Auction at Damen Shipyards

Dutch shipbuilder Damen Shipyards Group held an auction of left-over surplus materials as part of its commitment to sustainability.

Stock manager Martijn van Tilborg explains, “Auctioning left over shipbuilding materials might not be the most obvious step towards greater sustainability, but it actually plays a significant role – what we are doing, effectively, is recycling. As well as the important environmental benefits, this is a great opportunity for our clients, for example, to stock up on spare parts in a cost-effective manner.”

He explains that previous drives towards more ecological performance has led Damen to take great care to optimise usage of materials ordered for the shipbuilding process. This has included, for example, a more centralised control of purchasing and improved data storage of purchased materials.

“Additionally, Damen has already been increasing its focus on re-using surplus materials as part of its mission to achieve circularity of its products. As a result, we now guarantee the use, on average, of 1 million euro worth of surplus materials that might otherwise go unused. However, we still see that we are left with some surplus every year. When we are trying to maximise efficiency at our yards and reduce wastage to an absolute minimum, we need to ensure that we create every possible opportunity to use purchased materials.”

The auction, which began on 21st November and will run until 12th December, was the first of its kind.

Martijn: “We are confident that the auction will prove to be a great success and we aim to do more of this in the future. It’s a great way to optimise our recycling potential at the same time as improving the efficiency of our shipbuilding, purchase and supply performance.”