Two 100 m3 stainless steel water tanks for Van Lieshout Snackwaren
Van Lieshout Snackwaren – part of Van Geloven – is the Netherlands’ frikandel specialist and supplies frikandellen, hamburgers and minced meat products to the professional market. In order to expand its production capacity in Helmond, two new stainless steel water tanks were needed.
Nico Castelijn, Group Manager Engineering & Maintenance at Van Geloven: ‘The addition of two new production lines resulted in production grinding to a halt at peak times due to the heating and supply of water. To remedy this, two new 100 m3 water tanks were required. That’s where Gpi came in. We’ve always done business with Gpi over the years and the quality is unwaveringly high. Which is why we once again approached Gpi for this assignment’.
About the assignment
The assignment comprises the design and production of two 100 m3 stainless steel water tanks: 1 cold water tank as a buffer for production water and 1 tank for hot water for cleaning during production and filling water baths in which the frikandellen and other meat products are cooked prior to being frozen.
Nico Castelijn: ‘We stated our wishes. The engineering team set to work on fleshing these out into a concrete concept, including by calculating the steam injection for the hot tank. The engineering team provided support and advice to ensure the best outcome. The process went extremely smoothly’.
The entire logistical operation encompassing transport and installation was taken over and fully coordinated by Gpi. Nico Castelijn: ‘The tanks were made in Lopik, from where they were transported to the Helmond site by lorry. Gpi installed them the same day. Everything went seamlessly and on schedule’.
The result
The arrival of the two tanks has maximised the degree of flexibility in the production process. Different teams are able to clean simultaneously at peak times during production without the production process grinding to a halt due to undersupply of water. Nico Castelijn: ‘We’re now operating with 3 teams and in future we’d like to scale this up to 5 teams plus production during weekends. The arrival of the new tanks makes this expansion possible due to the preconditions like hot and cold water being in place’.
The collaboration
Nico Castelijn says of the collaboration: ‘I started out by getting in touch with my contact at Gpi directly, who referred me on to the right people in sales and engineering. Everything was dealt with competently, from the quote to the assignment and signing. The project engineer involved was customer-focused, motivated and affable. Gpi is a reliable partner that you can always trust to provide high-quality tanks. A promise is a promise’.
