DACHSER in Waddinxveen celebrates its 15th anniversary
The DACHSER branch in Waddinxveen celebrates its fifteenth anniversary. The logistics service provider opened its second branch in the Netherlands on 1 March 2007. The branch in Waddinxveen, also known as Rotterdam Logistics Centre, has grown in 15 years to three premises with a total surface area of approximately 93,000 square meters.
"Centrally located in the Randstad, Waddinxveen has good connections to major cities and is close to the Port of Rotterdam and Schiphol Airport. Due to this strategic location with direct connection to our European groupage network, our customers are directly connected to Europe and the rest of the world," says Edwin Vermeulen, General Manager of DACHSER Rotterdam Logistics Centre. "We offer our customers an integrated logistics solution whereby we can provide road transport as well as air and sea freight in combination with warehousing. We want to relieve our customers of logistical challenges so that they can fully concentrate on their core business."
Establishment of DACHSER Netherlands
The official founding of DACHSER Netherlands took place on 10 January 1975 in Zevenaar, Gelderland. After this branch became too small to service the whole country, it was up to Aat van der Meer, the current Managing Director of DACHSER Benelux, to open a new branch in the west of the Netherlands. Waddinxveen turned out to be the ideal location. In 2007, the branch started with 16 employees and 3,000 square metres of warehouse space. In the meantime, the workforce has grown to 225 employees and, after several expansions in 2010, 2013 and 2020, the branch now has 15,000 square meters of cross-docking and 50,000 square metres of warehousing space. On 7 December 2020, DACHSER opened the doors of its new warehouse on the Exportweg, which offers 17,278 square metres of storage capacity. With this latest expansion, the logistics service provider in Waddinxveen now has space to store 55,000 pallets. The aim of these expansions was, on the one hand, to create more space for the strong growth and, on the other, to strengthen the synergy between the warehousing, ocean freight and distribution network activities.
Dedicated employees as the foundation of success
According to Vermeulen, DACHSER owes its growth mainly to the dedicated employees within the family business. "Our employees are and will remain our greatest strength," says Vermeulen. "It doesn't matter whether they are permanent employees, apprentices or work students, DACHSER is characterised by the strong bond between the employees, just like in a family." That this vision remained true even during the global pandemic even reached King Willem-Alexander. On 1 July 2020, the King paid a working visit to DACHSER in Waddinxveen because the corona crisis had put extra pressure on the availability of training places. At DACHSER , all trainees remained employed during the corona crisis.
Van der Meer looks back with satisfaction on the past years: "Despite the fact that we have experienced tremendous growth, we still operate as a real family business. The same people who started here 15 years ago with one common goal in mind are still doing everything they can every day to further expand our success. The DACHSER family has grown considerably in the past 15 years, and we are proud of that."