Profile: Laboratory wholesaler Boom still sees plenty of challenges for the future, even after 125 years

Three generations have already been at the helm of family business Boom Laboratory Supplier. This wholesaler has been supplying laboratory equipment, supplies and chemicals to its customers since 1895, with which Boom is celebrating its 125th anniversary. When director Bertjan Boom looks to the future, there are more than enough challenges in the market for this FHI member to get his teeth into.

By: Dimitri Reijerman

We speak to director Bertjan Boom in the business complex on Rabroekenweg in Meppel, the location to which the company has always remained loyal. With over three thousand square meters, Boom has tens of thousands of products for laboratories in stock. Bertjan, now in the fourth generation, says with some nostalgia in his voice: “My great-grandfather started here in Meppel in 1895.”

In the following decades the company grew. Boom Laboratory Supplier now employs more than eighty people and serves thousands of large and small laboratories in the Benelux. Every year the company sells around 20,000 different products from more than 300 different suppliers.

With a company history of 125 years, Boom has had plenty of time to distinguish itself in the market and create its own identity. Boom says: “We are a good local company. Boom has two major competitors in the market and they are international companies. We also have an extremely broad product range: not only laboratory products, but also supplies and chemicals. In fact, we are the supermarket for an average laboratory. Also online, although we still rely on offline sales a lot.”

To keep its business healthy, the company wants to focus on its strengths. Bertjan Boom says: “Is the competition fierce? Yes and no, it is a very broad market. Moreover, it is not just about the price. I think customers also choose us because of the quality offered, reliability, having items in stock and some security of supply. But we also think about how we deliver it and when we deliver. And we can certainly do something extra with the permanent contacts we have.”

And, as mentioned, the customer circle is broad for a company like Boom: “We are particularly strong in the industry, across the board,” says Bertjan Boom. “The food industry is a very important one, but also the chemicals, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and of course universities, academic hospitals and the labs in the water industry. In government, for example, we have the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, the NFI and the RIVM as customers.”

Online challenges

Yet, in an era where many sectors are faced with disruptive companies, there are challenges for a wholesaler like Boom. And that sometimes comes from an unexpected source, says the director: “The challenge is online. I expect that that is where the new competition will come from. Amazon for example. I expect them to focus more strongly on the business-to-business market, also in the Netherlands.”

Since Bertjan Boom was appointed director of the family business, the focus shifted to this 'new' sales channel: “I joined the company about 10 years ago. Then we also started to invest more time and money in the online segment. We have started by appointing an administrator for the webshop. We have also improved the website to meet the latest standards. Three people are now continuously involved with the webshop.”

The mechanisms are also being further refined to make the company as customer-friendly as possible, says Bertan Boom: “We want to make it even easier for the end user. We want to relieve the lab employee of everything that is not directly related to his analysis work, for example by getting the right product to him at the right time.”

FHI membership

With FHI membership number 69, Boom is one of the first members of what was then called Het Instrument. Boom later joined the trade association for laboratory technology, one of FHI's five branches.

According to the director, FHI membership offers his company many advantages: “Traditionally the stock exchange, of course, the WoTS nowadays. It is a moment every two years where you can meet customers and potential customers within a few days. There are about ten of us at the WoTS, including our office staff. They can then meet their customers who they normally never see.”

Bertjan Boom: “What we have used a lot in recent years are the workshops. That starts with the Lab for Dummies workshop: people who come here and do not come directly from the laboratory world get an idea of what happens in a lab. But also online communication workshops. Sometimes we attend events that are interesting to get a taste of what is happening on the market, for example with a visit LabSafety. At my level I also spend a lot of time networking. And occasionally we use the FHI general terms and conditions.”

Future-proof

Like many other companies, wholesalers are faced with increasing legislation and regulations. “The pressure from there increases,” says Boom, “just like the flow of documents. This means that you must have your registration in very good order. So we have to keep track of more and more item data and customer data. If the authorities come to check, you must be able to prove that you have done it right. And for the food industry and pharmaceuticals you also have to have all track and trace in order.”

And in addition to the developments in online sales described earlier, the ever-advancing automation also influences how the laboratory supplier deals with its personnel policy: “You see that everything is changing faster. Dealing with automation is one such item. From there we try to keep our people moving, 'flexible and agile', so that they grow with the company. “

Nevertheless, the market in which Boom operates can be called quite stable, says the director: “It is not a hard growth market. If you look at medical technology and electronics, it goes up and down rapidly. If you see FHI's market research, things are happening quite gradually in our sector, a few percentage points plus or minus. There is some growth, especially in the life sciences market. But the use of chemistry and reagents is actually decreasing: where liters used to be used, we are now talking about milliliters. The difficulty is also that the diversity of products is increasing.”

Sustainability

By making it future-proof, Boom is also committed to greening, a process in which many companies are now investing heavily. “We are improving sustainability in two areas,” says the director. “Through the sustainable employability of our staff. But we want to become a little greener than our green logo. Such as with the purchase of green energy. Our roof is already covered with 724 solar panels. And our production laboratory is equipped with heat pumps, which means that gas is no longer needed to heat the surrounding areas.” The company has now been able to reduce its CO2 emissions by 40 percent in 2019.

With these initiatives and a strategy with which Boom wants to prepare itself well for the challenges that will inevitably come, the family business believes it can add another 125 years to its credit. And with its membership of FHI, other companies can also benefit from the knowledge gained from this ambitious undertaking.