THE EINDHOVEN WAREHOUSE

Eindhoven of the Netherlands has become a key location for many technology companies, including Össur. Store manager Thijs Ras takes us behind the scenes of the company’s stores.

Text: Fridah Jönsson

ssur’s large-scale storage facility is located in Eindhoven, in the south of the Netherlands. This little town with a population of around 229,000 is a major industrial hub with several different companies in the fields of technology and transport, including Philips and FedEx, having large storage facilities and offices there. Thijs Ras began working for Össur in 2012, packing incoming orders. Three years on, he was offered the role of store manager, and today he oversees the work of a team of 15, processing some 700 orders per day.

“We’re Dutch, and we have a reputation all over the world for being hard workers. We always try to improve things and we are quite self-critical; if something goes wrong, we want to put it right. That’s a highly valued attribute of the Dutch people,” Thijs Ras comments.

THE ORDERING PROCESS is quick. As soon as an order enters the system, the product is picked, sent for packing, dispatched by UPS and reaches the customer within two days, sometimes 24 hours. The products are sent to the rest of Europe, notably Germany and the Nordic region. Thijs believes one of the advantages of the Eindhoven location for the warehouse is that it’s an industrial town undergoing constant development.

“From a distribution point of view, it’s a very attractive location. It’s got great infrastructure, which makes it easy for companies like FedEx to reach the whole of Europe, and the town is growing and is on the way to establishing itself as one of the largest in the Netherlands.”

WHEN THIJS STARTED WORK at Össur, the warehouse was located elsewhere, but as more orders began to flow in, they needed more space, and then, as of three years ago, a bigger building.

“Lots of people looking for jobs are surprised by two things. How light it is, and how clean it is. It’s very important to us for it to be cleaned; we’re working with medical devices, of course, and we work based on the same principles of hygiene as a hospital. Our cleaners work 36 hours a week to keep the place as clean as possible at all times,” Thijs Ras reports.

Eindhoven for the first time simply must see Stratumseind, said to be the longest pub street in Europe. And, if you’re a football fan, you must, of course, see PSV at the Philips Stadium. I try to go to as many matches as I can.

“It feels good knowing my i-Limb Quantum always gives me the function I need, whether I’m at work or pursuing any of my leisure interests.”

Bertolt Meyer Professor of Organisational and Economic Psychology and DJ.

Shiori Harms Law student & passionate dancer