Gom and Van Houtum Papier join forces
As of 1 January 2010, Van Houtum Papier has been appointed Gom Schoonhouden's preferred supplier for paper towels and toilet paper. The activities of the two companies are a perfect fit and the new alliance will create new opportunities.
Gom Schoonhouden is part of Facilicom. The core values of this international business are: focus on results, trustworthiness, collaboration and innovation. ‘Our core values are an excellent tool when making choices,’ says Marco Konter, Gom's marketing & sales support manager. ‘All our communication is based on them and they guide us in how we work and profile ourselves.’ When tendering for products, Gom initiates an intensive dialogue with potential partners and vendors in order to identify their guiding principles. ‘We had to submit a tender proposal that was as thick and weighty as a Bible,’ says our account manager Gerard Kraaijeveld with a laugh.
‘We structured the tender procedure in a number of different phases,’ says Marco Konter. ‘Firstly, a long list of open questions about the vendor's views on specific subjects. The answers were assessed and led to an initial selection. In the second phase, we asked the candidate vendor to make a presentation to the work group. This was also an additional opportunity for the vendors to tell us why they were the most suitable partner for us.’
‘Van Houtum's proposal impressed us with its clarity and simplicity and the total lack of commercial focus. And I mean that positively!’ Marco Konter continues. ‘A second aspect that became clearly apparent was the philosophy of Corporate Social Responsibility, which is a strong differentiating factor and also offers added value for Gom.’
Gom has a no-nonsense company culture which avoids excesses’. ‘We are a cleaning company that anticipates the future,’ says Marco Konter. ‘We look after our people well and we work in an environmentally friendly way. Everything indicated that Van Houtum was a perfect fit. Not just with our planet philosophy, but also with our people philosophy. So in that sense, all of us in the work group unanimously agreed that Van Houtum Papier and the company's sustainable Satino Nature product range were the right choice for Gom.’
‘Doing business in a socially responsible way is not something that you can do in isolation,’ says Marco Konter. ‘On this occasion, we did not just come to an arrangement in terms of the product, we also – and that's new for us – entered into a strategic partnership. Together with Van Houtum Papier, we have laid the foundations for a completely new approach.’
Epilogue: Schoon! is the name of Gom's corporate magazine for customers and vendors. The most recent edition was published in December 2009 and includes an article entitled ‘Van Houtum Papier has never heard of waste’. The article focuses on our credentials in the area of CSR. The piece looks in detail at the paper production process in accordance with the Cradle-to-Cradle principle.
Gom en Van Houtum Papier versterken elkaar.