The smell of freshly sawn wood, piles of heavy beams and dozens of trucks leaving the premises every day: anyone who visits the gigantic outdoor premises of Tuindeco in Coevorden, 255,000 square meters with nine large halls, sees a classic wholesale business in garden wood and log cabins. But behind that traditional image lies a high-tech, internationally operating, organization. In less than four years, Tuindeco made a huge digital leap. “It feels like we went from 2000 to 2025 in one go,” says Jeroen Reijngoud, Head of Technology of the Tuindeco Group. “And the best part is: we are far from finished.”
The starting point: old software and growing complexity
Until a few years ago, Tuindeco was running on an outdated ERP system. That system would no longer be supported and also did not offer possibilities for international consolidation. Meanwhile, the company was changing rapidly. The wholesaler expanded with e-commerce companies and took interests in Spain, Germany, France and the United Kingdom An investment company stepped in and asked for better insight into sales, stocks and margins.
“We were dealing with several separate administrations,” Jeroen says. “One business unit was working with its own local ERP package, the other with spreadsheets. We simply had no real-time insight into what was happening in the group. If our Spanish party sold today for seven million euros, we didn’t have insight into that until weeks later. That was no longer tenable.”
“If you can think logically and are a little technical, you can build a lot yourself. That was decisive for us.”
The search for a new system led past the big names: SAP, Microsoft Dynamics and Oracle NetSuite. “We had thorough discussions with all three,” says Jeroen. “SAP fell off because it offers too little flexibility and the implementation would be costly and cumbersome. Microsoft Dynamics came close, but ultimately Oracle NetSuite gave us the most confidence. The system is ‘highly customizable.’ If you can think logically and are a little technical, you can build a lot yourself. That was decisive for us.”
Rsult as partner for implementation
For the implementation, Tuindeco chose Rsult, a specialized Oracle NetSuite partner with a strong presence in the northern Netherlands. “The click with Rsult was there right away,” Jeroen says. “They not only listened, but also dared to be critical. Sometimes we asked for a certain adaptation and got the answer: ‘Actually, you mean something different and that can be done by default in Oracle NetSuite.’ That keen eye has helped us a lot.”
The implementation started with one company where mostly administrative operations took place. Then the remaining companies moved on. Think: finance, logistics, e-commerce and customer service. That took guts, because Tuindeco was one of the first companies to use Oracle Netsuite’s WMS on this scale. “That was spicy,” Jeroen admits. “Much of what we had developed then is now standard in Oracle NetSuite. We were really ahead of the curve.”
One platform for nine companies
Today, nine companies in different countries run on a single Oracle NetSuite environment. That makes the benefits tangible. Financial administration is centralized: a team in Coevorden processes the entire administration for all entities. Business controllers can generate reports for individual companies or the entire group at the touch of a button.
Logistics are also fully integrated. “We used to work with stacks of paper pick slips,” says Jeroen. “In the peak season, the team would start at six in the morning and work through until late at night, sometimes until eleven, until all the orders were out the door. Now we work with 65 hand scanners and automated schedules. We know exactly how many people we need for a given number of order lines. As a result, overtime has been drastically reduced and we can better manage productivity.”
The benefits extend beyond efficiency. Management can log in at any time and monitor the current order intake. “If one day is a little quieter, I sometimes get a message: ‘Does the website work?’,” laughs Jeroen. “That real-time insight is new to us, and it makes quick adjustments possible.”
From inventory to demand-driven purchasing
Another concrete example is procurement. To date, Tuindeco has been purchasing large quantities of wood based on rough estimates. Now the company is shifting to demand-driven purchasing. “We see exactly which products are popular and where demand is decreasing,” Jeroen says. “Instead of already deciding in January what we will buy for the whole year, we can now make continuous adjustments. That prevents surpluses as well as shortages.”
Data as a strategic weapon
All company data, from customer communications to transportation planning, come together in Oracle NetSuite. For reporting, Tuindeco initially used Power BI, but the switch to Oracle NetSuite Analytics Warehouse is underway. “It’s basically Power BI, but connected directly to Oracle NetSuite,” Jeroen says. “You don’t have to make external links. We will soon be able to ask directly: how many invoices has a specific customer received and how many are still open? And we can do that just as well at the sales level, with insight into open quotations and sales opportunities.”
Collaborating with Rsult
During the three-year project phase, Rsult played a key role. “They are not a help desk that simply handles tickets,” says Jeroen. “I send a question and they say ‘I’ll make a ticket, I’ll schedule it.’ Sometimes I get a message the very next morning: ‘I thought about it last night, try this.’ That commitment is golden.”
Tuindeco deliberately chose a partner who thinks with us and knows our business. “And that is exactly what Rsult offers.”
Future: AI and further automation
Although Oracle NetSuite is announcing more and more AI functionality, such as intelligent recommendations and document recognition, Jeroen remains level-headed. “AI is (so far) not a panacea. First your processes and data have to be right. Of course we see opportunities, for example automatic order processing from e-mail. But a lot of what companies call ‘AI,’ right now, are just smart process improvements.” However, Tuindeco is exploring the possibilities of AI and have set up a project group to set this up within the group.
The digital transformation has not only changed business operations, but also Jeroen’s own career. He started as a planner and followed up as a logistics engineer, became product owner Oracle NetSuite and is now Head of Technology for the entire group. “I find implementing and coming up with solutions together the best part,” he says. The organization as a whole has also grown. “We are more professional, more international and much better prepared for the future. Thanks to vertical integration, we can manage across all companies. That helps us not only today, but also in the next phase of growth.”
What began as a classic lumberyard has quickly grown into an international, data-driven enterprise. With Oracle NetSuite as its digital backbone and Rsult as its strategic partner, Tuindeco has laid a foundation on which it can continue to grow for years to come. And with which the company proves every day that even in the most traditional sectors a high-tech heart can beat.
