Our Final Day in Amsterdam
After a small coach ride we arrive at our second visit Boels. With 314 stores covering 5 countries, they are one of the biggest brand names and it was a privilege to be able to meet them all and investigate their day to day business. We were first given a demonstration on how their in house computer programme works, very similar to ours - very quick, efficient and helps keep total control of stock.
We Rent Everything
Boels slogan is ‘We rent everything’, from event hire furniture - bed’s and bouncy castles, to plant and tool hire - you can imagine how advanced they were as a company. They had a large fleet of vehicles, some of which run throughout the night so they could easily transport furniture from location to location. Here again, we saw some fantastic machinery in order to execute jobs as quickly and efficiently as possible, with minimal damage.
Clever Machinery
One machine in particular I was impressed with were the cylinders to clean their cutlery. One part consisted of a sand like substance, containing cleaning particles - and then from here they were dropped into a second cylinder - again with particles that dried, cleaned and shined the cutlery. From there they were dropped to be sorted into boxes and then ready for another job. Having not dealt with cutlery myself, I was surprised how easily they dealt with high quantities and how quick and efficient their system was. I was also very impressed with Boels brochure and website; they had obviously invested a lot into brand awareness, becoming a large name in the hire industry.
Final Hire Industry Visit
After a quick lunch, we then ventured on to visit Jongh’s Verhuur. Again, very welcoming to us all - putting on a great spread of Dutch biscuits and coffee for us to enjoy allowing us to continue networking amongst ourselves - all sharing new ideas and inspired from the companies we had been invited into.
We walked around the warehouse at our perusal. Jongh’s is a family run business, husband and wife spoke about how they got into the industry from firstly realising a gap in the market and secondly from developing a larger product range. They are a small family run business and it was interesting to learn they work closely with Accuraat Verhuur to help them cover the larger scale jobs. It was also brought to my attention that they made a lot of the equipment themselves. The gentleman who owned the company took great pride in showing us the equipment he had made to store certain products, majority of which were on wheels for easy handling. This made everything personal to his company, and it was refreshing to meet a lovely couple who had brought a company to be successful from scratch.
What a Trip!
After a long day, we met for dinner in the evening to discuss the happenings of the day. We all developed new ideas, shared thoughts and opinions of the day.
Overall, the trip was a fantastic success. I have come away feeling totally enthused, with plenty of new ideas to implement upon return. The companies we visited in Amsterdam were so welcoming, and we will be keeping in touch!
I have made some lifelong friends on this trip, and would like to thank everyone who was a part of it, the HAE for organising, and the companies who opened their doors to us and were so welcoming.
Click here to read Charlotte's first entry or here for day 2.