HEC-Holland is looking for environmental solutions

Pallets made of wood fiber

HEC-Holland is always looking for environmental solutions and ways to reduce its carbon footprint. A few months ago, we started testing wood fiber pallets in our warehouse in Tilburg. These pallets are seen as a possible environmental friendly substitute to the normal wooden pallets.

These pallets have both environmental- and logistical advantages. The first advantage is in the material of the pallet. By compressing the wooden fibers into the desired dimension, we can load our containers more efficiently and leave less space “un-used”. Additionally, this material is made from wasted wood, This means that our pallets are made of 100% recycled material and can be recycled again when they are at the end of their lifespan.

Next to the material, the form of the pallets makes it possible to stack the pallets. By stacking these pallets we need 70% less room, compared to the standard wooden pallets. This means that the transportation of the pallets is more efficient, which means less carbon emission since we are doing less transportation. Besides transportation, it also leads to less space needed in our warehouses.

Finally, our pallets are safer for our staff, our client’s staff and the products. In these pallets, no nails or sharp edges will be found, which traditional pallets might have. These could damage the product

Conclusion

So, when looking at the previous points we were convinced we should further investigate in the possibility of using the pallets. They are not just used for our light weighted products, but are also used for the more heavy loads. We are monitoring this testing process and are convinced that these pallets could replace the standard wooden pallets for some of our products. Next to this project, we are always looking into innovations and developments which can help us to be more aware of the environment. If you are familiar with environmental solutions, you can always get in contact with us.

 

Is there hope for better price-settings in the cable industry?

As everyone in the cable industry might know, the C2 price has been showing an upward trend for about 1.5 years. This trend has continued during the first months of 2022. However, we see some stabilization but aren’t sure this will stay. The summertime is ahead but due to global market situation on crude oil and gas it would be a rough guess what the price of C2 will do. It is likely that it will increase within this or next month.

Material pricing

Polyolefins

The C2 price has, of course, a direct impact on our polyolefin prices. These prices have been rising every month in the last 1,5 year as well. Partly due to the C2 feedstock developments but also other key factors on logistics and availability versus the increasing market demand have an effect on the development of the price settings.

Raw materials

We as HEC-Holland have a wide range of raw materials. We have different types of tapes, wires, yarns, FRP rods and so on. In 2021, the price of these materials increased the most, but this year they continued to increase every month. It is hard to predict how long this will continue to rise. Or will the stabilizing C2 price directly affect these materials?

Logistical pricing

In addition to the product price increase, the logistical/transport prices have also been rising for the last few years. Before COVID-19, at the beginning of 2020, the price for a 40 feet sea container from Shanghai to Rotterdam was about $2,000. At the peak, at the beginning of 2022, this price went over the $15,000. Hereafter, the prices went down a bit, and now it’s stabilizing for months. The sea freight price for a 40 feet container is now about $11,000.

In contrast to the stabilizing sea freight prices, road transport has increased a lot lately. The main reason is the war between Russia and Ukraine. This war resulted in high fuel prices and a shortage of available drivers. Lastly, the workload has also increased since international traffic is constantly increasing.

Conclusion

To conclude, the prices of our products and the transport prices are still rising, but there is some hope for improvement. But, no one can predict the future. We recommend that you contact your account manager to discus what possibilities HEC-Holland is able to offer you, in order to secure your (future) production requirements. Furthermore, he or she is able to update you about the latest market developments and trends. This could be helpful to keep on track and think strategically ahead.

Attendance Wire Show 2022

Wire show in Düsseldorf

From 20 to 24 June 2022, the world’s leading trade fairs in the cable industry “Wire” (International Trade Fair for Wire and Cable) will be hosted. After a couple of years of Covid-19, the fair will open their doors at the Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre to present products and services as well as innovative technologies, new machinery and equipment from their sectors. Each year this fair has been a networking hotspot for the whole wire and cable market. The last 10 years we have been a visitor to this trade fair to lay valuable connections, but this year our approach will be different.

HEC-Holland as exhibitor

For the first time since our establishment in 2010, we are proud to announce that we will host our own stand at the Wire show. This is something we always wanted and due to our growth of the last years we were finally able to accomplish this. We would like to invite to you our stand H39 in Hall 11 and we are looking forward to have a nice meeting or a small chat during the fair days. Also make sure you don’t miss out on: seeing our products on display, competing in our contest and tasting some Dutch delights.

Besides the stand we have a meeting room for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This means that we could arrange a meeting with you, if you would prefer this. Please contact one of our Account Managers or email us on our email address. More information about the Wire show and our stand can be found here!

We hope to see you there on stand H39 in Hall 11!

Introducing Rick Seijler

HEC-Holland is growing steadily and in February we were happy to welcome another new member to join us. Below you can find the greetings and introduction of Rick, our new Product Manager.

HEC-Holland new team member – Who am I?

Hi everyone, I am Rick, 25 years old and currently living in Nijmegen. I have been living in Nijmegen for five years now. Before moving, I lived in a small village south of Nijmegen called Malden. Last December, I graduated as a master of Marketing Management at Tilburg University, which ended my time as a student. Before this master program, I studied Business Administration at the University of Applied Sciences in Nijmegen.

I am an enthusiastic, driven and ambitious person who is motivated to achieve goals within a team. I believe this fits with the overall look of the company HEC-Holland, in which we work together to help our customers in the best way possible. Next to working, I love to spend time with family and friends, I like going to a restaurant, cinema or having a drink in the local pub. Furthermore, I like to play sports. My hobbies are going to the gym, playing basketball and playing golf. I used to play golf in national and international championships, in which I learned how to take sacrifices to achieve goals. This mentality is something that really defines me as a person and can help me during my time at HEC-Holland.

My role within the HEC-team

My role within HEC-Holland is ‘’Product Manager’’. I take care of both the marketing communication and our product portfolio. In these tasks I will work closely with our front office, back office and our sourcing offices. I already have some experience in marketing communication which can definitely help me starting up in this job. I just started a few months ago, and I already feel at home. My new colleagues have welcomed me very warmly and are really supportive on all my questions and challenges.

Thoughts for the future

Before I started working at HEC-Holland I was not very familiar with the cable industry. However, I am very eager to learn about the products and I want to know more about this market. Therefore, I believe I will learn fast and will make sure to be able to answer in-depth questions on our products as soon as possible. I am looking forward to all the challenges coming in the future and to get in touch with all our stakeholders!

If any questions arise, please get in contact with our team!

You can also find more information about Rick on his LinkedIn page.

Our new office at Velperweg

Movement to Velperweg

After eight years working in our old office at the Eusebiusbuitensingel 3, we have moved to a new location in Arnhem, at the Velperweg 82. HEC-Holland has grown rapidly in these past eight years. At the previous location there was no more space for all of us to work, which is why this is the perfect moment for us to move to a brand new and modern office. After a lot of (re)building activities and preparations the last few weeks, we have moved on the 29th of April and started working in our new “home” on the 2nd of May.

Our new office

Our new office is designed by an interior designer and will have a modern look and feel. There are two state of the art meeting rooms, with the highest of standard in technology. Furthermore, HEC-Holland has invested in every way possible to improve the working environment of its employees and to stimulate their health. This for example by using high quality office chairs and electronic adjustable desks, to be able to stand during their work.

This office really invites clients, supplier, partners and other relations to come to Arnhem for a meeting. It is without saying that you are welcome to visit us and have a formal or informal chat with a great cup of coffee.

    

The maximum of aluminum

Mica tapes

“Aluminum prices keep on rising, aluminum isn’t available, aluminum stocks have fallen to critical levels” just a handful of headlines out of the news from the past year. Due to a broad variety of reasons the prices of all raw materials, including aluminum keep on rising and availability is getting less. Of course, the wire and cable market is seeing the disadvantages of these developments.

Right at the start of this situation, HEC saw an opportunity instead of a threat. HEC Shanghai Office kept on building the relationship with our aluminum supplier, which has been leading to ongoing supplies for a good price. In the same time, our supplier has been looking into their supply chain. They made sure the supply chain was optimized for a solid corporation with HEC-Holland.

This collaboration, combined with the ability to slit aluminum tapes in The Netherlands (after the purchase of an aluminum cutter last year), made HEC-Holland a stable factor in the market.

Currently, HEC is still able to supplier her customer which is something we are very proud of.

In the future, we will keep collaborating with our partners to be able to deliver the best quality, for the best price in any market situation. In this way, we are sure we won’t let our customers down.

Curious about opportunities for your company? Don’t hesitate to contact your account manager

Movement from Goch to Tilburg

Tilburg Warehouse

Movement from Goch to Tilburg

HEC-Holland is still growing fast, also during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of this, we were forced to move from our small warehouse in Goch to a much larger warehouse in Tilburg. In this new warehouse we are able to place more slitting machines and we can store more products. In addition, the warehouse includes a large office space with all facilities, where we can meet our suppliers and customers. The location of our warehouse is fantastic, as it is just a few minutes from Barge Terminal Tilburg. Moreover, Tilburg has a direct train connection with central Europe and Asia. We are very happy with our new warehouse in Tilburg: the logistics hotspot of the Netherlands.

Expansion of production capacity

The growth of our company has, among others, led to the expansion of our production capacity. We have our own slitting facility since one year now, however we are close to full capacity. For this reason, we are looking for new slitting machines. One year ago, we could not imagine that we already have to look for these new machines. The slitting facility that we have now, is for slitting water blocking tapes. We are now in the process of buying a new machine that can slit aluminum tapes, so that our production department can convert locally. This process was intended for one year ago, but unfortunately we had to postpone this due to corona. Nevertheless, we are very happy that this process is coming to an end.

Expansion product assortment

Additionally to the physical expansion, we spend a lot of time on setting up our ERP system. Our product assortment is growing since our office in Shanghai is busy with building relationships with new suppliers. Our colleagues in Shanghai speak the same language and have the same culture as most of our suppliers, which make it more easy to build a valuable relationship. We hope to optimize these relationships even further in the future.