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Cultivation gutter machine goes erverywhere

​​​​​​​Ethiopia growers benefit from Dutch Machine Factory solution


Countless meters of cultivation gutters. Formed from strip steel and made directly on location. Growers in Ethiopia have to wait a while, but then a special custom machine comes their way. Cornelis Verhoeven from Dutch Machine Factory came up with and created ‘m. And relied on cooperation with itsme for the bearings and drives.

Think about technology. Just be busy with it. Cornelis Verhoeven likes nothing better. In the one year that he was employed by a company, the work also continued in the evenings. “Not because you had to. But if we didn't work out at work, that kept me busy all the time. Coming up with solutions: it's the best thing about my job. "
Now, about three years later, that motivation is still there. And Cornelis works hard with Dutch Machine Factory, which he founded when he was 21. His company in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht is mainly for custom-made machines, for any industry. Processors of meat, waste and wood, for example, already approached him, just as the steel industry did. Companies also benefit from the Assessor 1 developed by him, an Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) for picking up and delivering goods. The mechanics are his, the controls come from his father's company. “Together we ensure that I can deliver complete products to my customers. We complement each other well. ”

"Coming up with solutions: it's the best thing about my job"


Cultivate in fertile soil

A dynamic company for special solutions. It is not so surprising that Dutch Machine Factory received the demand for a specific machine at the end of last year. To be used in Ethiopia, where growers grow flowers in the fertile soil and need many meters of cultivation gutters. Now those gutters are still made here, as long as a sea container, after which they form long rows once in Africa. "Although that works, it does require many links," says Cornelis. “The risk of leaks increases with every connection. Moreover, in a sea container there is still quite some space left between all those profiles. "
The customer wondered that there is no other way. Cornelis thought so. So the young entrepreneur started working with drawings, calculations and ultimately also production. And so he came to the machine that will soon go to Ethiopia. Equipped with tracks, the machine is everywhere in the landscape. Rollers and shafts send strip steel through the profiling section, after which the machine cuts the formed strips to the preset number of meters. That works in a handy way and, above all, is a lot more efficient, Cornelis emphasizes. “Gluing everything manually is no longer necessary, which means that the production of the gutters will soon be much faster. The customer can also start shipping rolls of strip steel instead of preformed profiles, which is much more cost-effective in logistics. ”

"The production of gutters will be four, five times as fast"


After looking at the machine you will notice how compact it is. The entire installation is four meters long, two meters wide and just over two and a half meters high. Bigger was not possible either, since the machine had to fit into a sea container as a single part. It required a flexible view from Cornelis.
“Take the generator for example. Including the original housing, it would have been too large. So we only bought the generator and made a housing ourselves. That way we remained within the transport margins. "


​​​​​​​Special bearings via itsme

Cornelis has no employees, but instead works with a team of self-employed people. He also relies on input from partners such as itsme. “For me, itsme is much more than a supplier, the employees offer advice that will really help me. Take, for example, the lathe in my workshop: it is second-hand, but still in very good condition. itsme has alerted me to that bank, which has brought me a considerable saving. "
Cornelis also collaborated with itsme for his grow gutter machine. And then more specifically for the drive and bearings, which according to Cornelis had to meet specific conditions. “The coil with strip steel exerts a lot of pressure. So I couldn't just use every bearing. I put my question to itsme, which started with calculations and ended up with special plain bearings. They are strong and durable. A good solution."
Thinking along for results, that's how Cornelis would describe the contribution of itsme. “Itsme offers me knowledge. And that in addition to overview via collective invoices and the price advantage thanks to favorable purchasing conditions. Moreover, I have one point of contact, which switches quickly. I sometimes describe the collaboration with itsme as the convenience of one button, with all the options that I need underneath. That works great. "
 

​​​​​​​For the companies of later

On behalf of itsme, account manager Richard Jongstra regularly visits Dutch Machine Factory. “And always with great pleasure. We support large companies with many employees, but are just as good for a young entrepreneur as Cornelis. It is nice to help him on his way, to contribute to the growth of Dutch Machine Factory. I think the company is really one of the future. Cornelis dares to think outside the box, looks further and comes up with innovative solutions. That is refreshing, also for us. "

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