Peak in terms of figures: April

April proved to be a real peak month. Public holidays such as Easter, King's Day, Labour Day, and Remembrance Day generated higher volumes. What went well and what can be improved? This article provides an overview of the logistics figures for April.

Clock sales in April amounted to € 192.616.233. Compared to April 2024, this represented a decrease/increase of 7.3%. Compared to last month, both the number of clock trolleys and direct trolleys were higher. The number of products traded was higher (+0.3%) than last year, amounting to 493.986.795 items. The average price was € 0.39 (+4.2%).

The following went well:

• Multi-transaction auctioning (MTA) has been fully implemented on all clocks since 24 April. This means MTA is now standard in Aalsmeer, Naaldwijk and Rijnsburg.
• With an uptime rate of 99.73%, the clock process at the three export hubs experienced little to no disruptions.
• Logistics services are performed in line with the set targets. So, the percentage of purchases delivered within the requested time frames was high; 99,8% in Aalsmeer, Naaldwijk and Rijnsburg.
• Despite the high number of trolleys, internal night-time staffing was not required to maintain sufficient availability of stacking trolleys.
• The peak period requires long, busy days on the logistics floor. This is why Royal FloraHolland asks its office staff to help their logistics colleagues twice a year. The month of April saw an increase in the number of office staff signing up as ‘peak helpers’.

The following could be better:

• Service delivery of Connect trolleys generally went as desired, but could be better on days with unexpectedly high work supply.
• Planning work supply clock proved difficult to predict at times due to many dependencies.

Expectations for May
Trolley supply in May is expected to be higher than in April. In doing so, Royal FloraHolland expects the logistics service to remain at a good level in May as well. For Monday 19 May, we are taking into account extra pressure due to a strongly increased work supply. Various measures have been taken to ensure delivery in line with targets. The latest logistics newsletter indicated that delivery times may be under pressure on this day.

Deploying an additional early auction day is not an option at this short notice, as this is subject to a 3-week notice period. It is now expected that logistics services at the Aalsmeer, Naaldwijk and Rijnsburg hubs will be completed later than usual on 19 May. At all hubs, all logistics staff will also do their utmost on 19 May to avoid delayed deliveries as much as possible.

Let’s peak!