Relocation of machine lines Martinez Chocolate

The story of Martinez Chocolate begins in 1952, when Wim Stam and his wife took over his mother-in-law’s chocolate shop in Amsterdam. They quickly expanded to three shops, and by 1975, they began producing their own chocolate products. Their son, Martin, oversees production, and his sisters serve customers. This is how the Martinez brand name originated: Martin and his seven sisters. The first production location quickly became too small, and the company relocated and expanded several times. Since 1991, Martinez has been located in Amstelveen at Zanderij. In 2017, plans were made for further expansion, which ultimately resulted in the construction of a completely new building on Meerlandenweg in Amstelveen. Saan, together with partner Yourtech, managed the relocation of all production lines.

Martinez Chocolate remains a true family business, where entrepreneurship and decisiveness are ingrained in the family. Ron Wolkers is one of the family members who oversees the company’s day-to-day operations. He doesn’t have a job title. “We don’t consider that particularly important here. Of course, we do have our own areas of responsibility. I’m responsible for the entire machinery fleet, its maintenance, and the necessary investments. I also manage the major purchasing contracts.” In this role, Ron Wolkers was also responsible for coordinating the relocation of the machinery.

New construction with a future

About five years ago, plans were made to create additional space at the Zanderij by adding a warehouse, but that proved to be a significant investment. Then Martin Stam spotted a plot of land on Meerlandenweg. There was enough space to build a building for the production, storage, and distribution of chocolate products, and to allow for future expansion. Ron Wolkers: “The licensing process began in January 2020, and it took a while before everything was finalized and the land could be prepared for construction. The first pile was driven in January 2022, and construction took a year after that.”

Production optimization

Saan was approached in 2022 to relocate the production lines. Contacts with Saan, which had previously carried out projects for Martinez, were already established. Partner Yourtech was engaged for the disassembly and assembly. “We have a total of 15 production lines. We used this relocation to optimize the lines rather than simply transferring them one by one,” explains Ron Wolkers. The plan was to relocate the entire production line in four months, but due to circumstances, the process was spread over several phases during the move. The action plan developed by Saan was largely followed, and on average, the relocation of each line took about three weeks, including disassembly and assembly.

Satisfied with the result

During the relocation, Martinez Chocolate remained operational as much as possible. While the last line was being moved, the first lines were already back in production, and the Martinez warehouse was already filled with bonbons, chocolate letters, and other chocolate products. Ready for distribution to their own stores, retail chains, and export abroad. The relocation is now fully completed. Ron Wolkers, speaking about his experiences with Saan and Yourtech, says: “I noticed a lot of changes in the people deployed at Saan, and at Yourtech, we had a lot of temporary staff. In recent weeks, we had a permanent Saan foreman on our project, which we really appreciated in terms of collaboration and communication. We’re also more of a long-term planning company, and you excel in ad hoc situations. Saan responded well to changes in the schedule. And if anything went wrong, it was resolved.” When asked if he would recommend Saan, he replied: “I’ve never done such a large move before, so I obviously have nothing to compare it to, but we’re happy with the results. So yes, I would recommend Saan.”