Knapen Trailers Partners with Holland Innovative to Drive Next Phase of Growth

"If we want to remain the European market leader in moving floor trailers, we must continue to innovate."

Founded by Piet Knapen in 1984, Knapen Trailers quickly established itself as the European market leader in moving floor trailers. The company has introduced numerous groundbreaking innovations, such as the renowned self-supporting structure, Europe’s first moving floor trailer with side doors, and the EXTREME for heavy waste and scrap. Knapen’s welding robots, powered entirely by the factory’s own solar park, operate energy-neutrally. Additionally, the handling robots, moving molds, and all other automated processes used in trailer manufacturing are of the latest kind, ensuring the highest quality.

In short, we’re talking about a successful company that can confidently celebrate its 40th anniversary in June 2024, with over 220 employees. However, according to CEO Ton de Haan, there’s no reason to rest on their laurels. "If we want to remain the European market leader in moving floor trailers, we must continue to innovate."

It was precisely for this reason that De Haan, together with his quality manager Joey van Lieshout, approached Holland Innovative to instill their expertise in project management and lean product innovation into their employees. “To create a culture of improvement within your company, you need to provide your people with the necessary tools. And we’ve succeeded in doing that thanks to the input from Holland Innovative.”

Academy

This input came from Hein Timmermans and Joost Brand, the former specializing in Lean, the latter in Six Sigma. “Our training sessions can be held both at our academy on the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven and on-site. The advantage of the academy is that as a visitor, you can also gain insights from peers and help each other progress. But on-site training, like we did at Knapen Trailers, has the advantage of incorporating all the unique elements of that specific company within their own safe environment, involving the entire organization.”

This latter approach was emphatically implemented at Knapen. Joey van Lieshout, who helped shape the program, notes that the entire company is still enthusiastic about it, even though the training itself was some time ago. “It really made a significant impact here. People often underestimate the importance of this kind of knowledge and skills. And yes, sometimes our people had to really push themselves to grasp it all. Lean was manageable, but Six Sigma was quite challenging for them. Fortunately, Ton was able to motivate them during those tough moments.” This was also a welcome realization for HI’s Brand and Timmermans: “Knapen is fortunate to have a CEO who understands what is needed for continuous improvement, both substantively and mentally. His enthusiasm in leading the team greatly assisted us.”

From Thinking to Doing

For De Haan, it’s only logical. “If you want to convince your people of the necessity of a certain change, you must also act accordingly. That’s the only way to help your people further develop, which is essential for us as a company.” Taking the step from thinking to doing is crucial, he says. “Don’t dwell too long on the problems you encounter at work, but make the leap to solutions. Mastery of Lean and Six Sigma helps our organization achieve this. We don’t aim for as many green belts or black belts per department as possible, like you see in other large companies. I don’t do projects just for the sake of projects. We do it to equip people with tools to help us and themselves, not as an end in itself.”

This went better at some times than at others. “We are an emotional company with people who speak their minds. But they all understand that we thrive on short-cycle management: what we did yesterday, learn today, and do better tomorrow. Continuous improvement. Vision is essential. Our people need to breathe that vision, it has to flow through their veins. And I realize that can be quite challenging at times. Not everyone is always equally convinced of the necessity. You saw that in HI’s training sessions as well: three-quarters of the people were highly motivated, but there are always those for whom it’s less obvious. At those moments, it’s important that I show confidence in them. Like a conductor who is enthusiastic about his orchestra.”

Match

This was also a solid foundation for Timmermans and Brand. “If you want to get the whole organization on board, you inevitably deal with different types of people, each with their own motivations and responsibilities within the company. With our experience, we can handle all these groups well. Ultimately, we always manage to match the participant with the training material. We could constantly adapt, and in doing so, we were able to find the right spirit within each group.”

In short, we’re talking about a successful company that can confidently celebrate its 40th anniversary in June 2024, with over 220 employees. However, according to CEO Ton de Haan, there’s no reason to rest on their laurels. "If we want to remain the European market leader in moving floor trailers, we must continue to innovate."

For more information about our training sessions, please find details here or contact one of our training advisors.

*Original article written by Bart Brouwers and published by Innovation Origins, on May 10, 2024.