Customer and supplier in Antwerp are only three kilometers apart as the crow flies. If the Scheldt did not flow between them. On the western bank of the river is the Xella plant in Burcht; on the eastern bank – closer to Antwerp city center – the Belgian company BMB Bouwmaterialen. Diagonally opposite on the map, a stone's throw, so to speak. But the lorries carrying Xella building materials must make a long detour to deliver to BMB. First downstream onto the nearby motorway, via the Antwerp West interchange, then back upstream to the eastern bank of the Scheldt to D'Herbouvillekaai, where BMB is located. "This is better for the environment," thought Sam Roels, Logistics Manager at Xella, and changed his mind. Now Xella uses the river instead of the motorway for transport. The customer BMB is pleased: "By having Xella deliver 300 tons of building material to us by ship, we keep about 15 truck trailers out of the Kennedy Tunnel in Antwerp." So, it advertises the environmentally friendly alternative on its LinkedIn page itself. The goods only must be delivered from the BMB jetty to a shipyard in the center of Antwerp by smaller trucks. There, BMB uses Xella material to renovate high-quality and sustainable houses in the city center.
 
400 pallets with one load

Other customers who have a jetty nearby also take advantage of Xella's offer to have larger quantities delivered by water. Roughly speaking, Xella Belgium has now saved 9,750 tons of CO2 during 18 month. So far, the colleagues have organized 35 boat transports with 400 pallets each.

The start was bumpy. "We started with the boat transport in 2020, but then Corona got in the way," Roels reports. Demand stopped, and so did the expansion of transport. But since March 2021, more construction material has been ordered again. The ships are running at good capacity: A shipping company bundles the goods of several customers on one ship. This has a great advantage for Xella: smaller quantities can be delivered by ship two to three times a month. The environment also benefits from this.

"Our customers like this type of transport," says logistics expert Roels happily.  "There are more and more traffic jams on the roads. The ships therefore arrive more punctually than trucks. In addition, they can transport larger volumes." Xella still uses water transport mainly along Belgium's north-south axis. The team already has its sights set on planning for the west-east axis..

Efficient processes

But the company is also thinking on a smaller scale: in parallel, internal processes are being improved even further. "Our action plan is to make the processes smoother so that can be left away we can work even more efficiently. This will allow us to handle even more boats in the long run," says Roels. The entire process, from production, separate storage space and internal transport to the quay to the optimal equipment of the jetty, is being examined for potential for improvement.

It is not entirely simple. "From a technical point of view, it's a bit more complicated because Xella's jetty is somewhat removed from the place where the finished goods are stored," Roels describes the situation on site. But his team will find a solution for that as well.