15 February 2015 | News
Air Products, one of the largest suppliers of medical and industrial gases in the world, has moved to PolanenPark. Air Products recently moved into its new filling and distribution station at this location. PolanenPark is the perfect location for Air Products, since this business park is being developed specifically for industrial use. The establishment of Air Products is the result of intensive cooperation between the City of Amsterdam, De Alliantie, PolanenPark, the Province of Noord-Holland, regional developer SADC, the Municipality of Haarlemmerliede and Spaarnwoude, and RON.
In 2007 the Province of Noord-Holland took the initiative to decontaminate and redevelop the old ‘Rutte’ terrain – a former waste collection site. The province set up a partnership with the Municipality of Haarlemmerliede and Spaarnwoude, SADC and RON for this redevelopment. In addition, Buiksloterham in Amsterdam Noord, where Air Products is currently located, is being developed as a residential area, so Air Products decided to look for a new site. Intensive cooperation with all involved parties facilitated the move for Air Products so that the redevelopment of Buiksloterham can continue as planned.
Business park for industrial use
PolanenPark is the new high-profile location near the Rottepolderplein motorway intersection (A9/A200). Thanks to its location next to the A9 motorway near Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and the newly-opened West Ring Road (A5) in Amsterdam, PolanenPark offers excellent access to the national motorway network. In addition, PolanenPark is right next to the Haarlemmermeer canal, with its own loading and unloading area. For Air Products, PolanenPark is not only a suitable location from a logistics point of view: the new business park is also a very representative environment, centrally located in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area.
What makes PolanenPark unique is that it accommodates businesses from higher environmental categories in the heart of the metropolitan region. Regional governments agreed on this location in the ‘Platform Bedrijven en Kantoren’ (Companies and Offices Platform, Plabeka) because of the looming regional shortage of industrial estates with this use. Because of its business activities, Air Products is in a higher environmental category, but at the same time it is an international company with an excellent reputation, which boosts the competitiveness of the region.
Air Products
Air Products has built an ultramodern filling and distribution centre at PolanenPark, where gas cylinders are filled with atmospheric gases such as oxygen, argon and nitrogen. In addition, a number of cylinders with specialty gases and gas mixtures from a filling station in Belgium are stored on the site. Together with cylinders filled in Haarlemmerliede, these products are delivered by truck to Air Products’ agents and customers in the Netherlands. Transport and delivery times are reduced thanks to the good connections PolanenPark enjoys with national road and motorway networks.
The gases in the cylinders supplied by Air Products are used in the metal industry, the building and construction industry, shipbuilding, offshore, welding and cutting in car workshops, and in the food industry for freezing and packaging food products. Other major purchasers of the gases are hospitals and laboratories.
Thanks to the new building, the optimal road network on the site and the new facilities, this filling and distribution centre is one of the safest, most modern and efficient in the world. A number of architectonic changes and measures such as noise barriers and special greenery even allow the new complex to perfectly blend in with its surroundings, causing no annoyance for local residents.
As the company relocated from the Port area in Amsterdam to Haarlemmerliede, jobs in the region have been preserved. Around 100 people work at the new site in total: 30 in the filling centre, while the other 70 are involved in marketing, sales, technical support and services in the office. The gases are delivered by 20 drivers from a regional transport company.
The new location also offers plenty of opportunities for further growth in terms of business and capacity for more employees.
Air Products (NYSE: APD) supplies atmospheric gases, process gases, specialty gases, performance materials and equipment. The company has been supporting its customers in improving productivity, energy efficiency and sustainability for over 70 years. More than 21,000 employees in 50 countries develop and supply innovative solutions for the energy sector, the environment and new markets. These include semiconductor materials, hydrogen for refineries, technologies for the gasification of coal and the liquefaction of LNG, and advanced coatings and adhesives. The turnover in fiscal year 2013 amounted to nearly $10.2 billion.