’t find much detail when observing orange Mars or bright Venus. When the weather is good and the moon is new, conditions are ideal and you can make out the poles of Mars.

Modern technology lends a hand When planning to observe celestial objects, I take advantage of modern-day options such as Stellarium software, which is an online star chart that shows you exactly what you can find in the sky at a given GPS location. I live in the city with my family, but luckily my garden provides good conditions for observation from north to southwest, with less light pollution. I use night sky guides or various stepping techniques, where I focus on a particular star, count the distance from it to where the object should be. Believe me, it’s not easy and requires a great deal of patience, although it seems always clear on the map.

Dreams for later Once I’d like to visit a real observatory, like the one in Chile located on Cerro Paranal Mountain, and observe the southern sky. I’d also like to learn to photograph the sky, but I probably keep this plan for retirement. Warm summer nights lending themselves directly to stargazing are coming. While you are on vacation, try to lift your head to the night sky. You will surely catch a glimpse of some constellations, stars or just the August Perseides. It will please you for sure, so good luck! ■

THE HOBBY OF PETR BÍBL

Nunner Logistics - ‘s-Heerenberg

Rensa Family Company - Didam

Winit - Bremen

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DELIVERED PROJECTS

JR. SALES ENGINEER

DAVEY GERRITZEN In March 2017 I joined Jan, Wim, William, Ernst-Jan, Dominik and Marko in the Reseller department. In the meantime, we now have support from Irma and Sam and Dominik was tragically taken from us. We are a close-knit team and do a lot for each other. Recent events have only reinforced that feeling, in my opinion. Five years have flown by and a lot has changed.

7:30 AM - NEW DAY, NEW OPPORTUNITIES Every day at 7:30 my alarm clock rings and I jump right out of bed. Who am I kidding; 10 min of snoozing left. I am absolutely not a morning person, rather a night owl. At a quarter to 8 I get dressed and start my morning routine. Around a quarter past 8 I am in the car. From Aerdt it is a short 20 minute drive to NEDCON.

8:40 AM - SYSTEM TOUR While enjoying my first cup of coffee and my sandwich, I check my mail and the opportunities in SalesForce. Due to the recent hectic, this has had a somewhat lower priority so there is work to be done to get everything up to date.

10:45 AM - SHAKE-TIME As many of you know by now, I am a regular at the gym. To get enough nutrition I eat six times a day. Around this time I always drink a kind of protein shake but one with about 700 calories. In this way I raise the total number of calories per day to around 4,400.

12:30 PM - LUNCH Around this time, I make a quick trip to the canteen to get something to eat. Usually I bring my own lunch which I prepare the night before. The food in our canteen is great but I don’t know how many calories it contains so it’s harder to keep track of how much I eat in one day.

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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF… 1:00 PM - RESELLER DEPARTMENT MEETING At 1 o’clock we are all expected in the ‘Directiespreekkamer’ for the monthly team meeting. Here we discuss the standard matters such as figures, KPI results, steel price developments, tools and all other matters that occupy the minds of the department. Jan always prepares a presentation and serves as chairman. I take notes of important matters and agreements made and work them out. A few days before the meeting the minutes are sent to the entire team. At half past two the meeting is over and we can get on with our daily work.

3:30 PM - BUSINESS AS USUAL After the meeting, I get back to dealing with customer requests, price updates and technical support. In principle, I have a policy of providing customers with a quote within 24 hours, regardless of whether it is € 150 or € 1.5 million. Nine times out of ten this is successful. Sometimes a project is more complex, requiring coordination with planning and purchasing, which means that 24 hours is not quite enough. I then let the customer know where we stand and when they can expect the quotation. Speed is highly appreciated and in the past we have stood out more than once because we acted so quickly. With this policy I keep the pressure on but in times of serious pressure it is a madhouse. But that’s the way I like it!

5:30 PM - END OF THE WORKDAY At 5:30 I turn off my PC and drive home. Around 6 o’clock I come home and I can join the family for dinner immediately. One of the many advantages of living at home, haha!

7:30 PM - THE MOMENT OF THE DAY At 7:30 I drive to the gym. Today legs are on the program. During leg days I wear clothes that are way too big and listen to 80’s rock. It gives me great old-school vibes. Usually my sessions last 2 - 2.5 hours, including warming up and stretching afterwards. I have four of these sessions during the week. The fifth session is on Saturday and lasts only 1.5 hours. I train on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Next December I want to compete in a bodybuilding show so I am training very hard for that. In the five years I’ve been training I’ve gained about 35kg in total. For the show I just wrote about, I want to gain another 8kg which I will take 1.5 years to do. Anyway, I digress. I had a lovely workout. Time for a shower!

11:15 PM - LUNCH, YES AGAIN! At a quarter past 11 I go back downstairs after a shower and make my lunch for tomorrow. When that’s done I make another shake and eat cottage cheese with oatmeal, honey and a banana. I eat the cottage cheese and shake in front of the TV. Often during dinner I watch a series or a movie and at 00:45 - 01:00 I go to bed.

The rest of the week went pretty quiet for my liking. In 4 days (Monday - Thursday) I sent out 72 emails. Of those 72 emails, 12 were offers (in seriously busy weeks this can be twice as much). The values of these quotations ranged from € 12.6k to € 755k and everything in between. Hopefully you now have a bit of an idea of what life is like at the Resellers!

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF DAVEY GERRITZEN

THE HOBBY OF ACCOUNT MANAGER CLARKE MORIAN

MOTORCYCLES. THE PASSION OF THE MORIAN FAMILY

My passion for motorcycles began when I was about 12. It was on Saturday morning, my dad and I were driving through town, and there it was, a 1978 Yamaha YZ 80 dirt bike. We stopped to look at it and that was all it took! Dad would loan me the money until I could scrounge up enough ($200) to pay him back. That motorcycle catapulted me into a lifelong passion for motorcycles and racing. Fast forward to circa 2005, I wanted to race again, but was interested in trying another discipline (for years I raced Enduros, time event through the woods). At this point, I said to myself I want to go flat track racing, going in a circle can’t be that difficult. Well, I was wrong, so I dove in headfirst and almost 20 years later, we are still racing in circles.

Conveying a passion For those not familiar with Flat Track motorcycle racing, here is a brief rundown of what type of racing it is and where the events are held. In the US there are four different types of tracks that are raced on, short track ¼ or shorter, ½ mile, Mile, and TT. The

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short tracks are usually a smooth clay track that “groove up” (rubber from tires gets deposited on to the clay and creates a tacky “groove”). The ½ mile tracks can be either a smooth clay track (usually a car track with banking in the corners) or a “pea gravel or cushion track”. In the Mid-West we have a lot of 1/2mile cushion tracks, as these are horse tracks - “pacers and trotters” primarily, and are at almost every fair grounds in the Mid-West. Classes offered at the races range from 50cc to 800cc motorcycles. Most of the motorcycles are based on Motorcross bikes offered by MFG’s Like KTM, Yamaha, Honda, and Kawasaki. Just a few modifications are needed to get started, such as chang-

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ing the wheels/tires for Flat Track and lowering the suspension. Then you are off to the races. So my time actually racing Flat Track really only lasted 4 to 5 years, until my youngest son was old enough to race (5 yrs old), and then I became Chief Pit crew/mechanic. We had an agreement and told him when he learned how to ride a bicycle, he could get a motorcycle. That back-fired on us quickly - he was 4! However, we made him wait until he was 5 to get him a motorcycle. For us as a family, this was just going to be for fun and to introduce our son to a hobby that could be something he would enjoy for years to come. It wasn’t about the racing as much as it was about some-

NEDCON USA

thing we could do as a family.

A hobby, not a career What I didn’t realize was, that the parents in the early stages of racing are about as crazy as they come. For the next few years from the PW50 class through about the 85cc class we experienced A LOT! Even though these were the early years of our son racing, the competitiveness was just as intense as the premier classes. In a lot of cases, what we saw and how other parents reacted to situations allowed us to use these as teaching moments for not only our son that raced, but for our older son as well. Frankly, they were good lessons for me as well, to serve as a reminder that this was a hobby, not a career. Once our son turned 12, he moved up to the 250cc class (this was a big jump from the 85cc). Even though the bikes handled better than the 85’s, they were bigger, more powerful and the riders were older and more aggressive. For the next couple of years we competed against bigger and more experienced riders, and even bigger (450cc) bikes.

Lots of travel through the US Those years in the 250cc class was a learning experience for all of us. For me I needed to step up my “crew chief” abilities. That meant I needed to

be more technical and keep detailed notes on bike set up and track conditions. My son needed to get used to the bigger more physical riders as well as the increased speed. Unfortunately, my wife had the toughest job, as she had to manage me and my son. As the competition increased and the desire to win increased, she had to manage the tension in the pits. Those years on the 250cc bike were very successful in many ways. We traveled all over the eastern part of the US and we won a lot of races. The best part was that we were having so much fun.

‘’Not in Kansas anymore’’ The next stage came at the age of 14, we moved up to the premier class, 450cc bikes. This was an even bigger jump, not only because the bikes were a lot faster, but mostly because the competition was that much more intense. The competitors ranged from 14yr olds to grown men and professionals. As the term goes “We are not in Kansas anymore”. We realized quickly that we could no longer get away with a stock motorcycle. We had to step up our game and get more horsepower, aka SPEED! It does make the heart beat a little faster when you see 90+ MPH. We are still racing in the 450 class and have done quite well. We will be entering into our third year for this class and are

looking forward to the season getting started. Over the past 15 yrs of being involved with the Flat Track community, I have continued to enjoy my motorcycle hobby, and be connected to my passion which started back in the 80’s. Most importantly, I was able to pass along my passion to my wife (she rides both street and dirt bikes) and my two sons. I will say that as competitive as this sport can be, we have developed lifelong friendships with families we otherwise would have never met. We have learned how to manage the intense competitiveness, so that we didn’t lose sight that this is a hobby and needs to be fun. Mostly we got to spend time as a family traversing across the eastern half of the US, racing, creating lifelong friendships and seeing the different sights. ■

DE HOBBY OF CLARKE MORIAN

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STAFF ASSOCIATION OUTING AT MARKANT

NEDCON ON THE WAY TO A

GREEN(ER) FUTURE This year, NEDCON joined the voestalpine campaign (Countdown to Zero). As a colleague, you’ve probably heard of it.. The goal of the CO2untdown to Zero campaign is reducing CO2 emissions within the entire Metal Forming division to 0 by 2035. Over the next few years, companies in this division, including NEDCON, will expect major steps leading to this ambitious goal.

By Hana Pavlickova

Meet carbondioxide...

Where does it come from?

And how about heating?

CO2 is carbon dioxide, under normal conditions an odourless, invisible gas. With the growing volume of production there is a gradual increase of CO2 in the atmosphere. CO2 has the ability to absorb infrared radiation and thus prevents heat from penetrating out of the atmosphere and the planet is heated. In other words, CO2 causes the greenhouse effect.

CO2 is generated in places where oil, petrol, natural gas and coal are burned, but it can also be reduced where nothing is burned. Combustion occurs elsewhere. In power plants.

According to doctors, the optimal heating temperature for the proper functioning of the body inside a house is about 20 °C. Dry and warm air has a negative effect on the upper and lower respiratory tract, it causes an irritating cough, feelings of a stuffy nose, scratching in the throat. Temperatures above 20 °C also have a negative effect on the skin, initiate burning eyes, dry lips and also influence the overall feeling - nausea, fatigue or thirst.

If the earth did not have its atmosphere, its average temperature would be about -18 ° C. Thanks to the atmosphere, the average temperature of the Earth is 15 °C. That’s much better, isn’t it? Do you know how much you in person contribute to creating the greenhouse effect? Try to calculate your carbon footprint by scanning the QR code!

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This means that energy can be saved by turning off the lights during the day or turning off production facilities during weekends. The basis is simply stop producing CO2, but we cannot simply stop all production due to CO2. So we have to look for alternatives like photovoltaics or heat pumps to avoid energy from fossil fuels.

Have you tried to offset your footprint? One way to reduce large amounts of CO2 is planting trees. The mature tree daily produces oxygen for 50 people and absorbs 22 kg of CO2 per year, which is the amount of CO2 you produce by car on the way from Prague to Brno.

SUMMER 2022

Reduce, reuse... Reducing energy is a big challenge for any company. Before buying low-energy technologies, we must also take into account geographical factors or the current state of the building. These are exactly the things of our interest at NEDCON Pardubice. Regardless of Co2untdown to Zero, we have a program to improve the air in the hall, which was one of the big problems.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Thanks to the new technology, the amount of “fog”, that caused the hall to be ventilated almost every morning and a large amount of heat escaped, is reduced. And in this way, other projects are gradually being created in our company, such as modification of kilns on coating lines or energy monitoring. And there will be more. At NEDCON Pardubice we want to be sure that our measures will make sense and lead to REAL measures and savings. Therefore an energy audit took place at NEDCON before all actions began.

Audit news The audit brought us many interesting tips on how to reduce our carbon footprint and energy costs. And where exactly can we improve? Utilization of heat from kilns, for example by transferring it to dryers, reusing heat from transformers, building own photovoltaics to cover part of

electricity consumption, replacing conventional lights with energysaving LEDs, adding another measuring points to monitor production consumption and much more. And what else is coming? Now it is just a pile of analyses, demands, feasibility studies and calculations that will lead us to the implementation of the measures themselves. Investments of this kind are certainly not easy to implement and certainly not cheap. The changes will take place gradually over the coming years.

NEDCON is moving towards a greener future At NEDCON, we have decided to take a path that will lead to technological improvements and a cleaner environment. Our goal is not to save the world, but at least to make it better. Our CO2 countdown begins! It doesn’t matter who makes the first move. The point is to think about how we can help the planet.

Global warming is not just about managers or one department. It concerns all of us. In the coming years, NEDCON will strive to reduce their impact. Are you looking forward to it? I do! ■

DID YOU KNOW THAT… IN AVERAGE WE PRODUCE 81 KG OF CO2 PER 1 TON OF RACKS?

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT | NEDCON ON THE WAY TO A GREEN(ER) FUTURE

After having to search for a house for a while, my girlfriend and I found ‘’the one.’’ To make the house just the way we want it, we completely gutted it. After a lot of blood, sweat and tears it turned out the way we wanted and we are now in the right place! Robin Visser

May 4th was my last official working day and now I’m enjoying my early retirement. I plan to enjoy it a lot and therefore also go on vacation often. This photo was taken in Croatia, where I recently went with my husband Wim. My motto is: I don’t save pennies but moments! José Jansen – van de Pavert

On December 12 I became a father of a daughter named Zhara. She is the most precious thing in my life. Moreover, being a father gives a whole new perspective to life itself! Shawn McKnight

In September 2021 I, Freek (on the right), started my internship at NEDCON and in January I joined the company as a Sales Engineer. I was so enthusiastic about NEDCON that my brother Daan is now also a trainee here, in the KNAPP . team. And he has adopted the same enthusiasm Freek en Daan Hendriks

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SUMMER 2022

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On January 13 my friend Maikel and I became parents of our son Thijs. He is a smiley face and everything goes very well, both with him and us. It took me a while to get used to starting at NEDCON again, but by now we have found our niche, even as a family. Sharon Essink - Rutten

This year, on March 20, my husband and I became parents to our daughter Azra Yesil Grguric. We are very happy to have her in our lives! Pinar Tokur

For two years we had to postpone and wait for our wedding. So if you look at it the other way around, we were allowed to look forward to a wonderful celebration for two years longer. At the end of May, on a sunny day, we experienced an overwhelmingly loving time with family and friends from Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and the Ukraine. The cutting of the cake is a tradition in all these countries and a sign for solidarity. However, there are different interpretations about the meaning of who is in charge of the knife. We have made it ours and put the children in charge (also how it is often in reality) Volker Müller

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