Customer Case BBB Cycling
Warehousing for BBB Cycling
Since March of this year, Pon Logistics has been providing warehousing services for BBB Cycling from the warehouse in Leusden. Although the collaboration has only been running for a short while and everything still needs to be properly organized, both parties are satisfied so far. We spoke with Financial Director Robin van Soest and CEO Folkert Lamsveld of BBB Cycling.
“Folkert: Our logistics services have been a competitive advantage for years. We were better than our competitors. We were praised for it, but we noticed that others were making progress. For example, you could order from them until seven o’clock, while with us, it was only until three. We also gained new customer groups, each with their own requirements. It became increasingly complicated to organize everything properly. We were then faced with a choice: do we do it ourselves, or do we partner with a company specialized in this? Robin adds: “In addition, the question arose: do we want to invest in expanding the warehouse, or do we want to invest in marketing and product development and outsource the logistics process? It became the latter, but that was a very difficult decision because it meant we had to say goodbye to our warehouse team.”
Difficult choice
Folkert explains: “As BBB, we always want to protect our people, but at the same time, we want to look to the future. With this choice, we opted for something positive for the company but something negative for the people. That had a significant impact. Some people had been with us for more than 20 years, which is tough. We chose the future of the company, but as a result, we had to say goodbye to people who are very dear to us. One of the decisive factors in choosing Pon Logistics was that we could keep our people within the club by offering them a position within Pon Logistics. That human aspect was very important.”
Good match
BBB Cycling began discussions with several external parties at the end of 2020. Robin says: “We established selection criteria for what the service provider had to be capable of. We also compared that with what we were already doing ourselves. Some things we were already very good at, and of course, we didn’t want to regress. We had certain requirements that the service provider had to meet at a minimum, along with a financial goal. Pon Logistics ultimately emerged as the best choice, partly because they specialize in small parts. The human aspect, that our people could be relocated, was of course very important. There were also many other advantages. Pon Logistics is not just any company, but a true specialist in logistics services.”
That our people could be relocated to Pon Logistics was also very important.
Financial Director Robin van Soest and CEO Folkert Lamsveld
On the collaboration between BBB Cycling and Pon Logistics
Flying start
The collaboration started in March 2022. “We had agreed to start slowly,” says Folkert, “but that weekend the sun was shining brightly. Those are peak days for us. So, we had to immediately start full throttle. We started with a backlog, but that was quickly resolved.” Marcel van Omme from Pon Logistics says: “On day one, it was already clear that the processes as we had planned them were not working. So, they were adjusted every day until they ran smoothly.” BBB Cycling is very satisfied with this approach. Folkert says: “We experienced the problem-solving ability of identifying something that isn’t working and immediately going back to the drawing board as very positive. We’re not there yet; the real busy times are yet to come, but for now, we’re positive.”
Fine-tuning
Marcel is reasonably satisfied himself. “In terms of productivity and quality, we’re reasonably satisfied, but we can still make improvements in terms of efficiency. Planning the cycle needs to be tightened. It’s seriously a lot, so it’s really hard work. Fortunately, the team is very flexible, so we’ll figure it out as we go.” The busyness and major peaks will continue, says Robin. “We don’t know how the day will go in the morning. Our business is highly dependent on the weather. If it’s nice weather in the morning, you know it’s going to be busy. So, flexibility is very important. BBB sold 7,000,000 products last year. We have 3500 products in the warehouse, I understand that it was overwhelming for Pon Logistics at the beginning.”
Next day delivery
Marcel believes that this collaboration has been successful due to intensive cooperation. “Robin and our team have worked so closely together, which is not always the case. BBB Cycling has done everything to make this go smoothly.” The IT team has also been very important, adds Robin. “There has been a very large team involved, and they have done a superb job!” All parties have high expectations for the future. Folkert says: “The collaboration is good and pleasant, but the result is what counts, of course. Next day delivery is our key performance indicator. Our goal is to have all items delivered to the customer on time. In a good box and of good quality. It’s that simple.”
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About BBB Cycling BBB
Cycling was founded in 1998 by the two passionate former professional cyclists Chris Koppert and Frank Moons. Shortly after they left their professional cycling careers behind in the 1990s. As former professional cyclists, they understood exactly what cyclists needed. This enabled them to develop high-quality cycling products. The ambition of these two gentlemen has since grown into a brand with over 1500 unique products sold in more than 40 different countries worldwide.
