Order picking of plants Naaldwijk to start: clock 11 fully switched over as early as February 8

On Thursday, January 18, the time had come: the first auction groups at clock 11 in Naaldwijk, where mainly green plants are auctioned, switched to order picking. This went so well that as of February 8, Clock 11 will switch completely to the order picking system. Jozien Lommerts, logistics manager in Naaldwijk, tells more about the day the first auction groups were up and running.

Jozien and her team had a healthy dose of excitement for the day of going live. "We had a lot of confidence that things would work out, because we were well prepared. But at the moment itself it is always exciting: does the system do what it is supposed to do? Actually, it started a day before. Because the supply that is then delivered has to be processed through the new system. Fortunately, it all went very well."

ICT system did what it was supposed to do
According to the manager, all employees were very involved. "Everyone was really focused on going live well. That was because things didn't go as smoothly at Flowers. Back then we had bad luck with the ICT system, which was malfunctioning. Now, fortunately, that was not the case. The ICT did what it was supposed to do, and a lot of hard work was put into that by our BTO colleagues, 'fabbers' (functional application managers, ed.) and ICT partners."

In what ways were employees prepared for the transition? "Over the past year, plant colleagues have already been inducted into flower order picking. In that sense, this transition was a little less significant: most people were already used to the order picking system. When we asked who wanted to gain experience in the first phase of plant order picking, a group of colleagues were willing to take on that challenge. That's a good sign, I think."

It was also beneficial in a practical sense that the team had already gained experience in flower order picking. "We really learned from that. We now knew better what things to pay attention to. Think of the lines on the floor, the location of the printer, getting the scanners ready and so on."

First steps successful
Has Jozien already received reactions from customers and buyers? "Not yet on the day of going live, so no news is good news, shall we say! But in the run-up to this we have heard both positive and somewhat more cautious noises. Some customers really see the added value of the time slots that will soon be added and couldn't wait to switch over, others were mainly concerned about whether the transition would go smoothly. The first steps we have taken have been successful, so we are positive. A good start is half the battle!"

Things are now progressing so well that by February 8, 2024, Clock 11 will already switch completely to order picking. After the peak, the other plant clocks in Naaldwijk will follow.