" In 42 age of greenhouse building , a lot has changed , but at least one thing remained the same : the Venlo greenhouse . This construction is still standing - although with quite a few upgrades - after all these eld . " With his retreat date loom on the calendar , Rob Grootscholten , COO BOM Group , is pass more and more undertaking over to the new coevals . There is always a upset in staff , what is important we do not only pass over the knowledge , but also guarantees for the fellowship . "
From contriver to operational directorRob Grootscholten is end his 42nd yr for the Bom Group . He start working there in June 1977 , after he had finished his studies in Mechanical Engineering . After various functions , Rob became commercial-grade director in 1998 . After a management bargain - out in 2001 , he became joint shareholder and since 2017 he is whole focused on the operation .
All around the church building of Naaldwijk"In the beginning , all our customers were , as a matter of speaking , located around the church of Naaldwijk . No one babble about scale enlargement . The greenhouses we built had a airfoil of between 1,500 and 7,500 m2 . If a grower had made some money , an be greenhouse was demolish or a piece of music was supply . "
CrisisRob will never forget the crisis of the 1980s . The marketplace deflated quickly as a result of gamey vim costs . " We still commence the order to ramp up 22,000 m2 in Bleiswijk . That was remarkable . " To write on costs , growers had to save zip , so Bom then also started to append screen installations , and in 1983 an in - family heating section was founded . Saving energy has had a large purpose in greenhouse gardening since then .
CASTA Greenhouse ConstructionThe calculation program CASTA Greenhouse Construction was the next step . The programme was acquire by TNO together with various companies from the sphere . Rob : " abruptly , we were able-bodied to reckon all visibility of trellis plant . That was awesome " . This program separated the wheat berry from the chaff . Insurers and financier were suddenly much well able-bodied to assess risks , and greenhouse builders did not have a kilo too much of material when starting .
StormsThat calculation of concealment systems was still in its babyhood became apparent in the showtime of 1990 . Rob can distinctly remember the storms which caused a hatful of damage . " you may develop great thing - unfold panes and increase the height of greenhouses - but in reality , it has to be installed properly . During these storms , the error in assembly were penalize . The sphere has learned a lot from this of course of action . "
turgid , orotund , largestMore change in greenhouse construction . Rob sums up : " First , there is the glass . With sop up glass and air bladder glass , you had already run out of options . The careworn glass from Eastern Europe had the great advantage that it had a high light transmittal . Growers back then already bang light . But the describe glass is very tenuous , and the dimensions could be better , which make a lot of cuss when install . "
In time , glass would make way for ( stray ) plastic panes , the thought was . " But you may see , the glass stay on , though an integral evolution with covering adopt . As of 2012 , the touchstone became indurate glass . This glass is five times hard , and can be used for larger sizes . "
Sizing also quickly develop . " The box distances and hood widths became increasingly larger . The glass breadth run from 73 atomic number 96 in the eighties to the 1.67 meter we now often see . " The glasshouse also became higher . " In the first of the eighties , the height was 2.4 m to 2.7 m. Then Peet van der Burg built a nursery with a 3.5 molarity column height . When I ensure the guy , I could empathize why . " By now , a product glasshouse with a column height of 7 meters is , specially in the lighted vegetable cultivation , somewhat normal .
Everything customized"We used to use the word ' standard ' . Well , it is barely used any more . Each project is like a custom - made case , fit for the location , the logistics , and everything else . The yield method of greenhouses also convert . We used to have certain material in farm animal , such as galvanised steel AC or APD gutters . Now , everything is seamster made for each project , because you do n’t know today which system you will deal tomorrow . "
Foreign adventuresThe greenhouse construction knowledge was in the Netherlands , as they cursorily knew afield . In the seventies and eighties , Dutch nursery builders regularly ventured abroad . For Bom , the first slip was to - of all place - New Zealand . Rob : " That was kind of exciting . We had made a calculation error in the preparation , lead in our people not having enough gutter . There they were , on the other side of the earth . The found a society close by with a bend political machine , which could supply the missing gutters . "
From 2000 onwards , alien projects became a desexualize part of the Bom group strategy . " If we had not made that step , we probably would not have survived the crisis of 2009/2010 . During this crisis period , which also bear on the export , Bom made use of the chance to develop the exportation cognition of his employees by hand training in the battleground of logistics and English and German language course .
Steel gutters , who still remembers them?Rob weigh himself lucky to be part of a caller that was at the get-go of various innovations which are exemplary of the current greenhouse . " It is in our gene . During the NTV exhibitions , people always first inspect Piet Bom - what will he have think up now ? " The arrival of the aluminum toilet in 1982 is , according to Rob , the best growth he has experienced . " What take up as a signature during the Monday morning confluence is now an essential part in greenhouse building . Aluminum can be extrude in many form . you may make a hollow visibility which create them secure in all focus . The aluminum trough was an enormous betterment with respect to overt steel toilet , which we had to treat with coating , and the cover system was bind with maulers and profiles to the gutter . "
A recent projection of the Bom Group is the ' Winter light greenhouse ' at the WUR in Bleiswijk - still with the Venlo glasshouse mental synthesis .
From living room to project managementThe spate used to be closed with the grower around the corner in the life room , perhaps while enjoying a loving cup of coffee . But the metre of ' signing on the speckled crease ' is over . " peculiarly in the Netherlands , long relations and knowing each other well encounter a role . But the cultivator has become an enterpriser . The familiar nature made way for a more businesslike glide path . As a instance , we used to go into the force field with a measuring tapeline , now we get complete specification . In outside project , this is still different , often with investors as client , who need all care taken out of their hands by means of a gross project direction . I will not deny I miss the sentiment a little bit . "
For more information : Bom GroupKulkweg 603135 XE Hoek caravan HollandNetherlandsTel : +31 174 629441www.bomgroup.nl
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