OptiPlug recently moved to a new location within the Netherlands. The location is twice as big and according to Richard and Rico Scheffers know, the extra space is needed.
Rico and Richard Scheffers
"It has been proven time and time again that the paperpot is a reliable plug," says Richard. "This applies to all our current customers, but also increasingly to growers who are looking for a plug for a relatively new crop, such as cultivation on water. After all, you are guaranteed to give the crop a good, uniform start. It is precisely this knowledge that gave us the peace of mind and confidence to take this step. The move enabled us to handle the growth of our existing customers and a number of additional customers from day one."
Left: old premises, right renewed premises. Click on the image to enlarge
The extra metres provide space for, among other things, an extensive range of machines. For example, two new Ellepot machines have been installed, giving the company more capacity for existing sizes.
They have also invested in extra docks. "Our dock in Naaldwijk was outdated, too short and not very functional. The ramp of our own truck could not quite fit under it," says Rico. "We were happy with it, we used it optimally, but now we have three. You don't always need them at the same time of course, but especially in the busy times there is a lot of loading and unloading. We worried that three would be too much. But now we regularly see all three working at the same time, so it was the right decision."
"We are currently seeing expansion primarily in new segments, such as some companies with sweet potatoes," both men say. "We have welcomed some new customers in this segment. The sweet potato is not the easiest product, but by working with the grower to find the right substrate and a matching tray, things are going well. What we especially like is that it comes just after the bedding plant season. There is always a gap between the bedding plants and the first poinsettias, the trick is to have about the same amount of work throughout the year. It may never be completely even and that is not necessarily a bad thing, as always peaking is not good either. But you do strive for it, and we are very happy with customers who can help with this."
Top left the old interior, right renewed interior, below left the new docks after pouring, right before pouring.
Good planning is crucial for a company like OptiPlug. Capacity and demand have to be in balance, a new customer is great but the question is always whether sufficient machines and man-hours are available. "If we had expanded a year later, we would have really stalled," Richard concludes. "Then we would have had to rent, maybe we would have had to have an extra location, but we didn't want that. Now that we're at the new location, there is room for growth again, and that's why there will soon be some vacancies."
Furthermore, they are certainly being kept busy at the moment. This is partly due to the scarcity of available products in the market, which makes planning even more important. "Therefore, we have also requested our customers, and herewith once again, to order everything in good time, because we are dealing with extremely long delivery times."
For more information:
OptiPlug BV 
Lange Broekweg 5
2671 DR Naaldwijk
+31 (0)174 752 444
[email protected]
www.optiplug.nl
