Collaborating with social enterprises creates a win-win situation

We see it as our social responsibility to involve social enterprises for customised work. "We work in two ways," says Andy Vanhooreweghe (Operations Manager - E.D.&A.). "On the one hand, the social enterprises carry out tasks for us at their own workplace, and on the other hand, their people work for us on site. In the latter case, they come to our location in Kalmthout every day, just like other E.D.&A. employees".

"E.D.&A. is popular among our people." Looking back on 10 years of partnership with Noordheuvel.

For permanent repetitive assembly work E.D.&A. calls in the help of the mobile social enterprise teams under expert guidance. "The cooperation is exemplary. E.D.&A. sees us as a fully-fledged partner, involves us in improvement proposals and treats everyone with the necessary respect. There is interaction and E.D.&A.is open to suggestions. This is reflected in the popularity of E.D.&A. among our people", says Christophe Bauwens, Director at Noordheuvel (*).

"We have been working harmoniously together for over 10 years now and we hope to be able to do so for a long time to come. It's great that we can employ our people at a Belgian high technological growth company that consciously chooses to keep production in Belgium. We are happy to play an active role in this, with a focus on quality".

It is a stubborn prejudice that social enterprises work less quickly and with less quality than 'regular' companies. At E.D.&A. we like to contradict this.

Assembly work is becoming increasingly complex these days. Various (semi) automated operations are involved. But with good guidance and the right instructions, the social enterprises for customised work can follow this perfectly.  "We check the work of these companies during the process just as rigorously as the work of our own employees", emphasises Andy Vanhooreweghe. We therefore guarantee 100% tested, high-quality products for our customers.

(*) Social enterprise Noordheuvel (founded in 1964) provides work to some 120 people who are unsuitable for the regular job market. They give them a job with a full wage and combine this with tailor-made training. Once educated and trained with the right work attitude, they are ready for the transition to a permanent job with a regular employer. The subsidies only finance their loss of return and their training. They do not distort the market.