In early 2025, John Pronk Transport BV became the first transport company to start using PackControl's dedicated Transport Module. Just over a year later, we spoke to their TMS Coordinator, Robin Sjiew-a-Joen, again and asked him how they had experienced working with PackControl.
John Pronk Transport specialises in complex logistics. Based in Avenhorn and Aalsmeer, the company handles the transportation of flowers, plants, and fresh produce to the United Kingdom and across the Benelux countries. "We’re growing," says Robin. "We have an increasing number of customers and are also offering new services, including warehousing." Correct empties administration is very important to the company and has been managed using the PackControl packaging software for over a year now. "It's going really well," says Robin.
"We now have a clearer overview and a better understanding of balance structures. In the transport sector, everything is interconnected and there are many different processing routes. One time we're responsible for balances, and another time we're not. Sometimes we load at one loading address for three different clients, but we're only responsible for the balance of one of them. We can now filter this out very easily. Before we started using PackControl, it could be challenging to record balances correctly straight away without extra manual work, but now it's done right first time every time."
In PackControl, you can configure packaging responsibilities using rules. For each situation, you can specify which agreements and exceptions apply. For example, if you collect a load at loading address A for client X, client X is responsible. However, if you collect a load at the same address for client Y, either the carrier or the loading address is responsible.
Thanks to the flexible options, every situation can be automated, so staff no longer have to search for the correct calculation method themselves. "It really makes a huge difference," says Robin. "We've already processed around 100,000 transactions and almost 20,000 trips in PackControl, and the system is super fast and works flawlessly."
Robin continues: "The report builder is one of PackControl's standout features. You can create your own reports. We recently reviewed and updated all of our reports, and we have received very positive feedback from our customers as a result. Some customers receive a report every day and many others receive one once a week."
"On some days, we send out as many as a thousand balance statements. Customers then have the immediate opportunity to respond and ask questions. Because everything is correct, we receive very few questions."
“It’s very satisfying for us when our clients have everything sorted,” Robin explains. “The packaging administration in PackControl enables us to offer a better service."
"We have processed around 100,000 transactions and almost 20,000 trips in PackControl, and the system is extremely fast and reliable."
When asked for a practical example, Robin mentions a client with a number of locations. “They receive a combined report from us in which they can see, for each location, what balance they have with each supplier. In the old system, they saw a single balance per location, which made it difficult to determine exactly which items needed to be returned to which supplier. Now that we’re working in PackControl, that’s clear without any extra research.”
Effective management of empties flows is essential, and at John Pronk Transport, they are committed to staying on top of this. Robin says, "We are constantly looking for ways to improve and speed up our processes. We also collaborate with the PackControl team on this. There is an update every now and then, and new features are often added. With our team of four employees (3 FTE), we are already saving at least fifteen to twenty hours a week."
“Our staff are also happy about PackControl,” says Robin. “It’s a pleasure to use, and speed is key. We’re genuinely amazed at just how big the difference is compared to our previous system. New features are introduced regularly, and we’re now able to improve our internal processes too. We still highly recommend PackControl.”
We interviewed Robin once before, in March 2025, about John Pronk Transport B.V.’s experience with the software. You can read that interview here.
Photo's provided by John Pronk Transport B.V.