The Challenge: Staying in Control as You Grow
We speak with Lars, responsible for sales at Teunis Workwear. He is in daily contact with customers and understands better than anyone how important fast, transparent communication is — not afterwards, but at the very moment a question is asked.
“We simply want to communicate openly and honestly,” says Lars. “If a customer wants to know the status of an order, I want to be able to give an answer within ten seconds. Not: ‘I’ll get back to you later.’ The customer wants an answer now.”
As the company grew, that became increasingly difficult. Planning was largely done from memory, through brief consultations on the shop floor or in an Excel file that was not always kept up to date.
“I noticed we were relying too much on routine,” Lars explains. “If someone was off for a day, we sometimes no longer knew exactly where an order was, and we quickly lost oversight. That leads to unnecessary errors and frustration. Orders were also becoming more complex, with multiple processes and steps spread across different departments.”
For Lars, it was clear: the process had to change. A central, visual planning tool that provides oversight and is flexible enough to adapt to the team became essential.
One Central Planning System, Tailored to Each Team
Teunis Workwear now works with multiple planning boards. There is a complete overview of all ongoing orders, separate boards for embroidery and printing, and a project planning board for customers with very large orders and fixed ordering moments.
“For me as a salesperson, the overall overview is especially useful,” says Lars. “When a customer calls, I simply search by name, order number or reference and immediately see where the order is and when it will be delivered.”
“Personally, I prefer the Kanban view, where orders are divided by status. That way, I can see exactly how many orders are in each status or which order is on hold. My colleagues in production prefer the list view, where they can quickly filter by task.”
“Everyone works in the way that suits them best. That’s the strength of vPlan — it adapts to your way of working, not the other way around.”
System integration has also been automated. As soon as an order is marked as ‘completed’, a shipping label is automatically generated via TradeApps.
The Results: More Calm, More Control, Faster Delivery Times
Faster Answers for Customers
Thanks to vPlan, customer contact has become much more direct. Lars no longer needs to search for a colleague or walk into the warehouse for a status update.
“When a customer calls, I can immediately see where an order is and when it will be delivered. That provides clarity and customers really appreciate that.”
More Calm on the Shop Floor
The internal difference is just as significant.
“Everyone knows what is expected of them, and tasks are better aligned,” Lars explains. “In the past, people were constantly looking for each other. Now they can see in the system what needs to be done and coordinate among themselves. It works so much more calmly.”
Smarter Bundling and Less Duplicate Work
Orders from the same customer are now bundled together, allowing machines to run more efficiently.
“If a machine is already running, we immediately process another order from the same customer. That saves setup time and prevents duplicate work,” Lars explains.
“It’s faster and more accurate — and you notice that throughout the entire chain.”
25% Shorter Delivery Times for Projects
For large customers with fixed ordering moments, Teunis Workwear plans orders as a single project in vPlan. These projects go through multiple stages, with clear insight into the status at every step.
“Because we make clear agreements in advance, we know exactly when orders will come in and when we need to allocate production time,” Lars says.
“And because everything is clearly organised in one place, we can produce in bulk. That has allowed us to reduce delivery times for some projects by as much as 25%,” he adds proudly.
Flexibility for Urgent Orders
vPlan also provides clarity when urgent requests arise.
“If something urgent comes in unexpectedly, we look at vPlan together: can we do this? What needs to shift?” Lars explains. “That way, we make conscious decisions and can be honest with each other and with the customer.”
Efficient and Sustainable
By bundling shipments, the team not only saves time but also reduces transport movements and emissions.
“If we see another order coming in for the same customer, we sometimes deliberately wait,” says Lars. “That way, we can deliver everything together. It’s better for the customer and better for the environment.”
Other Divisions Also Improving Their Planning
Within Teunis Industrial Engineering, vPlan is now also in use. We speak with Rowin, engineer at Teunis.
“We used to keep a lot in our heads,” Rowin explains. “Everyone had their own to-do list and appointments were in personal calendars.”
With vPlan, that has changed. When something unexpected comes up, the team immediately sees the impact on the rest of the planning. Colleagues who start work after the engineering stage know well in advance what is coming, because the next steps have already been mapped out.
Important customer agreements are recorded on the card, making it easy for work to be taken over during absence. Small interim tasks are added directly to the planning, ensuring nothing is forgotten. Even projects that are temporarily ‘with the customer’ remain visible in the overview.
Teunis Industrial Engineering is already looking ahead. In addition to engineering, they are expanding the use of vPlan: project-based planning for execution, scheduling engineers, workshop planning, and soon compressed air and maintenance planning. Step by step, planning is growing alongside the organisation, with the same goal everywhere: oversight, control and better collaboration.
Conclusion: Ready for the Future
Thanks to vPlan, Teunis Workwear has fully optimised its production process. What started as separate Excel lists and verbal coordination has evolved into a professional and scalable system that enables the team to work faster and collaborate more effectively.
“It used to feel like we were constantly firefighting. Now we’re in control. And our customers notice that too.”
The collaboration with vPlan played a key role:
“The implementation went smoothly, and we received excellent guidance. From integrations to project-based setup, vPlan truly thought along with us.”
🚀 Lars’ Tip for Other Clothing Printers
“Choose a system that grows with your business,” Lars advises. “For us, it is essential that we can always see where an order is in the process — anytime, anywhere. That not only provides clarity for the customer, but also calm and oversight on the shop floor.”
