Chances are that you held an Owens-Illinois \(O-I\) product in your hands at some time. The originally American company is in fact the producer of the bottles of, among others, Heineken and Grolsch. On a yearly basis, a billion bottles of brown and green glass are produced at the production location in Leerdam, with the European beer market as their destination. These enormous numbers are accompanied by strict quality requirements on the part of the end customer and this, in turn, requires a tight production process. However, could there still be room for improvement in terms of efficiency? Together with Saint Gobain Abrasives and itsme, O-I rose to that challenge.

In its almost one hundred years of existence, the inventor of ‘fritessaus’, a typically Dutch low calorie-mayonnaise, has greatly expanded its product range of sauces, dressings, frying fat and margarines. It is a challenge for the Technical Services department to keep the machinery running, so that millions of products continue to roll off the belt every year. Remia also believes in development across the board in the field of knowledge. A group of both mechanical and electrical technicians recently did a three-day training course in TIA Portal System. To transfer that knowledge, itsme was a guest in the sauce capital of the Netherlands, Den Dolder.

Belgium-based DSG is considered an all-round service provider in industrial electricity. The company offers tailored services to its customers, while relying on the availability and timely delivery of parts to meet this objective. Difficult? Not if you keep focusing on your strengths and outsource the search for products in the long tail to a partner like Breemes. The result is a considerable time gain.