Goma BV

Smart manufacturing

Embodying over five decades of industry experience Goma BV is an internationally orientated subcontractor, specialised in high quality sheet metal products, as well as semi-finished parts and assemblies

Based in the Dutch town of Hengelo within the province of Gelderland, Goma BV is a leading company in fine metalwork such as laser cutting, punching, bending, welding, powder coating and assembly to produce sub frames and components for a range of industries. The business was founded by Gerrit Oortgiesen in 1962 and today supplies clients operating within the medical, furniture, air conditioning and heating industries to name a few. The company provides high-quality metal products to clients through The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, with exports accounting for around 30 per cent of its annual turnover.

Goma marked its 50th anniversary during 2012, celebrating a consistent record of success in collaboration with the then Secretary-General of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, Chris Buijink by hosting an open house to industry players and other visitors. Throughout its history the company has continued to grow and invest in its facilities and processes to ensure that it remains fully at the forefront of metal working technologies. As a result of this continued investment Goma today employs some 175 members of staff, across a total of 13,000 m2 of manufacturing, assembly and storage space. “In 2014 we invested in a 1700 m2 expansion to the business and during 2016 we added a further 600 m2 of space,” reveals Managing Director, Foppe Atema. “We are also currently hiring a facility in another village due to a lack of space resulting from the rapid pace of growth that we are currently experiencing. During the next three to five years we are looking to expand by a further 3000-4000 m2 and this space will be used for storage and assembly.”

Further to its investment in the company’s manufacturing space and facilities, Goma continues to develop its implementation of digital technology in support of its manufacturing processes. The result is a modern manufacturing facility that ensures the highest levels of quality. “We are rapidly moving into robotisation and are employing increasing numbers of robots in our factories. These are typically deployed in conjunction with other machines, such as bending machines. Robots employed in this fashion are referred to as collaborative robots – or cobots,” Foppe explains. “We are increasingly interested in smart industry concepts that involve developing processes for manufacturing products that are actively supported by computer and communication technology, including the internet, large volumes of data and so on. For example, we have electronic data interchange (EDI) connections with our customers and expect to extend these to our suppliers as well. We are keen to have a very up-to-date company that incorporates digital technology as much as possible. The whole world is becoming digitalised and we are preparing ourselves for this development by investing in manpower on the ICT side of the business to make sure that we are educated and prepared for the growth of digitisation in the manufacturing industry.”

Reliability is the highest priority for Goma, both in terms of quality and quantity and its dedication to premier levels of quality is expressed through neatly finished products that fit correctly first time. The company combines smart manufacturing practices and comprehensive customer support services to ensure the quality all of its procedures and is fully registered in accordance with ISO 9001:2008 standards. This allows Goma to provide products that are recognised for their quality and that stand out against alternatives on the market. “Our level of quality is something that really sets us apart. We mainly work with stainless steel, plain steel and zinc-coated steel. The advantage of zinc-coated steel is that we can add a power coating on one side of the product, which protects the metal from rust. This is different from plain steel products where a powder coating is required on both sides of the metal,” Foppe says. “The quality of our powder coating is above what is typically encountered within the indu try, for example we are currently trying to subcontract part of our powder coating operations and are having trouble doing so because third party suppliers cannot match our standard, or they cannot do so at the price point that we can. We have been active in powder coating since 2001 and since day one we were aware that we had a superior level of quality – and it shows. It has enabled us to win new clients and add new products to our portfolio.”

In addition to ensuring trusted and reliable products, the company’s implementation of smart manufacturing techniques and ICT systems has enabled Goma to maximise the speed of its delivery times. By leveraging its EDI connections the business is able to work in close collaboration with clients to ensure that time between initial order and shipping is kept to a minimum. This expanding use of digital technology will be invaluable to the company as it continues to further its presence in new sectors and continue to grow over the coming years. “We increasingly work with forecasts that we receive each week from customers that regularly order from us. Our digital system includes built-in software that enables customers to order from us in the morning and for us to sell off-the-shelf and ship that same afternoon. By producing in accordance to forecasts we can eliminate production times on orders and simply pick them and ship them once orders come in,” Foppe concludes. “We are currently expanding in the markets for  eating and air compression, while components for electric beds and relax chairs are also an interesting area for growth for the business.”

Goma BV
Products: High quality sheet metal products, semi-finished parts and assemblies