IDM ¦ Site report
Dutch cheese plant
supplier back on track
The return of de Klokslag
After an eventful history, Dutch
cheese making equipment
manufacturer de Klokslag
Engineering in Bolsward has
regained its independent momentum.
Founded in 1990 as a two-man
company, de Klokslag developed into one of
the leading equipment suppliers for yellow
cheese dairies in Central Europe and elsewhere.
The integration into the GEA Group in
2015 did not work out in the end because the
customers had most individual requirements.
Without further ado, company founder Evert
IJntema took the helm again in 2019. IDM
visited the new de Klokslag Engineering.
Those who still know the company from
the time before 2015 are surprised at the
size to which it has grown in the meantime.
On the Bolswarder industrial estate, de Klokslag
Engineering owns 15,000 m² of floor
Closed, CIP-capable cheese presses are one of de Klokslag's specialities (photo: de Klokslag)
space, on which four halls with a total area
of over 10,000 m² have been placed, as well
as a newly occupied modern administration
building. A fifth hall was just waiting to be
fitted out at the time of the editorial visit.
Evert IJntema: "What our customers had
been used to for many years, namely quick
decisions, good service, fast delivery, could
not be offered in a corporate environment
that necessarily depends on strict planning.
The orders gradually decreased. In 2019, together
with friend Jan Dijkema, I took over
my old company again in order to give it and,
above all, the long-standing, experienced
employees a new perspective. However, we
effectively had to 'start from scratch'.
The main thing was in place
In the beginning, de Klokslag Engineering
only had an assembly hall and a
much too small office wing. But the
main thing, the customer contacts, were
there. IJntema decided to build more
production halls and an office building in
order to become really efficient quickly.
For a few months now, everything has
been concentrated at the new location
in the industrial area. In the meantime,
large orders for a number of well-known
cheese dairies have been and are being
processed. Sales Manager Joeke van der
Heide comments: "Historically, de Klokslag
Engineering has received and completed
to the satisfaction of the customer
almost 80% of the projects that come
into question for us along the Dutch and
German North Sea coast as well as in
Austria and Switzerland. This is a great
asset with which we have been able to
build the new company."
de Klokslag recently delivered this double
cheese unloading station to a cheese dairy
(photo: de Klokslag)
20 · November/December 2021 ¦ international-dairy.com
/international-dairy.com
