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Our collaboration with Henkelman

Henkelman & VDL RENA Electronica: a partnership since 1994

 

Henkelman Vacuum Systems and VDL RENA Electronica have been working on innovative and user-friendly control panels for professional food vacuum systems since 1994. You find these machines in large kitchens, at butchers, in elderly homes or at the cheese market. Vacuuming food extends its shelf life. Time to visit our ever-growing customer.

 

About 25 years ago, Koen Henkelman contacted VDL RENA Electronica because he needed a print for his food vacuum packaging machines. This collaboration developed into a long-term partnership with many milestones. VDL RENA Electronica currently provides the full control of many models. “At the start, we purchased a few prints per week. Today, we need about four to five thousand per year for just one type,” says Remy van Mierlo, Purchase Manager at Henkelman.

 

Complete control system

The newest high-tech milestone to which VDL RENA Electronica was happy to contribute is the Henkelman NEO vacuum packaging machine, which has a touchscreen, its own app and a Bluetooth module. Something that has never been on the market before and with which Henkelman proved itself a market leader. For this product, VDL RENA Electronica produces the entire PCBA, including assembly in a frame with touch control. For previous models, VDL RENA Electronica produces a PCBA + LCD. These are delivered to Henkelman fully assembled.

 

100% reliability

“What makes Henkelman unique is that we have the shortest delivery times on the market. A customer can order 5, 10 or 100 machines and receive their delivery within 1-2 weeks.”

 

Remy can be brief on the lifespan and reliability of the products: “It has to be 100%. Just imagine: if we deliver a container to South Africa and we have to deal with a defective machine there, it costs tons of money. If a PCBA or a VDL RENA Electronica product is broken, we will always want to help the customer. The customer must be able to keep going. We will first source from our supply, but if a component is out of stock, we contact VDL RENA Electronica. And luckily, VDL RENA Electronica is always quick to respond to a situation.”

 

Partnership

To the question whether nothing ever goes wrong working with VDL RENA Electronica, Remy answers with a smile: “Of course mistakes happen. And that’s alright, that’s part of life. It’s about how VDL RENA Electronica solves mistakes. And we are very positive about that.”

 

Whenever Henkelman is thinking about a new product, they include VDL RENA Electronica pretty early on to think along. “We can have all the ideas we want, but we don’t know if they are 100% feasible. That’s where VDL RENA Electronica comes in.” Remy also experiences the engineering partnership as positive. “Whenever the market needs a modification, we talk to the project engineer, who is in touch with the software engineer. Together we see if we can meet that market demand.”

 

Collaboration

“The volumes have skyrocketed over the last 25 years. We have started working with framework contracts with VDL RENA Electronica. These are invoked for a certain batch size and within a week we have the product in stock. When the market asks for new technology, we will definitely see if VDL RENA Electronica can help us.”

 

Anniversary

With the 40 year anniversary of VDL RENA Electronica, we also wanted to shine a light on our oldest billing, loyal customer Henkelman. To celebrate our relation, our sales manager Ebian Tempelaars handed over the VDL RENA Electronica ‘Longest Continuous Customer’ award to Remy van Mierlo. We are looking forward to continue this partnership for the future!

 

 

The 'Longest Continuous Customer Award' is handed over to Remy van Mierlo.