Gpi supplied 58 new stainless steel tanks to E&A Scheer

E&A Scheer B.V. from Amsterdam has been in the rum trade for over two and a half centuries. The company imports and stores different types of rum in bulk from more than 20 countries all over the world. Stocks can be as high as 10 to 15 million litres. About 4.5 million litres of rum are stored in the tanks of the blending house in Amsterdam.

45 million bottles of rum

Master blenders of E&A Scheer mix specific blends to their customers’ exact wishes. Production only starts when the customer approves a sample of the blend. In this way, sales running to the equivalent of roughly 45 million bottles of rum per year find their way to customers in more than 45 countries.

Build and assemble

Gpi supplied 58 new stainless steel tanks to E&A Scheer. As alcohol vapour poses a big risk of explosion, welding and assembling on site was not an option. That’s why the vast majority of the tanks were built at Gpi and transported on lorries to Amsterdam, where Gpi placed the tanks in the storage areas via the roof.

“We needed various sizes of tanks and had the choice of several suppliers. The people at Gpi best understood what we wanted. I visited them in Lopik and saw with my own eyes that they are wellequipped and well-versed in all the possibilities of stainless steel.”

Carsten Vlierboom, managing director and master blender of E&A Scheer

Safety is paramount

Rum has a high alcohol content, so safety is a key consideration in the design of the storage and blending tanks. The stainless steel tanks at E&A Scheer – with a capacity of 15,000, 30,000 and 60,000 litres – are not that complex in themselves. But a number of these tanks are quite special in that they consist of two separate vertical compartments: a highly efficient solution to make maximum use of scarce storage space.