De Vries Trappen

For four generations, De Vries Trappen in Heerenveen has been dedicated heart and soul to a single goal: crafting high-quality staircases in every shape and size, made with a passion for the craft.

The company is one of the larger staircase manufacturers in the Netherlands and supplies wooden staircases for both standard housing developments and bespoke projects. In addition, they develop innovative concepts such as prefabricated stair towers, whereby complete staircase structures are delivered to the building site as construction modules.

De Vries Trappen has been in existence for over 100 years and has its origins in a contracting firm that later grew into two joinery factories: De Vries Kozijnen and De Vries Trappen. De Vries Trappen has been operating independently since 2001.

De Vries Trappen employs around 130 staff, the majority of whom work in production. Every year, the factory produces thousands of staircases for projects throughout the Netherlands. Managing Director Marcel Beuzenberg knows the company inside out. He started out as a sales representative and eventually rose to become managing director.

The production of wooden staircases involves various woodworking processes, such as sawing, milling and sanding. This inevitably generates wood dust. “The local exhaust ventilation at the machines is well organised,” says Beuzenberg. “It captures a large proportion of the dust, but not all of it. During measurements, we saw that the air quality could be improved further in a few places. That prompted us to look for an additional solution.”

Read more about the solution

During this search, De Vries Trappen came into contact with Euromate. Together, they explored additional measures to complement the existing source extraction system. As part of this, several industrial air purifiers from the DFI series were strategically positioned within the production environment to further reduce the concentration of particulate matter in the air.

In addition, sensors were installed to continuously measure air quality. Via the online Air Safety Portal, De Vries Trappen can control the air purifiers and monitor air quality in real time at various locations throughout the factory.

Beuzenberg: “At first we had two sensors, but we felt that was insufficient for our premises. We now have four and are actively monitoring the air quality.”

Since the installation of the air purifiers and sensors, air quality in the factory has improved further. The measured values remain well within the set standards, and staff can feel the difference in practice. “You notice it when you walk through the factory. The air just feels fresher,” says Beuzenberg. “You can’t see the tiny dust particles,
but when they disappear, you really do notice the difference.”

As well as improving the working environment, the monitoring system also provides extra insight and transparency. De Vries Trappen can demonstrate how air quality is developing and has access to historical measurement data. “It’s great that we can now continuously demonstrate what our air quality is like. You might still see a bit of dust on the floor, but the air is simply clean.”

De Vries Trappen is also positive about the collaboration with Euromate. The implementation was quick and efficient. “It actually went very smoothly. After the initial discussions, we were able to make a quick decision and the installations were fitted not long after.” According to Beuzenberg, the solution is also of interest to other companies in the woodworking industry. “When you work with wood, there’s always dust. So it’s important to do everything possible to maintain good air quality. In that respect, I would certainly recommend this to other companies that work with wood.”