Indulec installs medium-voltage cabinets for the electrification of industry and the community. Indulec recently started sourcing the required compact and solid distribution boards from Siemens, via Breemes. Working with Siemens was a learning process for the three parties in the first project, but it immediately yielded a “very nice” result. “The support provided by Breemes was top-notch. We will do more projects with Siemens in the future.”

To ensure the quality of air suspension struts, VDL Weweler - a leading international manufacturer of air suspension systems for trailer construction - uses a shot peening machine in production, among other equipment. This treatment contributes to an increased product service life. When the machine in question was due for replacement, machine safety was also reviewed. Because of the long-standing cooperation, VDL Weweler again chose Leuze and itsme to purchase and supply the new safety light barriers. “Our slogan is ‘strength through cooperation’. So we always strive to create partnerships.”

In the food industry, productivity, reliability and availability are always high on the agenda. That includes wheyco, which processes whey into protein and permeate powder. The numerous motors for pumps, fans and agitators, among others, are equipped with soft starters to minimise mechanical stress on equipment. A new generation of softstarters was recently introduced with ABB’s PSTX and PSE series. itsme served as the vital link between ABB and wheyco.

Drachten-based Sparck Technologies builds automated packaging machines that make customised boxes for online retailers. The company focuses on energy-intensive pneumatics at a number of points for its innovative, high-speed machines. This ensures maximum benefit for customers: less air in the box, less cardboard consumption, higher packaging capacity and less dependence on manpower. itsme supplies the Festo standard components for this and also ensures that Sparck-specific pneumatics products are made.

For years, itsme has supplied signal cables to Krohne Altometer, producer of flow meters for the process industry, among other things. Cut to size and delivered on time, although the latter is a challenge these days due to delivery problems in global supply chains. "In itsme we have a good party, which thinks along and helps where it can. Just a very reliable supplier, who says what they do and does what they say." Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Welding company and machine builder Leenstra has had itsme as a regular partner for the supply of electrical engineering materials for more than twenty years. Thanks to a recent machine building project, the relationship broadened to mechanical products, in particular Festo pneumatics. This involved a machine for the manufacture of concrete elements. It only makes the cooperation between Leenstra and itsme more solid.

Nitto Belgium and Breemes have an enduring bond. Last year, that was rewarded with Breemes being awarded the "Best overall supplier" award. Sustainability is an important theme in their relationship these days. As a partner, Breemes thinks along with Nitto Belgium, about solutions to the global component scarcity and also about greening Nitto's products and production.

Lighting is an important aspect of sustainability. In 2023 the production of fluorescent lamps will stop and the switch to energy-efficient LED lighting will become really urgent. Some companies have yet to start, others have been working on it for years. Like food company HAK, which has been carrying out replacement projects in cooperation with lighting expert itsme for years. Here too, HAK's brand values of health and sustainability are in the spotlight. HAK, known for its Dutch vegetables, has grown from a traditional cannery for the Benelux to a branded vegetable food company for Northwest Europe. In the North Brabant town of Giessen, 150 employees annually produce millions of the well-known glass jars and, for several years now, stand-up pouches. "Because we depend on nature, our biggest challenge is to get the product in good quality into the jars and bags," says Henk de Graaf, technical project leader and industrial automation engineer. "We are dealing with a seasonal product that depends on weather conditions and must be harvested and processed at the right time." The production process is highly automated and recent investments include energy and water savings.

Climate control is in hot demand, as they experience every day at Rensen, specialist in measurement and control technology for building automation. Despite continued price increases, sales and execution are under pressure. The component shortage that emerged last year only increases the challenge of completing projects on time. itsme supports this by monitoring delivery times from the start of a project, finding alternatives if necessary and optimising inventory management. “I’m here almost every week now.”

Installing a powder coating and anodisation system that is not only more efficient, but also far more sustainable: that was the aim of the FOX or ‘Flash Oxidation’ project at the Lummen-based aluminium coater Alural. Siemens partners Breemes and IE Tech took care of supplying energy to the new installation using a Sivacon S4 power distribution board. Thanks to strong partnerships, the project was practically flawless.

Mars Food in Olen, Belgium, produces dry rice in an energy-intensive process. Because of the Mars commitment to sustainability combined with the pressure of rising energy prices, energy is a hot item. Breemes contributes to energy savings on different fronts, from frequency inverters for more efficient electric motor operation to lighting studies for an energy-efficient and safe working environment.

Compressed air is ‘expensive energy’, especially if an installation has a lot of leaks. However, companies often pay little attention to compressed air as an expense and source of CO2 emissions. From a finance and CSR perspective, this means that they’re missing opportunities. Grinding disc manufacturer Saint-Gobain Abrasives took up the gauntlet and had itsme perform an ultrasonic test. This resulted in an overview of leaks and areas of potential savings. The company has already fixed most of the leaks and is now, once again with itsme, looking into electrifying certain drives. That will mean less wear, but moreover reduced costs, since electricity is cheaper than air.

At Ronetic, “using fewer hands” is the most important issue for customers. It means automation and robotisation, though preferably in a manageable and affordable way, so the trick is to keep a hold over how complex the technology is. This can be done by setting up the control in a clear and organised way, for example, and by combining components where possible. For centralised control, itsme recommended a new I/O system from Festo with an integrated valve island.

DHL Aviation in Brussels Airport invests heavily in training and education in order to improve knowledge levels internally and its position on the labour market externally. Breemes contributes to this with a foundation course in PLC for maintenance technicians. The knowledge they gain from this helps them in matters such as programming operations in a more energy-efficient way. As well as this, DHL Aviation is also looking at other courses, such as the Profibus malfunction solution course, that Breemes runs. The sustainable, malfunction-free collaboration is discussed here below.

These days, soft, medium or hard has become a championship question. While for Belgian-Dutch Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen it will mean tyres, Radium Foam in Maastricht is dealing with a similar question involving the production of pillows. The pillows they make come in three varieties: soft, medium and firm. For that distinction to be done properly during production, the raw materials need to be dispensed very accurately – itsme was able to recommend a very suitable solution for this in the form of Siwarex WP251 weighing electronics from Siemens.

The Qprint Osona company turned to itsme ELEKTRES with the idea of introducing a robot to their teams that would help to ease the loading process and adapt to the company’s characteristics

At Yerseke Engine Services, or YES, providing excellent service is at the heart of everything they do. And in a world where downtime means decline, that’s just how it should be, since every day that a ship is not in operation is incredibly costly. Working effectively and efficiently then become key concepts. YES purchases the components for their electrical control cabinets in the form of kits – packages specifically tailored to the customer – from itsme. For a company that is on standby for the shipping industry 24/7, this working method is a perfect fit.

No less than 4 billion litres of drinking water per year. With this capacity, the brand new water treatment plant of Farys, the drinking water company, can, in the first phase, supply the Flemish municipalities of Ostend and Middelkerke. Due to an innovative technique that makes brackish water suitable for consumption, ‘draining water to the sea’ is no longer the norm for this coastal region. The complete electrical installation and instrumentation was designed and executed by Digi-Flow. Partner itsme Breemes assisted them with technical product know-how.

When it comes to developing and building traffic control installations (VRIs), Ko Hartog Verkeerstechniek is a good acquaintance of the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management and of municipal and provincial highway authorities in the Netherlands. For a number of years now, companies in England have also been finding their way to Heerhugowaard. What started as a test, has grown into a huge success. itsme was involved in that development from the very beginning.

Forcada Instalaciones has specialised in bespoke automation, for which they have sought a reliable supplier they could work with as a team to provide the most efficient solutions.

Although the provisioning of care homes is often well organised, on the flip side there is sometimes still room for improvement, especially where hygiene processes are concerned. With that in mind, Jop van Haaren, director and owner of Less2Care from Raalte, set out to work ten years ago. The result? The VacuSan: an automated solution for the safe vacuum sealing and disposal of used incontinence materials. The electronic parts of the operating system are delivered as a kit – a customer-specific package – by itsme. “As a customer you don’t need to worry about it anymore.”

Design and delivery of industrial turnkey projects, automation of operating systems; Mario Claes, owner of Etec Systems in Balen \(Belgium\), has been drawing on a continuously growing source of experience since fourteen years now. Each situation reveals unique challenges. Each solution contributes to an ever expanding range of knowledge

Spandauer Velours’ production focuses on high-quality velour and plush fabrics for the paint roller and cleaning industries as well as modern velours fabrics for the commercial sector. A retrofit is a testament to the company’s commitment to quality. Machinery Drives ACS880-M04 by ABB control the application.

Every single day, both small and medium-sized companies are faced with the challenge of reasserting their position in value chains. They mostly accomplish this through customised solutions, produced by using special machinery. Against this background, it is vital to increase the flexibility and speed of maintenance performance, as demonstrated by a joint project between AL-KO DÄMPFUNGSTECHNIK GMBH and itsme Schultz+Erbse.