Milk efficiently to the plant during the corona crisis.

Hans Wieleman is Manager Milk Logistics at FrieslandCampina at the Central Office in Amersfoort. Every day, together with the Milk Logistics department, he makes sure that the milk goes to the production locations as efficiently as possible. But how does that work in times of the Corona crisis?

“In the course of time, we have developed various milk flows at FrieslandCampina. Here think of, for example, On the way to PlanetProof and VLOG milk. These flows must remain separated up to and including the final product. The Milk Logistics department plays an important role in this process. It is our task to organise the transport of the different milk flows in an as efficient and sustainable possible way. The planning team has worked together at a distance since the beginning of the corona crisis. This takes some getting used to. A natural way of correcting each other is more difficult now. Still, I am surprised how much we can do even at a distance with some modern tools."

“We are fully concerned with 'what-if scenarios'. What will happen if a plant has to stop production because of employees being ill? Or what will happen if drivers have to stop working? This takes really a lot of time and I truly hope we will not need these scenarios. I am deeply impressed by the work of the member dairy farmers, the colleagues in the production locations as well as the drivers in this situation. The drivers have to comply with many rules because they daily go to many places. For instance, they have to wash their hands more often, they must avoid contact with the dairy farmers and their temperature is measured at every production location. They also have to adjust themselves to the situations at production locations. Facilities are partly closed and the use of canteens and the like is often no longer possible."

Production locations run above average.

“It is difficult for the dairy farmers to be no longer allowed to have contact with the drivers. When a driver comes to collect the milk, this is a perfect moment for a chat. This is no longer allowed. To them applies: make sure that there is soap available for the drivers, thoroughly clean the door handles and, above all, stay away from the drivers. Fortunately, these rules are punctually complied with."

“The milk supply from the members is stable. At the beginning of the crisis, the hoarding behaviour had some influence on the processing in a number of production locations, but this has stabilised again. There are, however, some problems with respect to the processing of cream. As a result of the declining demand for butter and whipped cream in the catering industry, our cream network is under quite some pressure. All other production locations are running better than expected and I certainly did not foresee this at the beginning of the crisis."