KUBO

"WorldEmp's method is aimed at doing it together. That's been embraced with us. We don't just want to outsource work in a low-wage country, they have really become colleagues."

- Eric Vrijenhoek - Manager Engineering and Construction KUBO

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KUBO

"WorldEmp's method is aimed at doing it together. That's been embraced with us. We don't just want to outsource work in a low-wage country, they have really become colleagues."

- Eric Vrijenhoek - Manager Engineering and Construction KUBO

Get in contact

For more than 75 years KUBO has been providing total solutions for horticultures worldwide from the Dutch town of Monster. At KUBO they design sustainable, (semi-closed) greenhouses that make an important contribution to the safe cultivation of food. The company is growing fast and developing the latest products, from generation to generation. "We specialize in total solutions, but in a sustainable and innovative way." explains Eric Vrijenhoek. He is Manager Engineering and Construction at KUBO and has been with the company for almost 15 years. Last year, the Hillenraad100 also saw that KUBO is innovative. Every year, this institute publishes an overview of the 100 leading companies in the Dutch horticultural sector. And KUBO has been number one since last year.

KUBO mainly operates from the Netherlands and has an extensive partner network in other countries to offer greenhouses. Most of the 135 colleagues work from the headquarters in Monster, but recently a team in India was created.

One of the biggest challenges of this company is finding good engineers. "We develop and realize the entire greenhouse within KUBO. From the first drawing to production and delivery. And we've been growing explosively for years. In order to be able to anticipate this growth, we are looking hard for good engineers." In the Netherlands there has been a large shortage of technical staff, including engineers, for a long time. The fact that this profession is very broad doesn't make the search any easier. "At KUBO we are dealing with different specializations, for example we are looking for construction engineers, project engineers, irrigation engineers and electrical engineers. In addition, we work with a number of specialists, who, for example, deal with the subsoil and finally there are the technical specialists. They are involved in the strength calculations of the greenhouses." A search for specializations, which became increasingly difficult in the Netherlands. When KUBO's management saw a presentation of WorldEmp last year, the interest was quickly aroused.

"We got to know WorldEmp after a presentation at a group of horticultural companies. They talked about the service and the talent. We decided to get acquainted personally, because we are constantly looking for talent." The two companies have started talking to each other and decide to work together to find suitable staff. "The idea was to have at least two new colleagues work by the end of 2019, but in the end it went fast and now there are four. And we still want to grow."

Working with a remote colleague still suits well. "You have to get used to it. The new colleague is not sitting next to you at a desk, so you need to prepare the transfer carefully and think about how you are going to inform the new colleague about a project. In the beginning, this didn't always go smoothly." In the end, Eric's team did a number of things to improve this. For example, they have scheduled a daily consultation where the progress of projects are briefly discussed. "If we're not on the same page, we'll know quickly and we can adjust." In addition, the Dutch and the team have now seen each other twice. "At the start of our collaboration, the team was here to get to know our company and team. If you're talking about improving cooperation, strengthening mutual ties, getting to know each other better and really becoming a team, this is the best way." Eric indicates that making a trip is quite a step, but WorldEmp has helped a lot with this. "We invest in this team because we want to work together in the long term. WorldEmp has arranged for us a fully furnished office where we could work together for two weeks. We have shared a lot of knowledge and we see this in our products."

"WorldEmp's method is aimed at doing it together. That's been embraced with us. We don't just want to outsource work in a low-wage country, they have really become colleagues. The quality is better and the team has come closer. Because the teams know each other better, they work even better together."