Established in Veghel the Netherlands in 1949 Vanderlande embraces the internal philosophy that success for the customer is also success for us. Since Vanderlande UK Ltd started in 1977 our success has grown, and we are trusted partners with many large UK companies including ASDA and The Hut Group. Vanderlande is now the market leader in value added logistics globally and performing strongly in the UK. In 2017 Vanderlande was acquired by Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO).
Warehouse Solutions, MD UK, Ireland, and Russia
The synergies between the two companies include the cross-selling of products and solutions, product innovations, and a combined approach to research and development (R&D). The two companies have a strong strategic match and the financial strength of TICO will help Vanderlande to continue with its sustainable profitable growth.
Gary Stubbs, Warehouse Solutions, Vanderlande, Managing Director UK, Ireland and Russia speaks to Warehouse & Logistics News.
What does your role involve on a day to day basis?
The role of Managing Director (MD) Warehouse Solutions for Vanderlande is challenging, varied, and deeply rewarding. The variety is broad, the employees and teams are world class and our customers are challenging ambassadors. There isn’t really a typical day which is part of the reason I really enjoy what I do. I can be visiting a new customer understanding their business drives and how Vanderlande Warehouse Solutions can support them in achieving their objectives. Another day can be with my team working on the strategy to develop our business or reviewing our progress against the business plan.
How would you explain the Vanderlande Culture?
One of ‘Customer Obsession’; we focus on ACE (Achieving customer excellence) by putting the customer at the heart of everything we do. Our culture is about people, a business is nothing unless you can develop and support colleagues to grow and flourish. As MD my role is about getting the very best from the team and our culture supports us in making this happen.
How does this culture assist your clients’ requirements?
We believe our culture differentiates us from the competition. We take time to listen to our customers needs, concerns and requirements. From this we use an approach known as configure to order. This allows us to select the most innovative of technical solutions that will achieve the customers requirements. In the end we are all about developing relationships that become partnerships, and those partnerships are why we are “Proudly delivering our customers journey to success”. We want our customers to feel that whatever they need, Vanderlande are flexible enough to support their ambitions.
Do you have direct contact with customers, and get involved developing solutions?
The most enjoyable part of my role is going out to meet with our customers at their operational sites. Hearing their challenges and gaining their feedback is essential in helping us to make the right decisions for Vanderlande Warehouse Solutions in the UK. I support the team in challenging them on the development of all parts of the solution and helping the team to choose the right solution for our customers and in providing the best commercial offering.
Tell us how Vanderlande are growing in the UK
Well we have seen massive growth recently in the UK and the last 12 months have been hard for us all with the challenges we have during the impact of COVID-19. I am incredibly proud of our team in how they have handled the crises and it shows in our overall performance with our strongest year for our teams in the UK over the last 12 months; working alongside our customers through their own growth. But we don’t take success for granted and the team are driven and focussed on growing Vanderlande Warehouse Solutions even further in the UK and Ireland.
What makes Vanderlande unique in your industry?
Our people make us unique; they never leave any stone unturned and we have seen with our project operations and our site-based service teams record levels of performance and overwhelmingly positive feedback in our recent customer and employee satisfaction results. It’s this base that gives our customers confidence in our solutions and in repeat projects. Our focus is on developing long lasting partnerships with our customers.
What solutions does Vanderlande offer customers?
We offer a variety of solutions as we design and deploy market leading warehouse automation solutions specifically in the fields of retail and e-commerce. We have some amazing solutions for ASRS including our ADAPTO shuttle which is truly a game changer as its modular so you can add to the system as you need to. Our AIRPICK Pocket sorter is leading with its innovative design and ability to handle a variety of products. To sum up, we can design and integrate solutions to support customers and their needs.
What sectors do these clients work in?
Predominantly in retail and e-commerce in Food, Fashion and General Merchandise. We also work closely with 3rd party logistics companies.
How can your solutions help?
We are all aware of the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges that has had on all our lives. For retail and e-commerce the challenge on resources is more challenging than ever, labour scarcity is becoming even more challenging and combined with the demand for later picking times, the OPEX cost reduction achieved through a Vanderlande automated solution can help drive improvements in efficiency of storage and picking accuracy.
How future proof and flexible are your solutions?
When investing in any automation the key points asked will always be “Is the solution future proof and flexible”. Investing in automation is about future proofing your business so that you can grow with customer demand. We design solutions with this always in mind, many of our solutions are modular so that as you grow or increase your product range you can add to the system. Combine this with Vanderlande Life Cycle services and in particular a Vanderlande site based service team where our engineers will work alongside the customer on site ensuring that the solution is always operating at its maximum level; and as technology increases, continuously improving the system so it can achieve optimum performance.
What are the biggest challenges facing Vanderlande and your industry?
Covid-19 continues to challenge us all and its been over a year since we could all get together and collaborate face to face. Technology has helped with Microsoft Teams and other platforms, but we all need more personal contact. Supply chains for Vanderlande and the Industry are challenging as the ability to manufacture has been hampered by the new ways of working. Our customers are challenging us more and rightly so, they want projects delivered faster and at lower prices.
Do you cover the whole of the UK?
I am the MD for the UK, Ireland and Russia so plenty of special customers to serve.
Vanderlande
0208 283 0100
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