High-tech systems and gamification

Kornelis Caps & Closures, located in Steenwijk in the province of Overijssel, is a family business with almost 90 years of history. Although that history has shaped the company’s current position, project leader Ytsen de Boer mainly looks ahead. He explains how smart technology and working with students make the work easier and more enjoyable for employees.

“At Kornelis, we make plastic caps and closures for the food and non-food sectors. It might not sound flashy, but just walk into any supermarket — there’s a good chance you’ll find a product from us. We make caps and closures for various peanut butter and mayonnaise brands, for example. Almost every Dutch household probably has something made by Kornelis.

Our story began in 1936, when Jelte Kornelis started working with resin products — the precursor to plastic. We were one of the first five companies in the Netherlands to do this. Over the years, we increasingly specialized in caps and closures. Now, we’ve been around for almost 90 years.

I’ve been working at Kornelis for nearly twenty years. Before that, I worked in the high-tech industry in Eindhoven, so moving to this part of the country was quite a change. I went from ultra-modern cleanrooms to dark, dusty factory halls. I really wondered if this was the right choice. But what immediately caught my attention was the potential.”

What you can make with plastic! We have grown into a modern company with about 70 employees, 31 injection molding machines, and 11 finishing machines. Every day, we make around 1.5 to 2 million caps and closures for customers in the Netherlands and abroad. Growing is important for a healthy business, but we also want to keep things personal. That’s why we focus on what makes us special — our technology and working together, especially with schools.

In 2016, we built a brand new factory hall of 4,000 square meters. This gave us a fresh start. We chose Industry 4.0, which means connecting everything digitally. We made our own MES system — this is the link between our planning system (ERP) and the factory floor. It helps workers know exactly what to do, in real-time, on a tablet. From setting up machines to checking quality. If something goes wrong, they see the problem right away, including what caused it.

We built a digital system like a triangle: at the top is the ERP system for logistics and finance, below that is the MES system for detailed planning, and at the bottom are the sensors and machine data. Everything is connected. This makes the factory easy to understand, smart, and efficient. We also call this gamification: workers see their scores, how long machines run without problems, and how well they work — all at a glance. It really works! Many young people work here, and they enjoy it a lot.

Technologie is pas echt waardevol als je mensen ermee ontzorgt. En dat vraagt iets van je organisatie. Er waren collega’s die het nieuwe systeem eerst ‘speelgoed’ vonden – die vertrouwden liever op hun ervaring. Maar door data uit hun hoofd te halen en in systemen te zetten, maken we het werk voorspelbaarder, planbaarder en makkelijker. Ook de planner krijgt nu door het systeem suggesties voor de optimale volgorde van productiekleuren, zodat we de kortste omsteltijd hebben.

Onze ambitie? Nog verder verduurzamen en nóg slimmer werken. Onze machines zijn al voor twee derde elektrisch en we willen de rest ook omzetten. Digitaal willen we meer gaan voorspellen: klantgedrag, onderhoud, productkwaliteit. Dat begint met data verzamelen en wiskundige verbanden leggen.

Daar komen studenten om de hoek kijken. We werken intensief samen met mbo’s en hbo’s – van Deltion College tot hogeschool Windesheim, Hanzehogeschool en NHL Stenden. Jaarlijks werken we samen met meerdere stagiairs en/of afstudeerders. We kiezen altijd bewust voor opdrachten die pas later operationeel worden. Zo kunnen studenten leren zonder de Ytsen de Boer druk van ‘het moet nu’. En kunnen wij investeren in hun ontwikkeling. Want studenten hebben ons net zo zeer nodig als wij hen. We vinden dat niet meer dan logisch, als familiebedrijf zijnde; investeren in de toekomst is onderdeel van wie we zijn.

Right now, we have a student who is unlocking machine data in a new way. Later, a data analyst can build on that work. I personally work two days at Kornelis, one day at DYKA, and two days as a process technology teacher at Deltion College. I like having these different roles—in education and in business. This mix helps me build bridges. I understand how people learn, and I know what companies need.

My advice to other companies? Find people who like to explore new things and enjoy technology. But also make sure you find partners who understand that technology and can work well together. That’s often a challenge—finding engineers who also understand people. We work together with Hellebrekers from Nunspeet and a software architect from Zeeland. Together, we built something that others now come to see as inspiration for their own business processes. And yes, anyone reading this who wants to know more is very welcome at Kornelis Caps & Closures.

Text: Mirjam van Huet
Photography: Peter Timmer