„Only if every member of staff fulfills his tasks, and works together as a unit, will we be successful as company.“

The company Westerkamp tries to create a comfortable working atmosphere for its employees in order to motivate them for their daily work. By conducting qualification measures and trainings, the employees shall be stimulated to be aware of responsibility for their work and for the company. In order to guarantee the smooth operation of the production process in the 4-shift-system, to secure product safety and reachability of responsible persons, there has been a re-organization of the company structure and it has been adapted to these new requirements. This led to the implementation of many new functions.

Technology

The technical department is divided into two segments, the mechanical maintenance and repair of machinery and devices and the electric maintenance of the plant and machinery.

The mechanical maintenance and repair of plant and machinery is very important to secure the function and operation of the running production. This comprises a regular maintenance plan, spare-parts management and storage, as well as the manufacturing of spare parts necessary for the specific use and installation in the mill. There are many parts not available from standard production, these special parts need to be created and adopted to the individual place of use in the plant. We have also implemented an own on-call service in order to make sure that there will be no interruption of the production process.

As the complete production facilities are operated with electricity and as they are all linked by a SPS control system, the area of electric maintenance and repair is also of great importance. We have employed our own electricians, who look after the function and supply of the machinery and plant with electricity and all other requirements regarding the electronic sector. For any irregularities or disturbances, we have also implemented an on call-duty.

Production

All incoming orders are checked and inserted into the ERP-system first. From the system, the production manager can start planning the production of any quality from the range in either plant I or plant II. The production process comprises the choice of the necessary raw material and batch, the staff and shift planning, the grinding, pelleting as well as the packing and marking in the two plants and the new packing line.

Therefore it is very important to pay close attention to the desired collection dates in order to have the goods in place at the right time. The whole site is operated to a stringent HACCP-concept. Metal and glass detectors are installed in the entire production processes and lines in order to secure product safety. There is a permanent control of the incoming, manufactured and outgoing products.

Administration

The administration department holds the contact to suppliers, forwarders and customers. This is where the complete handling of orders takes place. The staff is not only responsible for entering the incoming orders into the system, but also qualified to prepare the necessary documents and to set up the customs declaration forms. As the company is operating internationally, it is necessary to know the individual laws and regulations of each and every country being involved in the export. Dealing with the invoicing of incoming and outgoing goods as well as the registration of all movements of goods within the company makes also part of the administration work. All operations are inserted into the ERP system and can be followed and traced. Once registered, the staff in charge of accounting will look after payments and banking. The payroll accounting and staff management is also organized and operated internally. Controlling and management accounting is also done by our skilled staff members.

Sales

The sale of our feed and litter is exclusively operated by our trade partner AGROMED AUSTRIA GMBH. The development, marketing, negotiation and sale of our wood flours and wood fibers are effected by our managing director and our own sales team.

Purchase

The purchase of our raw material is made by the managing director and the production manager. Any purchases for technical or electrical parts are operated and negotiated by the responsible persons in the technical department. The administration staff is dealing with the purchase of office equipment and supplies.

Quality and energy management

The company Westerkamp GmbH has a substantial quality and energy management system. Besides the compliance of the legal requirements and the regulations of the standard owners, the company obliged itself to execute additional controls serving the feed, food and product safety. The framework of the quality management system consists of work instructions, product specifications, safety data sheets, process descriptions as well as job descriptions and specifications. Training, instructions and explanations are given to every member of staff. They are introduced and educated regarding the individual requirements and changes in their daily work. Internal and external functional controls take place in order to improve the QM/EM-system continuously.

Laboratory

In our company owned laboratory the specification of the incoming raw material and the produced goods are analyzed and recorded. These data will be inserted into the ERP system to have a complete chain of evidence and traceability. If required, the customer can obtain a certificate of analysis for any of the goods manufactured by Westerkamp. Also wood flours and fibers for technical use are subject to the high manufacturing rules of a food and feed standard as we do not make any difference here in the manufacturing process and the plant.

Storage

In connection with the expansion of the production capacities, the storage capacities were steadily increased during the last few years. There are storage facilities for raw material, finished products and packaging material. The new bagging line runs automatically and the pallets with bagged material are prepared in an optimal way for container loading and transport.

Switch and control center

The switch and control center is, so to say, the heart of the company. All important information and control systems for the production, handling and operating of goods and machinery are routed via the switch and control center. The control of the various production levels and steps can be supervised and controlled by the shift manager and they can react without hesitating in case of irregularities. The SPS-system offers a visualization of the various processes and automatic cameras deliver pictures from the different levels. The shift managers coordinate and weigh the incoming and outgoing goods, furthermore they are responsible for the organization and documentation of the various orders.

Apprenticeship

We educate and train in our company machinery and technical equipment manufacturers, industrial mechanics, office workers and industrial clerks in order to offer young people the start into their professional career and in order to qualify skilled workers for the future of our company.