“We quickly understood that we would need outside knowledge and experience in order to avoid a lot of puzzle-work, downtime and chaos,” says Martijn Noest, CEO and owner of Dertec. “Jan came on site to estimate the workload. Based on measurements and a list of our minimum and maximum stocks, he calculated the most efficient warehouse filling with his eff-fill software. At the time of the move itself, we were 100% prepared. Our employees only had to collect the parts from the old warehouse and put them in their correct place in the new warehouse. All the instructions for this could be found on the handy labels that Jan had prepared. The first day, he came by to help us get started. He also gave clear instructions for processing all data in eff-fill Control, so that it could be correctly linked to our ERP system. That also went very smoothly.”

Noest is satisfied with the collaboration with Jan De Graeve, whom he describes as someone who “thinks along with you, and is friendly and creative”. “Jan was also not afraid to make an extra effort at times when it suited us best. Together with our team, he provided the right solution.”

Logistic Manager Bérengère Renier: “The service was recommended to us by our Dutch colleagues, who were very satisfied with the collaboration with Jan. After a first contact, Jan came on site to get an idea of the scope of the job. Later in the process, he and one of our employees measured all the parts in the warehouse, after which he ran his calculation software, eff-fill. Thanks to this calculation, the filling of the warehouse shelves could be optimised. We did the actual filling of the items ourselves, but Jan was very much available for questions via Teams. He followed everything very closely. Thanks to his good preparation and instructions, the filling went faster than expected – it was a real time saver. The whole process has also given us insights into how to best organise a warehouse. We therefore couldn’t be more satisfied with how it went.”

“It was impossible to manually assign all parts to new locations. Jan De Graeve has developed software that calculates which type of locations are required and how stock can be stored there as efficiently as possible. These calculations are based on stock inventory lists and the results of the 3D measurement of all parts. We received a proposal from Jan for the layout of the trays, ordered our layout material and started preparing all the trays. Under Jan’s guidance, we then emptied our old warehouse and filled the new system in two and a half days.

Although it was an intensive process that I would not immediately want to go through again, I am very satisfied with the collaboration with Jan. He is kind, precise and capable and I would highly recommend him.”

“Because we wanted to limit the inconvenience caused by the move and had no experience with filling warehouse racks ourselves, we asked Jan to oversee the preparations,” says Stefan van der Stelt, Continuous Improvement Engineer. “We were able to provide him with all information on the items via a template, which he then used to calculate the ideal warehouse layout for us. In the meantime, we regularly kept in touch and we could always contact him if we ran into a problem.

Because we wanted to go very quickly, on the day of the move, at times we had to just set aside a ‘problem item’ and deal with it later. As a result, we still needed to make stock corrections here and there, but that’s nothing compared to the time that we saved. Some companies prefer to fill a new warehouse in phases, taking weeks to do it. We, on the other hand, wanted to get it done fast so that we could deliver to our customers again quickly. Jan helped with this by thinking along with us during the preparation and by taking action if we encountered any problems. We also found his extra check afterwards to be very valuable. We would definitely recommend his service to companies that want to limit the disruption of a move.”

Jochen Koelewijn, Operations Manager: “We once filled a dual lift module with 600 unique items. That took us so long that when we purchased the new shuttles, in which even more pieces had to be accommodated, we immediately decided to look for an alternative solution. We came to Jan De Graeve through the supplier of the warehouse system.

At the start, we sent all available information digitally so that Jan could get a good sense of the stocks. Fortunately, we were able to extract a lot of data directly from our own management package. The first milestone in the process was measuring the items. Based on this, Jan advised us exactly which and how many plastic trays we needed for storing the items. The most efficient filling was calculated using the eff-fill software.”

This was followed by two days of physical relocation of the warehouse. “Good preparation with eff-fill has saved us months of start-up troubles. The only issue we encountered is that some drawers went over their maximum weight limits. But I’ve heard that Jan has developed a solution for this and now also offers the option of not only measuring pieces in advance, but also weighing them so that the use of space in the warehouse system can be even better optimised.

The entire process has once again shown how important good stock management is. The less your stock management is under control, the more complex a warehouse transfer becomes. If you put shit in it, shit comes out. In that respect, a collaboration with Jan will also be an eye-opener for many companies and a fresh, new start to approach their stock management more professionally from then on.”

The last milestone in the relocation process was that Jan communicated all the data from the new warehouse with the software. “The physical move was completed on Friday, and we had a perfectly running system on Monday. Anticipating a move like that gives you a lot of worries, so that was a great relief. I would certainly recommend a collaboration with Jan De Graeve to everyone.”

Dorota Müller, purchasing manager: “Since the available storage space was relatively limited, we felt it was important to make optimal use of all capacity from the start. Kardex, the supplier of our warehouse systems, recommended the services of Jan De Graeve to us. And he has certainly helped us a lot with optimally storing all the parts. Using his specialised software program eff-fill, he calculated the ideal location in the warehouse for each part based on the part’s dimensions.

Jan worked very independently and thought along with us to find the best solution for our specific situation. He is highly skilled in his profession, very helpful and also quite pleasant to work with. Thanks to his intelligent storage system, it is now very easy to find all the parts and we even have space left over in our warehouse for new parts. Our collaboration has delivered exactly the result we had in mind and I would definitely recommend working with Jan to anyone who is installing a new warehouse or relocating an existing one.”

Manager Jan Ledaine: “We have known Jan for a long time. During our search for a new warehouse solution, we even went to look at a certain system together so that he could give us some tips. It was the most natural thing for us to involve him in the transformation of our warehouse.

Working from an inventory of all parts, Jan made the calculation for the most efficient warehouse filling with his eff-fill software. Based on that information, we purchased the appropriate containers. Thanks to the good preparation ‒ Jan even took care of the pre-printed stickers for the trays ‒ we were able to move all the parts in one day. It was really a relief that everything fit perfectly. The system works impeccably.

I have often recommended Jan’s services to colleagues because I’m genuinely very satisfied with his work. When you work with Jan, you can be sure that everything will be okay. He takes a very orderly and structured approach, knows exactly what he’s doing and has a lot of experience. I also consider the fact that he works with his own software to be a real added value. He knows it inside and out.”

Leo Franke, managing director: “We already had some ideas of our own about how we would move and furnish the new warehouse, but when Jan came by, he convinced us that there were better methods. So, we decided to work with him.”

Because Technische Groothandel POST also provides over-the-counter service, not only order picking had to be taken into account in the warehouse layout, but also the call-up of items for over-the-counter sales. “That made the design more complicated, but Jan absorbed our input efficiently and coordinated his proposal well with us, which resulted in a workable result.”

Jan also coordinated the actual move. “We were able to carry it out perfectly according to plan. I would definitely recommend Jan’s services: he has a lot of insight into how to organise cabinets of this type and he also guides you in a way that’s calm and efficient.”

Roel Konings, Head of Logistics: “We came into contact with eff-fill through the distributor of the warehouse system. Manager Jan De Graeve was able to convince us of the added value of his working method at the first meeting. We received a detailed quotation and Jan also discussed all the steps with us on-site. We supplied our data in the form he requested and he explained to us which products we could put in which trays and how we could best arrange them.

It saves a lot of work if you don’t have to think of all that yourself. That would have been a lot more difficult. With Jan’s experience, the warehouse filling could be done right, from the start. The entire filling went smoothly and after 1.5 days the regular process could be resumed.”

“After an initial meeting with Jan, it was immediately clear that his services would add value to our move”, says Arie Nugteren, Spare Parts Sales Manager at HDW. “During the preparation, Jan gave a clear and concise explanation of what was expected of us, based on a few examples, and more specifically, which data was required to proceed properly. As soon as the plan of action was ready, Jan discussed it with us and then followed it up remotely at our request via TeamViewer. That went flawlessly and we were very pleased with this way of working. Because of the coronavirus, we spread out the ultimate move somewhat in time, but in the end, we are very satisfied with the result, which is exactly as Jan had told us.”

“It is not the case that when you work with eff-fill you transfer control of everything”, notes Arie. “There are still a number of things you have to prepare yourself. But eff-fill was the missing piece that enabled the entire move to go quickly, efficiently and coherently.”