When Bas Lagerwerf became director at Berg Hortimotive in 2007 , he was surprised that it was often about the greenhouse , but much less often about the supplier , who nevertheless play a vital role in the glasshouse . That had to be done differently - products and service had to be more striking .
An example : nursery builders often referred to " carts " when it came to the product of overhaul providers . " Carts ? " Bas oppose . “ There ’s Formula 1 engineering science in there ! When braking , energy is rejoin to the battery . So at the very least it is a car . "
In this way Bas brought the mathematical product more and more into the film . “ That pop off from cart to car , from automobile to concept , and now , with Hortilogics , we are working together with a phone number of other companies on a full conception . Because if you want to stay afloat in the marketplace as Dutch parties , you will also have to work together . "
Getting start with dataAbout six or seven years ago Berg realised that there would be more competition in the mechanical field of force . “ This meant it would be dear to start working with data . With my automation backcloth I had some thoughts about that . "
A consortium was then set up in quislingism with a number of parties - alas that quislingism terminate , but Bas did not give up . He learned a lot from it . " You only lose if you have not memorize anything , we have learned a lot and we have continue to do so . Together with Andreas Hofland from HortiKey , we lease another vital look at the whole thing . "
The ideas were good , so they just kept going . In the end , they brought together all the data that Berg was able-bodied to collect from their view close to the craw , into a new product : the Plantalyzer . That process took a lot of blood , sweat and tears , but it is something that Bas can be majestic of - a commercial data point - driven intersection that is now being sold .
“ Now the AGV has even become a universal platform , on which a ultraviolet lamp or a robot can be placed . We have distinctly made the choice to always stay nigh to logistics , because that is where our core competency lies . We now centre on the harvesting prognosis , the Plantalyzer is delineate in that .
Other parties are further when it add up to disease pressure . If potential , we wish to work with them - if we ca n’t , we ’ll do it ourselves . With the tremendous development order that we meet with the institution of Hortilogics , we are also able to do that . "
BV NetherlandsBas ’s itch to collaborate stems from the desire to keep and cluster the unique cognition that Dutch company have together in the Netherlands . Family byplay or companies that conduct like this are best suited for this . At the moment there are private fairness constitution participating that , under pressure from their stockholder , want to quickly monetise a company and then sell it again .
The family businesses are less sensible to money and opt for a longer - term scheme . " If these are hold clustered , we have a lot of knowledge in the Netherlands and the noesis will not be fragmented . "
It is a option to cluster and enter into partnerships , joint venture , etc . and to vest that money in creation , say Bas . " We should therefore also think big with excogitation . Hortilogics is an lesson of this . "
Together you are stronger - that was also a consideration in the sales agreement of Berg Hortimotive to Royal Brinkman . “ It ’s a great family business , and they are also very modern in e - commerce . We have a lot of info from the client . Royal Brinkman has a absolved imaginativeness of information - driven refinement . It has been a skillful choice and we would do it again . "
As far as Bas is concerned , this spirit of cooperation is imitated throughout the Netherlands . " It would be nice if family business could have a cupful of tea with each other from time to time , to hash out , for instance , how we can all build an ASML - similar something for horticulture . There are many route that leave to Rome . star - think of Atrium Agri , a safe example of cluster formation in gardening , which is how we guarantee that the worthful cognition does not flow away from the Netherlands . ”
ToughSince 2007 , Bas has been working hard at Berg Hortimotive , with weeks of 60 to 70 hours . In 2016 Bas was took a heart attack , and he made the determination to take it a bit wanton . Nico Bikker joined on an interim basis and now the succession is also a fact : Marco van der Velden became the new general managing director last year .
For Bas and silent partner Philip de Koning , this was a good moment to reach over the baton to a new generation , because , as Bas says : “ The best is yet to do . We are now introduce into a combination of applied science and people , and I know that soon we will also be able-bodied to control a glasshouse remotely . And so we will make autonomous cultivation possible . "
The Berg Hortimotive wagons can play a primal use in this , says Bas . “ We drive past the crop every Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , so to verbalise , and can immediately describe what is happening with the harvest . For example , we can signal the effect of a alteration in cultivation . We are therefore approached from all over the creation - so I am handing the company over to Marco , knowing that there is still a lot of potentiality . ”
Foreign experience , frail kneesSince Bas , together with Philip , took over the fellowship from Arie van den Berg together , he has of course experienced a lot . Various swop missions , for example , were an excellent path for Bas to move the company up the " ladder of attending " , and to get to know the diligence well himself . " If you drive around with someone in a vanguard for a workweek , you build a bail bond . "
One of those business deal missions brought Bas to Turkey - that is also where the first lodge for the company from Turkey number from . “ That was towards the Syrian border , I do n’t think you ’re even allowed to go there now . We sold automation there , but it was in reality much too early , because those people could n’t handle an AGV . So we go there to offer help but no one there who spoke English . And they also had no cyberspace connection .
“ Now I have hardly ever been afraid … but how can I put it , there were some local of very large height . There was one very big man . He was take to task , but I could n’t understand a word of it . They did n’t seem like Book of welcome to me , so I say to my buddy , " I ’ll stand up too . " So I started jabber in Dutch that he had made a mess of it and all that - in the meantime I had made sure where the doorway was , I was standing there with light knees . But somehow the methamphetamine hydrochloride was bring out , we had dinner party in the eve and he showed us his ground . And later bought from us again . "
Foreign visits - Minister Henk Kamp in JapanBas also once went on a trade missionary work to Japan , which was also attended by then Minister of Economic Affairs , Henk Kamp . The minister of religion had to give a intro . “ He asked me to tell him something about internal logistics that he could use in his demonstration . My story was right smart too long , so if I could , would I explicate it in two sentence ? Fine , I tell : Instead of walking , they have to drive , and instead of on their back , the harvest should be on a beach waggon .
Many Japanese were present at the oral communication of Kamp that follow . " Did I say it right ? " the minister asked after his story . Bas intend that those hoi polloi are very approachable .
Bas is firmly convinced that company that are young to the industry can learn a mickle from these trade missions . “ It taught me what other culture entail - a handshake does n’t mean an designation , and neither does a down payment . You study that through damage and shame , but also on the bus from colleagues from gardening . It also makes you in person richer to understand more about other cultivation . "
extraneous visit Mexico - TequilaAnother juicy story come from Mexico . That journey started with a three - hr wait at Schiphol , and cease with an choke bus slate in Mexico , which mean that Bas was on the road for 28 hours . “ In the evening I should have been in the hotel at ten o’clock , instead it was the next morning at seven o’clock . I took a rain shower , drank a lot of coffee , did not defy to go to eternal rest and then we started a Modern Clarence Shepard Day Jr. there . ”
During the four - minute taxi drive , Bas was able-bodied to catch up on some quietus as substantially he could . After some client sojourn , the squad wanted to take a look at the exhibition floor - it was now eleven o’clock in the even . “ Then we still had to drink something - what ’s that boozing called again ? Tequila ! We had one or two glasses , I do n’t recall , but it was at least one too many . Back at the hotel , I had place my phone as loud as possible and asked my workfellow to call me the next dawning . I later on heard that they were bang on the doorway and that the sound was environ , and that I eventually awaken up after a long time . ”
Bas spend a solar day on the exhibition story draw on Adrenalin , but it was one of his most exhausting trips . " But also instructive : you really have to check that that you are well rested at the starting signal , because there are always very long days afterwards . "
The text cover after the photograph
Bas likes to play ball between the companies and … .
… Bas enjoys being with his beautiful sept
Continuing to think along and connectWhat is Bas going to do now ? “ Marco is wholly in the right place . I can still do a few thing at Berg Hortimotive and Royal Brinkman , but in the close it is not good to get in the fashion of people or to be a smart Alec . So from the turn of the year I only worked 1 or 2 days , and handed everything over as well as possible . ” On April 23 , Bas said his official goodbye .
Bas will advise company from his own troupe on cooperation and the development of a imagination . “ I would like to share my experiences with several company , and I would find it even more howling if the large companies essay each other out to become stronger together and put the Netherlands and the noesis acquired on the map . And so as to remain in control and to take form strong clusters and in this way of life make the manufacture and export even more professional and grow . "
For more information : Bas Lagerwerf[email protected]+31 ( 0 ) 6 26058600
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