Together on the path to the highest quality

De-Vau-Ge Gesundkostwerk Deutschland GmbH was founded more than 100 years ago. De-Vau-Ge Deutschland was the first German plant to produce cereal crispies, made from whole grains of wheat, barley or rice. In 1912, production was relocated to Hamburg and since June 1976, the headquarters of De-Vau-Ge Gesundkostwerk Deutschland GmbH have been located in Lüneburg. Today, De-Vau-Ge concentrates on the production of breakfast cereals, muesli varieties and fruit bars. In 1998, a further plant was built in Tangermünde near Stendal. The number of employees is currently over 600 and the products are delivered to three continents.

Quality management according to HACCP

De-Vau-Ge quality management follows the HACCP concept (Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Point) in accordance with European regulations. The HACCP system covers all raw materials, every product or product group, every process from goods receipt to delivery, including product and packaging development, as well as outsourced processes. Appropriate measures at precisely defined control points ensure product safety. Every detail of the preventative quality assurance measures is clearly defined. All employees are closely involved in the quality assurance processes. The standards defined by quality management are implemented at all De-Vau-Ge locations. External auditors regularly review the quality management system and confirm its effectiveness in accordance with applicable standards.

"Contraload has understood our requirements and motivations from the beginning of our contact to the present day."

Henning Cordes, Head of Purchasing Logistics at De-Vau-Ge

The first ISO 9001 certification took place back in 1995. Since then, the food producer's quality management system has been developed and improved year on year. De-Vau-Ge Gesundkostwerk Deutschland GmbH has met the requirements of the International Featured Standard (IFS Food) since its introduction in 2003 and has been successfully certified at a higher level ever since.

Henning Cordes, responsible for logistics in purchasing at De-Vau-Ge, explains: "The quality and availability of load carriers in the company is becoming more and more important every day. High-quality yet cost-efficient production is inextricably linked to the use of high-quality load carriers. This is the only way to achieve the planned corporate success. The focus is always on securing long-term customer and supplier relationships. Our mission is to eliminate the omnipresent quality problems of wooden pallets in incoming goods. Time and again, it is our logistics department, which deals with pallet issues in its day-to-day work, that hinders us in our primary task of manufacturing our products."

Conversion to H1 pallets

Contraload pallets are used by De-Vau-Ge, among others.

The first step on this path at the time was to switch to H1 pallets from the so-called "open pool" for incoming goods. This was an important step in the right direction but, as it turned out over a period of more than two years, the use of the open pallet pool is also associated with various initial problems. For example, pallet cleaning processes are not standardized, which could lead to poorly cleaned or uncleaned H1 pallets in the incoming goods department. Damage and even holes in the pallets are also not uncommon and contradict the high quality standards that we actually wanted to achieve at the time. Apparently, only a few pool participants in this "open system" feel responsible for the quality of the H1 exchange pallets.

De-Vau-Ge became aware of Contraload through market research into providers of pooling services for plastic load carriers and, according to the company, also as a result of a company presentation in materialfluss, the magazine for intralogistics. "The company is headquartered in Belgium, but also works in German. Contraload has understood our requirements and motivations from the beginning of our contact to the present day," reports Henning Cordes.

The service partner Contraload offers a number of advantages when working together:

• Fewer quality problems due to different cleaning standards - Contraload pallets are cleaned to food-safe standards after each circulation and repaired or replaced with new pallets if necessary.
• The availability of the desired pallets is guaranteed at all times.
• Without exception, all pallets delivered are in good condition, safe to load and ready for immediate use.
• Reduced administrative effort for maintaining pallet accounts via a clear and easy-to-use Internet portal for suppliers and recipients.
• Seasonal fluctuations in suppliers' load carrier requirements are regulated without any problems.
• Europe-wide coverage of the pooling network with numerous washing stations to ensure quality standards.
• A pro-active system to avoid losses of load carriers at customers.

"The partial changeover at important suppliers has already taken place today and the results show that the decision in favor of Contraload has put us on a "good path" within the framework of the competitive conditions," concludes Cordes.

www.de-vau-ge.dewww.contraload.com/de