Environmental Service Netherlands

Milieu Service Nederland helps companies with their waste issues. As a total supplier in the field of waste collection, the organization is able to collect all released waste streams (separately) and dispose of them_{in a CO2-neutral manner}. More importantly, Milieu Service Nederland guides companies towards achieving zero waste and circular business operations. "We do this by providing customized services; with personal contact, innovative solutions and by taking away all our customers' worries about their waste management," says Joeri Vonk, Data Analyst at Milieu Service Nederland.

The organization does not have a large fleet of waste trucks of its own, but uses an extensive partner network. Vonk: "We hire trucks from our regional partners. That way we can provide our customers with the best deals as well as avoid additional_{CO2 emissions}."

Slow data entry and outdated IT system

You might not immediately say that a waste management company does a lot with data. Yet the opposite is true. Milieu Service Nederland is a fast-growing organization that is investing a lot in digitalization. "We have been monitoring our business quite intensively for some time, including our KPIs," Vonk explains. "But also, for example, how many empties have taken place at a customer and how many waste streams a customer has. We make all that transparent with the data visualization tool Microsoft Power BI."

Improved performance

Milieu Service Nederland also used an ERP system for years, but it was in need of renewal. "Our four main processes are now housed in low-code apps, which we developed ourselves. However, we ran into a problem: Power BI couldn't properly handle the way these apps delivered data. As a result, we noticed performance problems in Power BI. Loading data tables was terribly slow. This not only took a lot of time, but also meant that we couldn't rely on a stable supply of new data."

Proof of Concept with Snowflake

Needless to say, Milieu Service Nederland wanted to get rid of the performance problems in Power BI. Says Vonk, "After an extensive selection process, we found the right partner in Inergy to help us. They showed a higher level of professionalism than the other parties." Inergy suggested bringing all the data together in a data platform based on Snowflake.

Snowflake as a powerful data platform

This powerful data platform has everything on board to store, process and share large amounts of data. "The advantage is that data calculations take place in the Snowflake database," explains Daan de Schepper, Data Engineer at Inergy. "Then it's smooth sailing in Power BI."

Proof of Concept

Milieu Service Nederland wanted a Proof of Concept first. De Schepper: "We started by unlocking the two longest-used low-code apps. Those were the partner portal where partners can provide feedback in it about the empties they perform for us."

"And the Offers app, which Environment Service Netherlands uses to process new requests from companies." After the successful Proof of Concept, the other apps followed.

Complete customer and partner journey through Snowflake

Milieu Service Nederland's Snowflake data platform has only been live for a short time, but is already bearing fruit. "Thanks to Snowflake, we have a faster and more stable data flow, which makes Power BI run more smoothly," concludes Vonk. "Eventually we want to hook up all sources available within Milieu Service Nederland, so that we get one version of the truth."

Steering information and informing customers

"Our aim is to provide insight into the entire customer and partner journey so that we can see everything - from quote to zero waste level, for example. That way we have better steering information internally. But it also allows us to serve our customers better by proactively informing them when, for example, their waste quantities increase.

Simple data sharing

Moreover, Snowflake allows us to share data with our partners very easily and completely securely, so that they can optimize their services as well." This may already come in handy in the near future. Vonk: "We are already well into the development of a portal for customers and partners. In it, our customers can, for example, see exactly when their waste will be collected, whether it was subsequently successful or not, how many kilos were collected - you name it."

Real-time feedback

"Also, they can provide real-time feedback. This makes it at the same time an important quality check for us and our partners. We can eventually strengthen that portal with data from Snowflake. That way we hope to be able to work even more efficiently and contribute even more actively to a cleaner world without waste."