Reliable suppliers are key to the organisation’s success. As the Supply Chain Manager for Fullwood and JOZ, Peter Haselager is responsible for sourcing, selecting and contracting suppliers. ‘You build deep relationships with your suppliers. As a fast-growing organisation, it’s essential that we can rely on our partners, and that they can get up to speed and scale up with us quickly,’ he says.
Peter stepped into the role of Supply Chain Manager at JOZ about two years ago. Although the company was rapidly expanding abroad at the time, the procurement of components was still organised fairly locally. ‘So I was tasked with taking the steps needed to professionalise the Supply Chain. We were either making the individual components ourselves or buying them in. This was less than ideal for a company aiming to scale up quickly. So we switched to a model in which we outsourced the manufacture of complete modules. These modules are delivered fully assembled and ready for us to install. Plug and play.’
Choosing the right suppliers was vital to making this change possible. ‘You have to be able to rely on each other. You need each other for a long-term relationship. Strategic partnership is what I call it. I visited and assessed nearly all our suppliers and looked for new partners that could add value and deliver what Fullwood needs. This meant ending our relationships with some suppliers and approaching and contracting new ones. The result is that we’re now able to meet the rising demand, and the factory is operating in a different, smarter way.’
When JOZ recently acquired Fullwood Milking and the latter began operating as Fullwood, Peter was presented with the challenge of bringing about structural improvements to this organisation’s supply chain as well. ‘I discovered that things were set up much like they had been when I first joined JOZ. In fact, everything needed for our fully automated milking robots was made in-house in England. Our goal was to establish a production site in the Netherlands where manufacturing could be smarter and more efficient, set up almost like an automotive production line with just-in-time deliveries.’
‘I looked for new suppliers who fit our way of working and our ambitions for growth, who had the right knowledge and skills in-house and could scale up quickly. Suppliers who could jump on our express train and get on board with our forward-looking approach. And now, the first Dutch-made milking robots are rolling out of the factory. With great success too; demand is actually growing all the time.’
Being able to rely on our suppliers is a cornerstone of this success, according to Peter. ‘We pursue long-term partnerships. Rather than focusing on what’s cheapest, we look mainly at the TCO. After all, you build deep relationships with your suppliers.’
An affinity with the agricultural sector is not necessarily a prerequisite for being successful in your role at Fullwood. ‘I previously worked in the manufacturing and chip industry, so barn automation and automatic milking was a new world for me. But the business model immediately interested me, as did the huge international sales numbers. How cool is that? To be able to organise the supply chain for two major international players? That rapid growth is a great challenge.’
The great thing about working at Fullwood? ‘Everything is still new – nothing is set in stone yet. Brainstorming about the opportunities we see, how we want to approach things and how we handle risks… the future is an open road, and processes still need to be set up for it. If that’s the sort of working environment you enjoy, you’ll feel very much at home here.’
‘The atmosphere is great here too, and we get on well together. We learn from and with each other, and the lines of communication are short, including between staff and the directors. And as well as all that, the location is perfect. You won’t get stuck in traffic jams, and we’re right next to the A7 motorway at Agriport.’