cocoa logistics on the banks of the scheldt 04| 2016 seven question to ... lüder vollers | vollers...

Newsletter 04| 2016

Seven question to ... Lüder Vollers | Vollers available for download

Cocoa logistics on the banks of the Scheldt

ADSp 2017 – new version as of 1st January 2017

Responsible for your Commodity

Dear readers,

My father has been in the company for 54 years now. He has learned logistics from scratch. In this issue he answers the ‚Seven questions‘ and also tells us what pleases him and what he does not like. But my father is not the only per-son who has been with the company for a long time. When we recently had our annual complimentary dinner to honour the jubilarians, I was quite surprised and delighted to notice how many long-time employees we have in the company.

The location portrait in this issue pre-sents Vollers Belgium in Antwerp. It is a great city, where I also lived for a while, some years ago. Still a very specially moment to me and also to the whole

Vollers Group was the inauguration of the bulk cocoa warehouse ‘Oosterweel 1000’ two years ago. The realisation of this project, from the idea to the official inauguration of the warehouse, was a top performance.

For the coming year I would like to expe-rience more such moments. So, let us all continue shaping the future of Vollers. I thank you for your commitment and wish you and your families a wonderful Advent season, a merry Christmas and a happy and successful year 2017!

Seven question to ... Lüder Vollers

The Interview | In this issue Lüder Vollers is answering the questions of the editors. He joined his father’s company in 1962 and has a lot to tell. VOCUS: What do you consider the most important changes in the logis-tics industry?

Lüder Vollers: I think that the devel-opment from the ‚normal‘ vessels to the container vessels has changed the whole industry, in particular with re-gard to the demand for labour.

VOCUS: Vollers is a logistics specialist for 14 different commodities. Is there a special relation to any of these com-modities?

Lüder Vollers: I have been in contact with coffee and the corresponding in-dustry all my life. So of course I have been influenced by that. But during the past years, cocoa beans and tea have also become ‘my’ commodities. On the other hand, I am a trained cot-ton warehouse inspector, in German called ‘Küper’. Therefore, there is also a relation to cotton. Unfortunately, the handling of cotton has considerably decreased so that I am not that much in contact with cotton any more. VOCUS: If you had not taken over your father’s company, what other profes-sion would you have chosen?

Lüder Vollers: When I was young, par-ents used to have certain ideas with regard to the education of their chil-dren. As a child, you were not asked what you prefer. There was also no career counselling or similar so that you could identify your skills and preferences. Therefore, I started with something obvious, an apprenticeship as a warehouse inspector. When I was a little boy, I also wanted to become an engine driver or chocolate manufac-turer. But I am not that far away from chocolate production now.

VOCUS: Could you complete this sen-tence: My work makes me feel satis-fied if...

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Impressum RedaktionClaudia Gerber-LindtBerthold VOLLERS GmbH

Speicherhof 308 · D-28217 BremenTel.: +49 421 38 92-125 · Fax: +49 421 38 92-100E-Mail: [email protected]

Corporate Designa&o mediendesign GmbH Am Deich 86 · 28199 Bremen www.aundo.de

UmsetzungDesignerin: Monica Barshy

Newsletter of the VOLLERS-Group

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Lüder Vollers: …something is moving and new tasks are to be done.

VOCUS: What drives you mad?

Lüder Vollers: If somebody repeatedly makes the same stupid mistakes.

VOCUS: You have been doing equestri-an sports for many years. How would you describe the fascination?

Lüder Vollers: I already did horse riding when I was a child and it was always real fun. At that time, I could of course not have my own horse. Only years later, when we bought a horse for our daughter, I also got my first own horse. It is great to work together with the horse. That was always a big challenge for me. When I participated in compe-titions, I was always very nervous. You have to concentrate and perform in or-der to fulfil the tasks, both, the rider and the horse.

VOCU(s) on people | The compliance project, that started some time ago, is going to be continued. In the last is-sue, the topic was bribery. This time, the importance of rules is going to be explained. Why are rules so impor-tant? How do you increase people’s awareness of playing by the rules? Some simple examples explain that.

Imagine the following situation: You are in the supermarket, together with your son or your daughter. You pay and are on your way to the car. Then you notice that your child has nicked some sweets. You reprimand your child, ex-plaining that one must not take things without paying. A rule that is valid for everybody since a social coexistence is not possible without rules.

To play by the rules means to create equal conditions for everybody. Who-ever does not stand to the rules, ob-

Play by the rules

Lüder Vollers

VOCUS: Christmas is almost here. For most Germans, Christmas is the most important feast of the year. How im-portant is Christmas to you?

tains an advantage. That is not only un-fair but leads to dispute and tension. If you cheat, for example, when playing Ludo, your fellow players will definitely be angry.

The no-smoking rule on the Vollers premises is also a rule. What is the background of this rule? On the one hand, it is an IFS-regulation. On the other hand, the insurance insists on it. What could happen, if somebody ignored the no-smoking rule and smoked in the warehouse? In the worst case, there would be a fire, peo-ple would get injured, the warehouse would burn down and the goods in it would be damaged or destroyed. As a consequence, the insurance would not pay for the damage and the cus-tomer would ask for compensation. Thus, a simple breach of rules causes a huge damage, also for the person who smoked in the warehouse and caused

this damage. He or she would have to look for a new job.

Apart from internal rules, there are laws. These are rules are established by the legislator. If an employee, for example, steals goods from the ware-house, he or she does not only break rules but also laws. This can also cause considerable damages. It is not only the value of the goods. The customer, the management and also the colleagues lose confidence. One thing is certain: Breaking rules means to act against other people by obtaining an advan-tage which is detrimental to the whole society. A quote of the North-German author and journalist Manfred Haus-mann puts it in a nutshell: “Democracy means to play by the rules even if no referee is watching.”

Lüder Vollers: At the time when our children were little, Christmas was of course very important. Nowadays, Christmas does not evoke such a strong feeling in me. But it is of course still nice when it is nice.

VOCUS: A last question: What are your wishes for the coming year?

Lüder Vollers: Since its first issue, the VOCU(s) has developed further. I also would like to see this development in other areas within the company. And for me personally: I hope for good health!

Location portrait | Left and right bankA deep-water port that is nearly 80 kilometres from the sea, is quite un-usual. In Antwerp more than 14,400 vessels arrived in 2015. This is possi-ble because of the constant depth of 13 metres. The vessels, coming from the North Sea, go up the Scheldt, al-most into town. Depending on the tidal range, even vessels drawing 17 metres of water, can reach the port terminals.

In the 12th century, the first ships ar-rived in Antwerp, bringing wine, wool and fine fabrics. Napoleon had the first dock built in 1811. Originally, the right banks of the Scheldt were de-veloped. During the 1960s, docks and warehouses were built also on the left bank of the Scheldt. The Vollers location has been on the right banks since 1995, when it was founded. There are approximately 60,000 peo-ple working in the port of Antwerp and nearly 900 companies are locat-ed there. In the Port of Antwerp, the CEPA (Centrale der Werkgevers aan de Haven van Antwerpen) fixes the wages and conditions for the dock workers.

The storage space of Vollers Belgium N.V. has increased up to 140,000 squaremetres since 1995. The termi-nal Christa has got five and Ooster-weel six warehouses. A highlight in the history of Vollers Belgium was the inauguration of the state-of-the-art warehouse for bulk cocoa ‘Oosterweel 1000’. The direct access to the quay is a big advantage since the cocoa beans can be trans-ported directly from the vessel into the warehouse. Many processes like sampling or weighing are done au-tomatically. Furthermore, the cocoa beans are safely stored there. A so-called ‘Hotspot Detection System‘ identifies these hot spots in the co-

coa, long before they can ignite. Ad-ditionally, the dust that is produced during discharge is removed by a suc-tion device in order to avoid contam-inations and dust explosions.

Apart from ‘Oosterweel 1000‘ Vollers in Antwerp has also got a cleaning device for cocoa beans. Any metal-part or cocoa shells are removed from the cocoa beans by sieves or magnetic devices before distribution. In a laboratory, the employees can analyse the commodities for quality control purposes.

But the colleagues in Antwerp are not only responsible for cocoa and coffee. They also do handling, stor-age and transport of general cargo which is constantly increasing. For this purpose the sales team of Peter Roose has been extended. A special focus is on the Chinese market.

Cocoa logistics on the banks of the Scheldt

Cascades in the storage boxes reduce breakage of beans

Loading of cocoa in ‘Oosterweel 1000


Facts & Figures

Employees:

Warehouse workers: 24 Commercial employees: 35 CEPA dockworkers:on average 28

Nationalities: Belgian DutchPolishChinese Turkish Moroccan Ghanaian

Storage of bags Storage boxes for cocoa

State-of-the-art cocoa logistics in ‘Oosterweel 1000‘

Organisational chart: Antwerp

Commodities in Antwerp: in % Cocoa

Coffee

General Cargo

General ManagerPaul Demeyere

Manager Forwarding, Customs, Transport, It, Security & operations

Anne Pauwels

HR / Credit ControlVanessa Dybowski

Management AssistantSabine Backx

Safety & Prevention Philippe Minart

Commercial ManagerPeter Roose

Quality & Project ManagerFilip Laureys

Financial ManagerRudi Crauwels

Operations & Technical ManagerMarijn Verhelst

Noël:Where does the word ‚Noël‘, French for Christmas, come from? It is derived from the French ‚les bonnes nouvelles‘, that is translated to ‚the good news‘.

Rudolph the reindeer: Many people all over the world know Rudolph, the red-nose reindeer. Originally, a US company in 1938 invented the figure for an advertising campaign for Christmas.


The employeesThe sales colleague David Pincket speaks about his first contact with Vollers Belgium, “A friend asked me whether I would like to work in the port of Antwerp. I had not been interested in this before but I thought that I might give it a try. So I started working in the warehouse. The colleagues there real-ly put heart and soul into their work. It was really fun and I learned a lot. But I wanted to learn more and I changed to the commercial department. For a few weeks I have become part of the sales team, mainly responsible for general cargo.“ And what does he particularly like about Vollers? “It is really great to work in a family- run business. De-cision are made faster and you as an

Spend your time in AntwerpWhat do people think of first when talk-ing about Antwerp? Most probably dia-monds. About 80 percent of the uncut diamonds traded world-wide go via Ant-werp. Often the deal is even closed by handshake. When strolling through the diamond quarter in Antwerp, you might be lucky and discover a small gem in the street. The diamonds are delivered in envelopes and carried in the trouser pocket. So they might drop once in a while.

But there are of course other interesting sights to explore:

Port of Antwerp building: When de-signing the building of the Port of Ant-werp administration, a diamond also played a role. The former fire station was restored and connected with a new, ultra-modern glass construction. This is shaped like the hull of a ship or a dia-mond, depending from what angle you look at it. This is supposed to symbolise the connection between the past and the future. The building was designed by the famous architect’s office Zaha Hadid Architects.

MAS Museum Aan de Stroom: Every visitor to the ‘MAS’, the muse-um directly at the Scheldt, can experi-ence Antwerp with all the senses. The motto of the museum is ‘Antwerp in the world and the world in Antwerp’. Visitors can look at 470,000 constantly changing displays, which they can also touch and try out. For Chocoholics: Belgian chocolate is among the best and most famous ones in the world. The chocolate museum is a ‘must’ for chocoholics. Visitors can also book a chocolate tour including

employee can influence and improve the processes.“A certain share of the dock workers are from the CEPA. One of these colleagues, Danny Volkaert, has been with Vollers Belgium for two years. He really likes be-

ing part of the supply chain of cocoa. As he puts it, “I am part of the supply chain of cocoa and in the end of the produc-tion of chocolate. That is fascinating.”

And what about Christmas at Vollers Belgium? The colleagues have always had a Christmas tree in the office. But during the weeks before Christmas, oth-er things also change. Anne Pauwels, Logistics Manager, explains, “When days become shorter and colder, more and more personal items appear on the desks. The whole atmosphere tends to be cosier. The Christmas cards for ex-ample: we do not just pile them up but we display them nicely so that every-body can look at them.”

chocolate tasting. If you do not have enough time for a tour, you can also go to one of the numerous chocolate shops and take your sweet piece of Antwerp back home. Big and small animals: In the middle of Antwerp, a stone’s throw from the main station, there is the Antwerp Zoo. It was already founded in 1843. Enthusiasts of the ‘Belle Epoque’ may get free admission to the zoo, on con-dition that they are dressed in the style of the ‘Belle Epoque’ on the Bel-gian National Holiday.

Bigger sales team: (from left) Valérie Helderweirt, Peter Roose,

David Pincket and Lin Zheng

Port of Antwerp building (Photo: Port of Antwerp)

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Commodity Facts | There is a smell of cinnamon, star anise and carda-mom in the house. The first Christmas biscuits are in the oven and Christmas is almost here. This is the time for the typical spices. But these spices to do not only taste good but they also can have healing effects. Ginger bread belongs to the traditional Christmas biscuits in many countries. In Germany it is also called ‘Pfefferkuchen’, although ‘Pfeffer’, in English pepper, is no longer an ingredient in German gin-ger bread. Pepper used to be, like many spices, a valuable commodity and was worth its weight in gold. The merchants who had become rich by trading spices were therefore also called ‘Pfeffersäcke‘, money bags in English.In Germany, Nuremberg boasts of being the capital of spices. Thanks to its loca-tion at the traditional trade routes, the city was already a commercial hub for spices from Asia in the medieval times. Reports say that the wagons carrying the spices often got stuck in Nuremberg

during the winter months. Therefore, the citizens came into contact with exot-ic and precious spices. The spices were mixed with flour, baked and the first gin-ger bread was born. One of the most popular spices used in biscuits and cakes for Christmas is cinna-mon. But people do not only use cinna-mon for baking but the cinnamon sticks are often part of Advent and Christmas decoration. The cinnamon sticks are the dried bark of the cinnamon plant. The essential oils contain more than 100 different chemical substances. The characteristic scent originates from the eugenol and the cumarin. The latter has come under fire because it is suspect-ed of increasing the risk of liver cancer. Therefore, people should not eat that much of it. Especially the Chinese or Vi-etnamese cassia contains high levels of cumarin wheras Ceylon cinnamon con-tains far less.Cardamom is part of many ginger bread recipes but is also used in oriental dish-es as well as for traditional Turkish cof-

fee. The main essential oil in cardamom is the cineol. It has antibacterial and ex-pectorant properties and is therefore a good choice in case of a cold. After an opulent meal at Christmas, cardamom also has positive effects on digestion and against nausea.If you have ever suffered from a tooth-ache, you may know the calming effect of cloves. The responsible essential oil is eugenol which soothes pain and is anti-convulsant But cloves are also a popular ingredient in ‘Glühwein’ (mulled wine). For Christmas and New Year’s Eve, peo-ple in the Northern part of Germany like to bake the so-called ‘Neujahrskuchen’. These are rolled, crispy biscuits that can be filled with cream. They intensely taste of anise, also a typical Christmas spice. Although anise and star anise taste similar. They belong to a different botanical family. Nevertheless, both contain the essential oil anethole which has positive effects on the gastrointes-tinal system. Star anise makes a great decoration on an Advent wreath where it spreads a sweet but spicy smell.Spices do not only season Christmas cakes and biscuits but many of them can promote health, at least when con-sumed in moderation. Some of them are even said to have outstanding ef-fects on health. One of them is turmeric. Turmeric, as part of the ginger fami-ly, grows in Southeast Asia. It contains curcumin, often used as a dye. Several studies indicate that turmeric might be efficient against cancer, Alzheimer’s and depressions. Furthermore, a study re-cently published in the British BBC, also indicates that the positive effect can only be achieved by food seasoned with turmeric. A corresponding nutrition-al supplement is not likely to have the same effect. Further studies need to be done on this issue. But it might not be a bad idea to have an Indian curry dish, seasoned with plenty of turmeric, as a Christmas dinner.

The taste of Christmas

Turmeric


News | Vollers available for down-load: Vollers has developed a special service for the coffee customers and people in the coffee industry: the Cof-fee Converter App. The app calculates coffee weight units of Arabica and Ro-busta into all major coffee currencies and weight units. As a special feature, it also shows the current price ex-pressed as differential versus the cur-rent exchange. The free app can be downloaded on the App Store or on Google Play. Even people who are not in the coffee trade may use the app as a simple currency converter.

ADSp 2017 – new version as of 1st January 2017: At the beginning of the year, the negotiations between the DSLV (Federal Association of German Freight Forwarder and Logistics Opera-tors) and various industry associations regarding the ADSP (German Freight Forwarders’ Standard Terms and Con-ditions) ended without result. Now they have come to an agreement and agreed on the new ADSp 2017. As of

1st January 2017 these ADSp 2017 will form the basis of Vollers contracts. The amendments compared with the ADSp 2016 are mainly a further adjustment of the liability limitations in favour of the principals.

Give hope – Registration as a donor: Every 15 minutes, somebody in Ger-many is diagnosed with blood cancer. Finding a compatible donor of bone marrow is the chance for many to

THE NEW VOLLERS APP!

XMas:

Even in Germany, people often do not speak of

Christmas but Xmas. Contrary to a common

opinion, the word XMas is not a secularisation

of Christmas but quite the opposite. The ‚X‘ is the

Greek letter ‚chi‘ which is an abbreviation for

Christ.

be cured. At Vollers in Hamburg, 17 colleagues wanted to set an example and agreed to register as a donor at the DKMS (‚Deutsche Knochenmark Spenderdatei‘). This is a non-prof-it organisation registering possible stem cell or bone marrow donors world-wide. The registration is quite simple: just swab, return the swab to the DKMS and complete a question-naire. The costs of the registration were born by Vollers Hamburg.

Swabbing against blood cancer: (from left) Julija Tolstyh, Christopher Klüß, Oksana Zlygosteva,

Alexander Vogel, Dorien Warring

AEO Certificate: The AEO certificate shows companies as ‘Authorised Eco-nomic Operators’ and is supposed to provide safety for all parts of the sup-

ply chain. In Bremen, the customs au-thorities have just audited Vollers and the status ‘AEO’ has been confirmed.

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Look at the process | Fire preven-tion means to save lives. In Germany, more than 700 people die from the consequences of a fire every year. The cause of death is not the direct impact of the fire and the heat but smoke poisoning. Therefore, the correct be-

haviour in case fo fire, particularly at Christmas, is essential. One of the fire protection officers at Vollers in Bre-men, Oliver Tkotsch, explains how to act correctly in case of fire.

Press the fire alarm button and call the emergency number. The following five questions should be answered:

Where is the fire?

What is burning?

How much is burning?

What kind of dangers are there?

Wait for queries!

Every second counts

Keep calm and take endangered peo-ple with you.

Close all doors and overhead doors.

Do not use the lift.

Follow the marked emergency escape routes.

Gather in groups per department

Report missing persons

Preventing a fire is, however, much better than any attempt to extinguish it. This means, particularly at Christ-mas: never leave a candle unattended and keep a bucket of water or sand on hand, for cases of emergency.

Set off the fire alarm: Get into safety: Go to the assembley point:

If you cannot escape:

Try to extinguish the fire by using a fire extinguisher or wall-mounted fire hose.

Close all doors and overhead doors.

Seal all door cracks and keyholes.

Give a signal at the window.

If you have to pass through rooms filled with smoke, stoop over with a damp cloth in front of your mouth and nose.


Dates & Events | International Coffee Day on 1st October: During the last years, the ‚Coffee Day‘ was celebrated in Germany at the beginning of Sep-tember. This year, 78 countries agreed to join, interestingly all EU-member countries. On 1st October, coffee as a popular drink was celebrated all over Europe. Maurizio Zugna in front of

‚Vollers pillar‘

Triestespresso Open Lunch: Visitors of the Triestespresso got the chance to enjoy the ‚Open Lunch‘, organised by Vollers Italy. The location was quite special: an old warehouse floor. The decoration, however, was modern and in accordance with the Vollers corpo-rate design.

Jubilees in warehouse number 3: Every year, Vollers in Bremen or-ganises a lunch for the employees who celebrate their jubilee or have retired. Traditionally, all other col-leagues may join. This year, the lunch took place in a specially separated area in the warehouse number 3.

Congratulations

40 years in the compa-ny: Christian Vollers (left) and Lüder Vollers (right)with the jubilarians Roelf Nap, Horst Fahrenhold and Margarete Knoop

25 years in the company: from left: Andreas Robbers, Heiko Henke, Torsten Rammin-ger, Thomas Meyer, Christian Vollers, Marc Hesse, Jens Bienert, Marcus Heinemann, Manuela Stromberg, Jan-Gerwin Schomburg, André Reif, Petra Friebe, Lüder Vollers

Retired: Christian Vollers (left) and Lüder Vollers (right) with Georg Sowietz-ki, Rolf Hanning, Michael Schenk and Irmtraut Harling

JubileeSeptember to December:Bremen: Horst Fahrenhold – 40 years Hamburg:Ulrich Meinke – 25 years (port)Falko Engel – 10 years

New employees Bremen:Przemyslaw Winnicki, truck driverFabio Meyer, truck driverPeter Subkowiak, truck driver

Retired: Manuela Bauschke, Vollers Hamburg

Join the quizQuestion Antwerp:

What is the purpose of the ‚Hotspot Detection System‘ in the bulk cocoa warehouse ‘Oosterweel 1000‘?

Send your answer to claudia.gerber-lindt@@vollers.com un-til 15th January. The winner will be drawn by lot among the correct answers. The prize is an Antwerp hamper. The editors are looking forward to many replies from all Vollers locations.

Winner of the Riga quiz:‚Kur atrodas Vollers nolik-tava‘ – that was the cor-rect answer to the ques-tion ‚Where is the Vollers warehouse‘. The lucky win-ner of the quiz is Wouter van Lienen from Vollers in Amsterdam. He received the Riga surprise parcel.

In a box In Britain, the 26th December is called ‘Boxing Day‘. Where does this expression come from? Company bosses used to give small presents to their employees on that day. These were packed in a small box.

Precious gifts: The Three Wise Men brought precious gifts to the new-born Jesus: gold, frankincense and myrrh. Gold had already been used as a remedy for long and is still an officially appro-ved medicine even today. Frankincense and myrrh are botanically related. Myrrh promo-tes healing of wounds and frankincense has a positive effect on inflammations. Per year, nearly ten thousands of tons are burnt in German churches. The largest share of frankin-cense is harvested in Oman and Ethiopia.

Rooster in the church: At Christmas, people in Bolivia celebrate the ‘Misa del Gallo’, the mass of the rooster. This tradition goes back to the assumption that the rooster was the first animal to announce the birth of Jesus. People even bring roosters to the mass at midnight on Christmas Eve.

Crackers at Christmas: Christmas crackers are part of many celebrations in Britain at Christmas. These crackers consist of cardboard tubes, wrapped in colourful paper. They are pulled by two people, thus causing a slight crack. Normally, the crackers contain a paper crown that is worn during the Christmas celebration.


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