Thomas Malohn and Operations Director Neil Munslow (right) look forward to sunny days and a good return.

Regenerative Energy
The largest solar energy system in the region
 

Lilienthal. Natural resources, like coal, crude oil and natural gas, are becoming increasingly scarce and correspondingly more expensive. What is more, they are also responsible for gases, like carbon dioxide, that are harmful to the climate. This is why our company is increasingly investing in regenerative energies, like solar energy or geothermal heating. 'Out of the blue's' investment in the Moorhausen industrial park is quite something to behold!

The importer of novelty items, gift and electronics goods, which employs over 100 people, has installed a solar energy system plant on its roof costing almost 2 million euros. These mini-power stations, installed on two warehouse roofs, generate around 450,000 kilowatt hours of power every year - the equivalent of supplying 130 homes with electricity. "We put the foundations for the system in place when we were designing the warehouses," stated Operations Director Neil Munslow. A solid base is essential for a system of this size. Thomas Malohn, from the Grasberg-based Osmer Solartechnik, calculated that the weight of the silicon-containing modular panels fitted by them was more than 100 tonnes. Investing in solar power makes sense for Operations Manager Neil Munslow. On the one hand the company is helping to protect the climate and, on the other hand, it is also a commercially sensible decision. After around ten years, the system on the 10,000 sq. m roofs will have paid for itself, and then the company can count on a further ten years of regular income. The contract with the energy company runs for a specified period during which, by law, any power generated must be bought by the energy company at a fixed agreed tariff. This revenue will also help to lower our own energy costs, Neil Munslow goes on to say.

An impressive number

The project in Moorhausen is an impressive number even for a specialist like Thomas Malohn, Managing Director of the Grasberg-based solar power specialists. No other system in the entire Ems-Weser-Elbe region comes close to its nominal output of 569 kilowatt-peak. According to statistics published by the German Federal Network Agency, similarly sized systems in East Friesland and in the Emsland region, rank behind the Lilienthal solar power system, as Thomas Malohn established.

Six Osmer employees were regularly employed since the end of April on the installation of the modules that number more than 5,000. When fitting the modules to the roof, the fitters had to look out for the numerous roof lights, take the chimneys into consideration and also create narrow  'walkways' for service or possible repair to the solar modules. The  fully system installed at a height of ten metres has now been officially put into operation by Neil Munslow and Thomas Malohn.

From that height there is not only an impressive view across Lilienthal but also over the Saint Jürgens region where, looking towards Frankenburg, several wind turbines rotate generating more renewable energy. In the foreground can be seen 'Out of the blue's' car park, the company that was set up in 1987.

Company cars with hybrid drives are parked there, a further indication of the company's commitment to climate protection.

Out of the blue continues its success story


Neil Munslow  (OOTB Logistics Director) and Kai Hasenpusch
show the direction that the company has been moving in recent years 

Gift ideas for the whole of Europe

Gift and novelty goods for the whole of Europe. This is the corporate slogan of our customer "Out of the blue" (OOTB) from Bremen. The company supplies over 10,000 customers with products from its range that now extends to some 2,500 items. In order to be able to continue to offer its customers a large range of products and seamless shipment in the future, Lilienthal-based "Out of the blue" is investing just under five million euros in its warehousing capacity. Construction machinery and manpower moved a massive 19,000 cubic metres of soil and constructed 430 tonnes of steel on the site measuring some 22,000 sq. m.

Now "Out of the blue", based near Bremen, can store 11,500 pallets on a floor area of 9,300 sq. m. Before the new depot was equipped with state of the art storage technology in late summer in 2008, the company leased six warehouses that were spread right across the town. "The warehousing area needed to be extended for logistics reasons, as our range is constantly growing and the old warehouses were becoming too small. We can now supply our customers from a central location," comments Paul Hyman, Managing Director and founder of "Out of the blue."

Out of the blue's new Logistics Centre in Lilienthal

The beginnings in Borgfeld

Everything took off for Mr. Hayman in 1987 when he set up a trading company for the sale of gifts and novelties in the Bremen district of Borgfeld. More and more new customers arrived and, since then, the innovative company has been focussing on the import and wholesale business, as well as of course retail. 'Out of the blue' is one of the largest European importers of gift and novelty goods. Annually goods with a turnover of 37 millions euros leave our warehouse and we ship goods to Denmark, Great Britain, to the Benelux states, France, Switzerland, Austrian, Spain, Italy, Greece," explains Neil Munslow, Logistics Director of "Out of the blue" in Lilienthal. Working closely with its different logistics partners, the company annually turns over some 10,000 Euro pallets. Hellmann first dealt with "Out of the blue" in 1991 when it first had dealings with our sea freight and parcel service departments. At the time "Out of the Blue" had a clear growth strategy and, with its different company names and change of product range, was always developing new marketing strategies. With company names like "Body Care", "Blue Market" and "Roxan", the company conquered the gift and novelty goods market and is today still trading very successfully under the "Out of the blue" brand. In recent years, OOTB has enjoyed year on year positive growth of approx. 15 to 20 percent annually, according to Neil Munslow.In Lilienthal Paul Hayman purchased a large plot of land and was therefore able to create more space. This was urgently needed as Out of the blue adds another 500 to 600 products to its range every year. In the company's in-house Sample Showroom, the Lilienthal-based company is able to display its entire product range. Hayman and his 100 employees set great store on quality. All of the goods and products are produced in line with European standards and always conform to the applicable EU standards. Cooperation with Hellmann has developed very positively since relations first began between the two companies and is today maintained on a partnership basis. Employees across all operational levels in both companies are known to each other and work well together. There have also been visits to our subsidiaries in Barcelona and Lichfield, and to our Italian partner Sifte Berti, due to the particular importance of these markets. Important informative discussions were held there, in which OOTB was able to highlight the key features of its business and also gain direct contact with our partners!


Customers can familiarise themselves with the colourful product range
in the company's in-house Sample Showroom

Success story

The success of OOTB can be very clearly seen from Hellmann's shipments and growth in tonnage. The volume handled has doubled since 2004 to date! OOTB has grown to become one of the leading European customers for our subsidiary office in Bremen. In 2008 our European transport fleet handled just under 5,000 shipments with a total weight of around 2,000 tonnes. There were a further 2,000 shipments totalling 900 tonnes for our national part load traffic in the Alliance System.

We would like to warmly thank Paul Hayman, Neil Munslow and the entire OOTB team for the trust they have placed in our cooperative partnership over many years and look forward to many more collaborative years working with such a successfully growing company.(Kai Hasenpusch)