Comprehensive in engineering and supply of railroad materials

Edwin Aerts' company specializes in the engineering and supply of railroad materials. The name Alom is therefore no coincidence: it refers to the company's comprehensiveness.

We speak with Edwin Aerts, CEO at Alom, about the work in Amsterdam. "Our company supplied the necessary switches, crossings, track sections -both straight and curved- and the rail fastening systems," he opens the conversation.

Streetcar infrastructure redesigned

The plan for rezoning the area in front of the central station also involved rerouting the streetcar route. "The streetcar infrastructure was rearranged and designed, this time we did not have to go to the drawing board ourselves, but were provided with the design," Aerts explains. "The challenge in the work was the comprehensiveness, so it was right up our alley. All materials had to be delivered 'in time'. That required tight planning and a lot of control on our part, since our supplier of turnouts is in the Czech Republic and because of corona the transport sometimes didn't go smoothly. Another partner of our company performs the bending and milling work on the rails for us. It was quite a job to get everything there and deliver it back to work in Amsterdam on time."

Reciprocal partnership

One of the measures Max Bögl & Partners had taken to be able to work on site was to reroute the streetcar line. It was then possible to work on the new streetcar route, using the components supplied by Alom. Aerts is impressed by the way they worked together: "This whole project demands so intensely much from the flexibility and commitment of the participating companies, it is only possible if you work together in perfect harmony. Max Bögl has therefore really treated us as a partner and I can say that this partnership is completely reciprocal. It is a fine collaboration."

Sustainable logistics

Alom acted in the role of subcontractor, delivering the necessary parts exactly where they needed to be used. "Sustainable logistics, because this prevented mistakes and it saved an enormous amount of time for the contractor who had to process our materials. To top it off, in the context of 'less disruption,' we delivered everything packaging-free. In plastic crates, sorted into components per so many meters of track. So one could remove all relevant materials directly from the crate at the workplace and empty crates could easily be stacked."

No misses, no misses

In your opinion, why did Max Bögl choose Alom? Aerts answers, "We were included in the tender because we are good at comprehensiveness. Everything supplied by us is compatible with each other, fits exactly and is complete. In the preliminary phase, we do a bit of co-engineering with the customer, to eventually deliver everything tangible. In this way, we relieve the railroads of the project. That way no one misses out and you don't have any misses."

Max Bögl & Partners, the City of Amsterdam and the CFP were responsible for the design that was provided. "A perfectly executed design," Aerts concludes. "Typical of the whole course of events at De Entree."