User case: Royal Lemkes

Royal Lemkes consciously chooses TransFollow and Beurtvaartadres

At Royal Lemkes in Bleiswijk, considerable financial loss is caused every year as a result of the loss of packaging and the failure to register Returnable Transport Items properly. This is a challenge for the floriculture sector as a whole, a loss of many thousands of euros per year. Reason enough to look for a sustainable and smart digital solution. This was found via Beurtvaartadres in TransFollow. It provides real-time insight into where which Returnable Transport Item (RTI) is located in the chain.

Main reasons: Cost savings, efficiency and traceability

The expectations of transport manager Brad Parker are high. Royal Lemkes started implementing TransFollow a year ago. Together with Beurtvaartadres and the partners in the chain, we researched the main bottlenecks in the process and how to solve these with TransFollow. This implementation process was supervised by Beurtvaartadres.

A royal player

Royal Lemkes was founded over a century ago, in 1882, and can therefore call itself royal. They started out in the cultivation. Since then, they have grown into the partner in greenery of large-scale retail chains throughout Europe. “We are the market leader in transporting plants to major retailers in 34 countries. We use 1.2 million consignment notes per year and print 250,000 CMRs,” says Parker. “In the high season, we transport more than one million plants per day. We believe in the sustainable power of plants and the positive impact that plants have on people. We try to work as sustainably and responsibly as possible.”

Problem of missing RTI

Parker explains the issue: “Throughout the floriculture sector, we work with the same RTI pool (carts, barrels and pallets). Often we don’t know exactly where which RTI is located or we even lose it. This not only causes financial damage but also a lot of frustration. In addition to the RTI that we lose, there are also the cost of additional FTEs that we use for RTI management, the inefficient planning and the loss of time.”

With TransFollow we bring this loss back considerably. Parker: “We are now focusing on real-time tracking of each shipment and its packaging. So we know exactly where each item of RTI is located and who has (digitally) signed or is responsible for it. We share this information directly with our customers and chain partners. As a result, we all plan more effectively and there will be no discussion.”

A successful implementation

For a successful start with TransFollow, Royal Lemkes and its partners have thought through, set up and tested everything well. “On these three points Beurtvaartadres has relieved us of our worries. This is what Beurtvaartadres calls chain management”, says Parker. “Together with our most important partners, we researched our biggest transport challenges and how we can solve them. This process has been completely written out and implemented step by step.”

“The implementation was supervised by the experts of Beurtvaartadres. The cooperation immediately went well. We can always call them if we have questions. But even more important to me is that Beurtvaartadres also assists our partners. If they get stuck, Beurtvaartadres helps them further, even without our intervention. This fits our philosophy, in which we find it important to exceed the expectations of our relations every day. TransFollow is an important (new) link in this with its real-time insights and fast handling.”

Rolling out benefits across the sector

The first experiences with TransFollow at Royal Lemkes are positive. This proves that the RTI problem in the floriculture sector can be tackled on a sector-wide basis. Parker: “The financial damage for the entire sector is considerable. If all ‘competing colleagues’ also switch, I think we will significantly reduce this cost item. We will also solve the availability problem, because then we always know where a cart or pallet is. This is how we, as the floriculture sector, can make progress together”.