The new Plant T is a boost for TVH’s efficiency and lead times
TVH will take a significant step toward the future with the opening of Plant T. This new building isn’t just another warehouse to increase storage capacity; it’s a vital link in a new logistics process. The aim? Be even more efficient, reduce lead times even further and improve product quality. In short: to be prepared for future growth.
- With Plant T, TVH will continue to elevate its data and product quality, enabling us to deliver even greater value to our customers.
- It will be a vital link in the supply chain, significantly reducing the lead time for all products to our customers.
- New process changes will be possible, enabling its employees to develop technical knowledge and move from generalists to product specialists.
TVH is opening its brand-new facility, Plant T, in June 2026. The building is a significant expansion to the total footprint of the buildings in Belgium (currently: 215,000 m² including Plant T), with a footprint of around 18,000 m². The building itself has 4 floors, housing 54,000 m² of logistics space, including 2,000 m² of office space. It also houses 17 loading docks and is connected to the warehouse across the street via an eye-catching 600-ton connector bridge. Overall, TVH invested no less than EUR 85 million in the brand-new plant. A conscious choice, says Patrick Lecluyse, Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors at TVH: “This is clear proof that we are investing in future growth and that as an international company we remain locally anchored.”
With Plant T, TVH takes a new step forward in futureproofing its logistics process. “To put it bluntly, the building will help us manage our parts better, so customers get their parts even faster,” affirms Tom Verbeke, Director Goods In at TVH.
The new plant will serve as a central hub for all incoming goods, sorting them by priority. Tom Verbeke: “This way, we can already make a distinction between goods that are already ready for stock (our so-called “happy flow”) and goods that require an additional (technical) check and/or proper professional packaging. Additionally, we can immediately sort products that need specialized treatment and those that we can store directly.”
It all results in a more efficient logistics system. Tanja Dysli, COO at TVH, confirms: “It’s easy to think Plant T is just another storage warehouse, but that’s not the case at all; it’s a vital link in our warehouse logistical process to improve throughput time and consequently offer better lead times to customers, and our other branches in the world.”
TVH deliberately built a larger plant to handle the volume of incoming goods. “The warehouse part of Plant T is meant for interim storage, before goods are checked and packed. We see it as a first buffer to withstand the fluctuations of incoming volumes. Today, we might have 150,000 incoming goods; tomorrow, about 400,000. You need to be able to handle those differences. Plant T will be essential in mitigating those flow differences. Today, the warehouse part contains classic temporary storage in 33 ft (10 m) racks. But its height will allow for further investment in fully automated buffer storage later on.”
The expansion will also improve efficiency within TVH’s logistics. Tom Verbeke explains: “After receiving the goods, the products will be brought to our product specialists. Engine pistons will be sent to a specialist who also handles gaskets and valves, which makes much more sense. This allows our coworkers to specialize in specific categories, such as electronics, hydraulics, and brake systems. The result: quality checks and data enrichment will improve. Plus, we create synergies across the different departments, strengthening our technical knowledge even further, so we can help and advise our customers even better.”
As a whole, Plant T consists of 4 work floors and 3 high-bay warehouse blocks, each with its own functionalities. “For instance, the ground floor is used for receiving, sorting and buffering incoming goods, while the second floor will house our Quality department. In addition, we installed several offices, which will accommodate teams that will move to Plant T. Consequently, there are plenty of state-of-the-art meeting rooms, so people don’t need to travel between buildings when they want to discuss topics.”
Plant T will also have efficient internal mobility of goods. “By using conveyors, lifts, robots and AMRs, all parts can easily be sorted, buffered and moved across the plant to the correct workstation,” Tanja Dysli explains. “Thanks to our eye-catching bridge, they can even move directly to the Goods Out warehouse across the street. Moreover, we use AMR (Autonomous Mobile Robots) because the technology is highly flexible and scalable, enabling us to deliver the right goods to each workstation precisely and according to their correct priority.”
As always with TVH, sustainability will be at the heart of the new plant. “For instance, the roof contains 2,266 solar panels, totaling 1,472 MWp. These panels will produce around 1,250 MW. To put things in perspective, that’s the equivalent of 350 households.
In addition, TVH aims to achieve the BREEAM certification of “Outstanding” for its efforts in making Plant T as sustainable as possible. The state-of-the-art waste recycling area, where TVH sorts and processes wood, plastics and other waste flows, also contributes to this achievement.
Last but not least, well-being and ergonomics were at the heart of the design of the building. Tom Verbeke: “The addition of showers and changing rooms was obvious, as well as the comfortable dining area on the second floor. Each floor and space also has climate control.” Tanja Dysli adds: “Moreover, wherever we can use automation and robotics to support and offload heavy and tedious manual labor, we have decided to adopt technology for our use to enable our people to work more ergonomically.
"In conclusion, Plant T marks a new chapter in TVH’s successful operations. By advancing our logistics infrastructure, we are unlocking new levels of efficiency and further reducing lead times. The goal remains unchanged: to continuously elevate how we serve our customers.”
