Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods

Reference case Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods: building together a future-proof IT environment for a global player in milk powder

Roger van der Meer is IT director at Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods. The Dutch family-owned company has specialized in the production of high-quality milk powders since 1954. With four production sites in the Netherlands and an office in Madrid, Vreugdenhil processes more than a billion kilograms of milk into nutritious products and ingredients every year. The products find their way to consumers, the food industry and specialty applications in more than 130 countries worldwide. In this large-scale and production-sensitive environment, a stable and future-proof IT infrastructure is crucial.

The reason: time for a new IT partner

Vreugdenhil worked with the previous Managed Services Provider for more than a decade. What began as a good partnership changed over the years. "We noticed that the service no longer fully met our expectations. Our organization grew and our IT needs changed. Since our then MSP did not fully grow with us, we started looking for a partner that better suited our current needs."

In 2022, Vreugdenhil therefore initiated an RFP process. After an extensive and careful process, Valid was selected as the best-fit party due to its combination of technical expertise, knowledge of production environments and a good match with the company culture.

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VDF

With some 600 employees, five locations and a rapidly growing IT landscape, the challenge was clear: Vreugdenhil sought a partner who could operate as an extension of the internal team. "As a relatively small organization, you can't employ someone for every specialty. Then you need a reliable partner who has in-house knowledge and can switch quickly."

Of particular concern was the IT/OT integration and convergence: the production environment places high demands on stability and continuity. "We really see Valid as an extension of our IT organization. And that also applies towards our OT people: you need a partner who also speaks the language there and knows what's going on."

The onboarding and transformation

The onboarding started in September 2024 and was successfully completed in December, two days ahead of schedule. "We divided the onboarding process into two phases: first stabilize, then optimize. That approach works well. "What stood out was the personal involvement. Valid's responsible customer team visited Vreugdenhil's production sites and got to know production up close. "That creates mutual understanding and a shared sense of responsibility. You see up close how quickly things go wrong when a network failure occurs, for example."

"We divided the onboarding process into two phases: first stabilize, then optimize. That approach works well."

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Challenges and solutions

After 10 years of cooperation with the previous MSP, there were many automatisms and a lot of implicit knowledge had been built up, making the knowledge transfer a challenging task. "In the beginning it was a bit difficult, especially because we were temporarily working with three parties. But once everyone involved got to know each other well and knew how to find each other, the knowledge transfer went smoothly. Valid put a lot of energy into this."

Despite careful preparations, extensive technical due diligence and assessments, surprises are inevitable in a complex manufacturing environment. Clear communication and short lines of communication are essential to address these effectively and efficiently. Furthermore, maintenance and renewal are necessary in a production environment, and in some cases this can lead to temporary downtime. This is understood within the organization, provided there is clear communication and good coordination, keeping the impact on production to a minimum.

Co-management between IT, OT, production and Valid plays an important role in this. The further ahead can be planned, the better all involved can anticipate. Especially in an environment where the IT landscape is constantly changing and some components need replacing, it is important to work from a controlled model. This approach is only possible thanks to good cooperation, short lines of communication and mutual trust.

Collaboration in practice

Roger experiences the cooperation with Valid as positive. "What I like is the open communication. Not a standard customer-supplier relationship, but a real partnership in which open and honest communication is central.

"Valid's involvement at the strategic, tactical and operational levels fits well with Vreugdenhil's way of working. At the start of the partnership, Vreugdenhil actively introduced itself to the Valid team, and Valid employees came on site to get acquainted with Vreugdenhil's processes and staff. "That really contributed to mutual understanding. You then see what production means, and why it is so important that systems are always available."

"What I like is the open communication. No standard customer-supplier relationship, but a true partnership in which open and honest communication is central."

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Valid as a partner for the future

The choice of Valid was based not only on current needs, but also on Vreugdenhil's vision for the future. "We want to keep innovating while maintaining stability. Valid helps us do both. "The impact IT has on the business has increased enormously. Developments are happening at lightning speed. Think of the rise of AI, the growing dependence on cloud technology and the increasing pressure on cybersecurity. For an organization like Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods, it is essential to steer the right course in this. "Valid helps us keep a grip on technological developments and determine what is relevant to our organization. While not everything is necessary, we do want to understand what is going on and what the potential impact could be."

"You have to keep up with small teams anyway. And then communication is crucial: do we understand together where we want to go, and are we well equipped to make the right choices? With knowledge of industrial production environments, a culture that suits Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods and a pragmatic mentality, Valid offers the necessary expertise and scalability. And we have a partner who can grow with us."

Results and outlook

The first months of cooperation have shown that Valid is capable of taking over and stabilizing complex IT environments, without disrupting operations. Vreugdenhil and Valid are now looking at the transformation phase: how can processes and services be further optimized and automated? "Ultimately, we want everything to run solidly. And if maintenance or renewal is needed, we want to do it in a controlled way, with as little disruption as possible. This is where the cooperation with Valid helps enormously."

Roger van der Meer - VDF

Trust as a foundation

What characterizes this collaboration, according to Roger, is openness. "Together, we want both Vreugdenhil and Valid to be successful in what we do. That means sharing knowledge, transparency and walking the path together. If that is the basis, you can achieve a lot."

"We collectively want both Vreugdenhil and Valid to be successful in what we do. That means sharing knowledge, transparency and walking the path together. If that's the basis, you can achieve a lot."

This reference case was created based on an interview with Roger van der Meer, IT director at Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods.

Why Valid as a Managed Services Provider for industrial environments?

With years of extensive experience working with industrial and manufacturing companies, we understand the complexities of industrial IT and OT environments. Our unique hybrid approach combines proven technologies with customized solutions tailored to the needs of manufacturing and production companies. With our extensive experience in both IT and OT, we are the partner to support your manufacturing processes - reliable, secure and innovative.