Alfred Olthof

Head of Quality, Safety and Environment

01

The Belgian family business has been

producing injection moulded products

for around 70 years. The products are

personalised by means of a colour, format

or packaging. To do this the company has

its own tool shop, 20 injection moulding

machines, a colour laboratory and 40

years of experience of in-mould labelling

and retail packaging. The focus lies on the

preservation of food.

The DBP Plastics production location in

Wilrijk (Antwerp) is BRC-Packaging AA+

and ISO 9001-certified with the following

scope:

• DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT

• INJECTION MOULDING OF PRODUCTS

in direct contact with food (Amuse

range and private label), including in-

mould-labeling.

The end result arrives at the consumer

through international retailers. 30% of

this produce is the company’s own brand

Amuse, and the other 70% the customer’s

brand.

The Innovation Academy ensures that

future trends are identified at an early

stage, and that new products accordingly

originate in consultation with the

customer. Discover the full standard range

at amuseyourday.com that has been

sold through Belgian and foreign retailers

since April 2018.

The independent tool shop where the

moulds are produced and maintained for

DBP Plastics and third parties falls under

DBP Plastics NV.

Should you have any questions about the

content you can contact Alfred Olthof,

Head of Quality, Safety and Environment.

+32 (0) 488 910 876

alfred@dbp.be

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• HEALTH & SAFETY COMMITTEE

Where the employer and employees

establish action to enhance the

welfare and safety of each employee.

• FAILURE COST TRAINING Besides

the training itself, the six-monthly

failure cost training is also a time of

dialogue between the employer and

employees across all departments.

• MANAGEMENT MEETING Where

managers take responsibility for their

department and give account to the

executive board.

• MANAGEMENT BOARD Determines

the strategy for a future-proof

company based on the analysis of

facts and figures.

As far as DBP is concerned, besides the necessary legal obligations good governance

particularly involves transparent and clear communication with all stakeholders. To achieve

this, time is devoted to:

06

SEDEX is a secure online database that

helps companies to identify, manage and

rectify ethical risks in worldwide logistical

chains. SEDEX includes all parts of the

logistics chain in the process to carry out

improvements and merge responsible

business practices.

The 26,000 SEDEX members are spread

across 150 countries and many different

business sectors.

DBP Plastics is a SEDEX member with

company reference ZC1046760 and

location reference ZS1043500.

SMETA stands for Sedex Members Ethical

Trade Audit and is a compilation of best

practices in audit techniques. It is not a

traditional standard, but a methodology

whereby a site is audited in the light of

local legislation and regulations and the

ETI Base Code.

A SMETA audit can be carried out based on

2 of the 4 pillars or all 4 pillars:

• 2-PILLAR AUDIT involves Work and

Safety and Welfare.

• 4-PILLAR AUDIT involves Work,

Safety and Welfare, the Environment

and Business Ethics.

DBP Plastics has had a 4-pillar SMETA

audit carried out with report reference

CSR201602036 and no outstanding

points for improvement.

0 7

BSCI is an initiative operated by companies

that supports more than 1,800 retailers,

importers and brands with worldwide

improvement from working conditions in

factories to on farms.

Our vision is a world of free trade and

sustainable production chains in which

factories and farms comply with both

national employment law and the ILO

conventions that protect workers’ rights.

BSCI offers companies, from multinationals

to small and medium-sized enterprises,

one shared code of conduct and a holistic

system for social sustainability in the

production chain that is useable in all

sectors and purchasing countries.

DBP Plastics is a member of Amfori and

BSCI under DBIS number 369946.

We have also already had a BSCI audit

carried out with audit ID 82567. We scored

an A for 11 of the 13 areas.

BSCI is an initiative of Amfori, a business

association of international companies

that promotes the values of free trade

and sustainable production chains. Amfori

has been the new name of the FTA since

January 2018.

15 JA AR IN DIENST

Patrick Aerts

Technician Toolshop

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We expect our important business

partners to provide us with written

confirmation that the 11 human rights

principles in conformity with BSCI are

implemented and complied with.

We have accordingly sent all our important

suppliers a document with these 11

human rights, that is also to be signed by

all these suppliers.

We have also inventoried what all our

important suppliers do in the field of

sustainability and corporate social

responsibility. All feedback is assessed

and each supplier is given a score. This

score is now taken into consideration with

the annual supplier assessment.

Serge De Meirleir

Technician Toolshop

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On recruitment new employees are

screened according to the Thomas PPA

profile analysis.

This scientifically based tool examines the

character traits of employees. Then the

right people can be used in the right jobs.

This prevents burn-out and bore-out in the

longer term and ensures good integration

in an existing team. PPA also helps to

improve coaching by the employer.

Both the HR manager and the CEO have

completed the Thomas International PPA

training and follow the instructions and

advice ensuing from the tests.

1 4

It is the small things that can make a big

difference. Accordingly, the anti-fatigue

mats for operators who spend a long

time standing were made available, and

an extra lifting table to ensure fewer

physical complaints. In production there

are continuous investments in scissor lifts

to prevent back complaints.

At the grinder there is now a flashing

light in case the employee can’t hear the

evacuation alarm.

The lighting in production was refurbished,

and a number of magnifiers were placed

next to the machines to more easily detect

failures that were difficult to see.

The installation of the new chiller means

that cold air is blown into the production

space in the summer to improve working

conditions.

To avoid operators having to lift bags

weighing 25 kg, an internal silo was

installed where the bags can be lifted by

a fork-lift truck and laid on a grate before

being cut open. The purpose is to prevent

back complaints and accidents and be

able to keep employees working longer.

Each month fresh fruit is offered free of

charge to all employees to encourage

healthy eating, and the soft drinks

vending machines were replaced by

filtered chilled drinking water.

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• FAILURE COST TRAINING Twice a year;

during interactive training lasting 1

to 2 hours, complaints from the past

six months are analysed and tips are

gathered to reduce failure costs.

• TIME MANAGEMENT If there are clear

signs among employees that someone

is in need of time management they

are given internal personal training

over a number of weeks. Results are

immediately and clearly visible.

• FIRE-FIGHTING TRAINING In March

2017 from Somatie-Fie: everyone

could find out what it’s really like to

fight a fire.

• ERGONOMICS COURSE A lifting

ergonomics course; useful tips for

people at the factory or at the office

on correctly lifting heavy or large

objects.

• EVACUATION EXERCISE Annually

unannounced evacuation exercise.

The following not legally compulsory training was organised in 2017-2018, and all employees

were given the opportunity to attend it during working hours:

1 7

In 2017 DBP put itself forwards as a

candidate for connection to ISVAG’s

district heating. With the location of

ISVAG this heat can be relatively simply

brought to the site. The first phase

for this heat network from ISVAG can

already be implemented in 2018 with the

reconstruction of the Terbekehofdreef in

Wilrijk.

The connection to this heat network means

that DBP will be able to heat its buildings

without using heating oil. This will have

an immediately effect on the company’s

ecological footprint.

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The cooling installation for machines

and moulds was completely refurbished

bringing savings on energy along with

heat recovery.

DBP now has 2 electric company vehicles

(emissions 35 g/km) and certainly wishes

to invest further here when there are more

affordable solutions with a longer range.

Our visitors’ electric cars can also be

charged in the DBP car park.

Stacking of our own products was raised

from a height of 1.8 to 2.4 m. This is to

optimally load our lorries and reduce

emissions per product supplied. We are

also counting on the cooperation of our

customers for this in the future.

An investigation was launched to see if

we could deliver to our customers outside

rush hours, and preferably using electric

vehicles.

Electrical injection moulding machines

are 40% more energy-efficient than

hydraulic ones. In the meantime 10%

of the machinery has been replaced

by energy-saving machines, already

representing energy savings of 8%.

The investment in new automation

helped reduce waste by an average

of 2% per automated product. This is

obviously the only good way towards the

environmentally friendly production of

plastics for the future!

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These products are offered under the

name “Zero Waste”, being a first step

towards the circular economy.

The Amuse range monitors the reusability

of its products and also puts a lot of

work into this. The water carafe is a good

example: you fill the flask with mains

water and the infuser with fruit or herbs.

A lot of disposable plastic bottles are then

avoided.

All products are developed with care with

attention for long-term use to move way

from today’s throw-away society.

Since the end of 2017, DBP has had its

polypropylene waste turned back into

granules for production by an external

company.

The result of the migration tests and scans

carried out by an external SGS laboratory

showed that this post-industrial material

can be used 100% food-safe.

This material is now being used for a

number of permanent products in the

Amuse range. The product labels are also

made of 100% recycled paper.

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DBP receives a declaration from each

supplier stating that raw materials for

food packaging comply with the relevant

legislation.

DBP gives SQTS, an independent

accredited laboratory in Switzerland, the

order to carry out migration tests on the

products, and based on factors including

these results DBP gives a guarantee of

100% food safety to its customers.

The “Declaration of conformity” that DBP

issues to customers comes from FOCOS

and is available in 4 languages: FR, ENG,

NL and DE.

DBP is a holder of BRC packaging AA+;

meaning the audits can now take place

unannounced. This is the highest possible

score that can be obtained, and reflects

the importance that the company attaches

to safety, health and also transparency

and honesty.

DBP is ISO 9001-certified, and at the

start of 2017 we already converted the

certificate from the 2008 to the 2015

version. Subjects such as customers

focus, leadership, involvement, process

approach, continuous improvement, risk-

based decision making and customer

management are fully implemented areas

at DBP.

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DBP regularly sponsors good causes in

the form of ‘free goods’. This can range

from “Kom op tegen Kanker” to a small

school in Paraguay or underprivileged

youngsters in Belgium.

DBP contracts nearly all its packing work

out to BRC-certified sheltered workshops.

Katarinahof has been used since April

2018. This is an organisation employing

people with a disability at a company.

A coordinator is appointed who assists

the employee with a mental or physical

disability. A helping hand lowers the work

pressure on the operators, and the person

in question is integrated in society in a

worthwhile manner.

At the end of 2018 DBP proposed saving

the budget of business gifts for “Kom op

tegen Kanker”.

DBP also offers annual practical training

places for students from different

educational directions. In the 2017-2018

school year there was cooperation on a

Master in Industrial Sciences education:

packaging technology of the University

of Hasselt. Two master’s degree students

developed a logistical case:

“How to increase efficiency and customer

satisfaction in production for packaging

customers.” This was an interesting case,

also with useable conclusions for DBP.

MAKING A POT OF STOCK? Put a 200ml mini Alaska®

freezer box with home-made stock in the freezer. Or set

to work with olive oil and herbs.

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All complaints from customers or

consumers are analysed by “complaints

and reports” software from the supplier

Inception. Complaints can then be

analysed and specifically rectified so

customer satisfaction increases and

failure costs are cut.

Consumers can use info@dbp.be or

info@amuseyourday.com to contact DBP

for any advice and aftercare. Each mail

is personally answered, and in the case

of justified complaints products are also

exchanged free of charge.

The recent investment in the Mitutoyo

measuring bench contributes to the quality

of all products. We use this equipment to

measure dimensions with great accuracy

and make adjustments at an early stage.

This is another way of striving for the

constant quality of each product.

An exceptional amount of attention

was devoted to product information

when packaging the Amuse brand. The

packaging not only mentions the technical

specifications, there are also clear

instructions for use and handy tips and

recipes in 4 languages.

Terbekehofdreef 25-29

B-2610 Antwerp (Belgium)

T +32 (0)3 870 69 70

F +32 (0)3 887 57 95

info@dbp.be

dbp.be