A wonderful collaboration has recently started in hall 815 at our site in Wilrijk: one day a week, a team of five custom workers and one supervisor comes to reinforce our colleagues. We are extremely proud of this collaboration because it is an example of how we fulfill our role in the wider community. Laura Peymen, Operations Manager in Wilrijk, explains more.

Why this collaboration?
Laura: “We were looking for a solution for the labeling work in hall 815, which is a challenge for planning because the volumes often vary. Based on our ‘Care’ value, we decided to collaborate with a local social enterprise. We are very pleased that we can give something back to society in this way. That fits in with our organization.”

How has the collaboration been going so far?
Laura: “Our people are extremely satisfied and have been very open. The supervisor from the social enterprise also plays an important role thanks to his strong communication skills. He is fully on board, which of course makes everything a lot more pleasant and easier. And the social enterprise workers themselves enjoy coming; they like the work, do it well, and all put their best foot forward. It’s great to see.”

Were any preparations necessary for the start-up?
Laura: “We created a separate area for them and explained our processes so that they knew in advance how we worked. Now they have got the hang of it. So much so that they are even contributing ideas about possible optimizations!”

Are we open to expanding the collaboration?
Laura: “We are currently looking into whether the social enterprise can take on other tasks in the future. So we are definitely open to it, but nothing concrete has been planned yet.”