English - Nooteboom Giants on the Road Magazine English - Nr. 4 - 2017 | Page 21
COMPANY PORTRAIT
Wind park Aßlar
able to apply for our exemptions digitally too. Th is works perfectly
well in Germany. Th ere it is possible to follow the procedure around
the application and – if needed – you can react or negotiate. Th e costs
of exemptions diff er greatly per country in Europe and in Poland it is
quite expensive compared with other countries. Applying for exemp-
tions is part of our job and we are not put off by complicated regula-
tions. We have already carried out several large projects in Italy where
the procedure for applying for an exemption is defi nitely not simple.’
Near the German town of
Aßlar, 6 new windmills are
being built. Th e six windmills
together have a capacity of
nearly 20 MW. Because the
windmills are located in the
middle of a nature reserve,
the construction is carried
out observing all kinds
of measures to keep the
environmental impact to a
minimum. To use a Liebherr
630 EC-70 H tower crane
for building the windmills
was an important decision.
With this crane fewer heavy
transports through the woods
and through the surrounding
villages were needed. Clever
use of the existing roads
through the woods means
there is as little damage as
possible. Th ere is one small
disadvantage: on their route
through the woods the tower
sections have to negotiate
a short but steep descent,
followed by a short, steep hill.
To help them a strong Titan
6x6 tractor will be at the ready
at all times.
WHOLE LOGISTIC CHAIN
‘We do as much as we can ourselves and with our own equipment.
Th is not only includes carrying out the transports but we also prefer
to deal ourselves with packing, sea freight and transshipment in
ports. If there should be a problem anywhere we will solve it that day
because experience has taught us that – if you leave it – the problem
will be twice as big the next day. Every additional link in the logistics
chain can cause delay and that’s something we don’t want. We collect
many of our transports straight from the manufacturer, without the
services of a forwarder. We are not against all forms of cooperation
but are of the opinion that we can deliver the highest quality if we look
aft er everything ourselves.’
SUCCESSION
‘We are a proper family-run business. My two daughters and son-in-
law work in the company and I hope that my son, who is 14 now, will
follow their example. For the time being I will remain in charge of the
business but I do liste n to the younger generation, because they oft en
come up with new, fresh ideas.’
Nooteboom is noted for their
low maintenance costs
FACILITIES ABROAD
‘We oft en work in Germany and our German facility in Hamburg is
extremely useful for communicating with German customers and for
escorting the transports. We already have many combinations that are
registered in Germany. We are planning to extend the number of facil-
ities, not only in Germany but also in other countries. However we do
not want to grow too quickly, because that could have a negative eff ect
on the quality that we are now able to deliver.’
MULTILINGUAL
‘Most of our employees have learned English and German aft er 1989
at secondary school. Although Poland did not join the EEC until
2004, our Polish employees feel a close connection with Europe.
Nearly everyone has made an eff ort to learn at least German, but
oft en also English, in order to be able to communicate better with
our European partners. No, communicating in several languages is
no problem and if we fi nd that a driver doesn’t speak German well
enough we will off er him extra tuition.’
■
The four telescopic cranes are mostly used for loading and unloading
tower sections and rotor blades
21