In Ypenburg, The Hague, there is always a competition underway. A battle has been raging for the past year over who will become Vastgoed Service’s most efficient and green manager. The prestigious award has been presented once before, and managers are already looking for improvements ahead of the second ceremony. But the next step in sustainability is not coming from the managers.
When Vastgoed Service was launched in 2010, it became responsible for all maintenance of the student accommodation managed by DUWO. And there is quite a lot of it. The total now stands at around 35,000 rental units. Do you have student accommodation in The Hague, Delft, Leiden or Amsterdam? There’s a good chance that Vastgoed Service will be visiting for maintenance.
Skilled tradespeople, Customer Contact Centre and on-site service
Director Frans Kern speaks proudly of his company: “We started out as a regular contractor for two clients in Delft: Duwo and Woonbron. For the past two years, we have been DUWO’s exclusive partner and operate nationwide within their student accommodation portfolio. We are VCA-certified, the first organisation to be EFQ-certified (Eye for Quality, Ed.), place a very high priority on sustainability, and strive to continuously improve and build an innovative organisation using LEAN principles.”
For instance, Vastgoed Service was one of the first companies in the Netherlands to make it possible to report damage or repairs from the lecture hall via WhatsApp. But contacting the Customer Contact Centre by phone or email is, of course, still possible.
The processes also fit together seamlessly. For instance, the standard stock is supplied by Mastermate, and replenishments for the stock in use are delivered to the nearest Mastermate branch. There, the drivers of the now 18 vehicles can collect everything, keeping the number of journeys and kilometres to a minimum.
“This means we always have our supplies on time, we get them quickly, and our tradespeople are never left empty-handed,” explains Peter Pronk, Head of Operations.
Green Driving for improved sustainability
Peter has now been with Vastgoed Service for four years and is responsible for day-to-day operations. The journey logging system run via TrackJack is one of these. “When we were approached last year by Bereikbaar Haaglanden to take part in a pilot on CO₂ reduction, working smarter and thinking more sustainably, TrackJack came up with Green Driving. A great addition to the existing journey logging system, where our drivers are assessed on their driving behaviour. Hard braking, rapid acceleration and taking corners too fast are calculated, along with the distance travelled and the type of road, to produce a ranking,” Peter continues. And the results speak for themselves. The Vastgoed Service team saved 14% on fuel in just one year!
And the drivers take it very seriously. The Green Driver award was recently presented, and the competition is continuing as usual. Peter explains: “A colleague recently came to me wanting to remove the roof rack from his car. Another colleague had exactly the same car, but without a roof rack. And he scored higher in the rankings. It’s amazing that drivers are asking what they can do to improve.”
“And we really try to use the data we collect to work more efficiently. We don’t collect data just for the sake of collecting it.”
\ \The next step: the Carver
Yet Vastgoed Service isn’t done yet. A good contact at Bereikbaar Haaglanden brought the Carver Cargo to Frans. A small, flexible and fully electric three-wheeled vehicle. “Parking in Delft city centre is difficult and very expensive. In many places, we’re no longer even allowed to drive our buses. And the Carver Cargo is regarded as an electric scooter, but with storage space. And because they’re allowed everywhere, this is the perfect way to tackle small maintenance jobs quickly and sustainably.”
One of Vastgoed Service’s vehicles on site in Delft
The electric vehicle can be charged on a 220V socket. After 5 hours, it can be unplugged and offers a range of 100 kilometres.
From mid-October, the latest addition to the fleet will be on the road in Delft. The vehicle will be fitted with attractive decals (useful for promotional and recruitment purposes) and equipped with a TrackJack GPS tracker. “With this zero-emission Carver, we’re doing our bit for the environment, for the world, our wallets and road safety,” concludes Peter.
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