Customer stories: Protonna BV
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Daan Buitenhuis
Communication
At Pentas, we highly value long-term relationships and collaborations with our customers. This is especially true for Protonna B.V., a loyal partner from the very beginning. In this blog, you’ll read about our collaboration, as told by Huibert Groenendijk, founder and director of Protonna.
Table of contents
Collaboration from the very beginning
Huibert Groenendijk has been involved with Pentas since the beginning. He started his career as a freelance industrial designer, developing surfboards and toilet cabins. In 1990, he founded Protonna, which specializes in waterway marking products such as buoys and beacons. Since then, Protonna and Pentas have closely collaborated on innovative products, which are produced at Pentas.
“I have been working with Pentas since the beginning. When Pentas started in the 1990s, the first products we developed together were large plastic buoys for the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. These buoys were originally made of metal, but thanks to the technological advantages of rotational moulding, we switched to plastic.”
Working more modernly and efficiently
Before Pentas became independent, it operated under the wing of Ten Cate. “The activities of Ten Cate and rotational moulding increasingly diverged,” Huibert explains. “Eventually, Ruud Koorn, the founder of Pentas, along with part of the team, decided to start their own rotational moulding company. This gave them the freedom to modernize the production process and work more efficiently. From that moment on, the collaboration between Protonna and Pentas really took off.”
Leading through digital innovation
“On Ruud’s initiative, Pentas invested early in digital technologies, choosing Apple Macintosh computers. This made Pentas a pioneer in using computers, both for administrative tasks and for production purposes. Soon, most of the moulds were milled in-house, controlled by computer files running around the clock. The first CNC machine, a Thermwood, was introduced in 2002, further optimizing the production of aluminium moulds. Thanks to this technology, the moulds can be quickly swapped, making Pentas extremely flexible in responding to changing market demands. This combination of innovation and flexibility makes Pentas a reliable supplier to this day.”
Close-knit family business
“For a long time, Ruud was the all-rounder in the company. Fortunately, Ruud is also a father who provides opportunities for his sons. Wouter is developing into a social engineer, and Marthijn is the process analyst and IT specialist. Both play important roles within the company, but even more important is the team spirit. Pentas now has a long history with little staff turnover. These are typical traits of a family business, where the core is formed by a close-knit team.”
What products do you source from them?
“Mainly products for waterway marking. Think of buoys, beacons, and floating lines for marking swimming areas, as well as plastic housings for solar panel installations.”
Why are you a customer of Pentas?
“For Protonna BV, Pentas is the ideal partner because of their high level of engineering, mould making, and production. All processes are highly digitized, which ensures clear and precise communication. Pentas consistently delivers the quality we need for our products, such as buoys, beacons, and plastic housings for solar panel installations.”
Can you give an example of successful collaboration?
“A great example of the collaboration between Protonna and Pentas is the development of stackable buoys for waterway marking. Thanks to Pentas’ technical solutions, the buoys can be efficiently stacked, saving us a lot of space and packaging material during transport.”
What are Protonna’s wishes for the future and further collaboration?
“I hope that in the future we can take further steps together to make the products more sustainable; lower energy consumption and a higher percentage of recycled material.”
Huibert Groenendijk - Director Protonna BV