On July 4, 2024, a thick black plume of smoke rose over the horizon of Almelo. That afternoon, the nightmare of every transport company became a reality for Dasko: fire! Despite the swift actions of emergency services, the inferno spread mercilessly, turning office spaces, several vehicles, and the maintenance hall into an unrecognisable charred ruin. Fortunately, no one was injured, but the material damage was immense.
This was a major setback for the family business, which has been active in logistics since 1913, but “the show must go on.” With a hefty dose of inventiveness, flexibility, and a fair amount of Twents common sense, most activities were able to resume the very next day. Central planning was temporarily relocated to another branch, and the maintenance department also found a temporary home at a different location.
Partners through thick and thin.
In times like these, you naturally need some understanding from your customers (who, by the way, barely noticed anything) but also from your partners. The price tag of that fateful afternoon is, of course, enormous. The old hall has since been demolished, and Dasko is actively planning the rebuilding of a new facility from its temporary offices. Bart Beeckmans, CEO at Navitrans, puts it well: “You’re partners through ups and downs. As the provider of critical transport and warehouse software, Navitrans is naturally a vital element in your operation. You have to be there for your customers, in good times and bad.”
It could have been much worse.
“The servers running our software were safely housed in a data center,” continues Gerrit-Jan, Product Manager at Navitrans. “I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if those servers had been in the building.” Precisely to prevent such disasters, Navitrans has chosen a Cloud architecture for its new version. “This provides not only extra flexibility in terms of location but also in terms of security and continuity, So, when business suddenly picks up, there’s enough computing power at hand.” Gerrit-Jan continues.
It could happen to you, too.
No business owner ever wants to see those terrible images of a burning building happening to their own company. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t think about it. On July 4, Dasko kept a cool head and, through quick and direct actions, minimized the impact on their customers. A solid digital strategy was a crucial link in this effort. The Navitrans servers and workstations were no longer at the same location, and, just like with the new Cloud version of Navitrans, an “alternative route” for continuous service was quickly established.
Want to learn more about the Cloud version of Navitrans? Or does the thought of still using the local version give you goosebumps? Contact our sales department today.
