“VDH is helping to shape our creativity”

This is Fridina Koeltechnische Industrie

“Fridina started out in 1937 as a supplier of refrigeration and freezing installations and has continued to develop over the years. That’s why we build practically everything in the field of cooling, for every possible capacity, application and environment. So from laboratory to industrial refrigerators and freezers, from air conditioning to freeze-drying installations, from pharmacies to ice cream factories and from supermarkets to superyachts. Our great strength is the breadth of our range. And we have customers all over the Netherlands.”

Seeing new opportunities

“Because of the breadth of our activities, we can never operate on autopilot. Thanks to that, we always see new opportunities and possibilities for our customers. We think in a future-oriented way and we find solutions that the customer often hadn't yet thought of. Our refrigeration technology is exceptionally good, but I think it’s our ability to think proactively and outside the box that our customers really appreciate.”

Aiming for quality

“One of our other great strengths is that service is embedded in our company philosophy. We make sure that we supply our customers with an installation that does what it’s supposed to do – even under the most challenging conditions. We never skimp on quality and performance. Unfortunately, we regularly come across work by suppliers who are not so dependable. In one sorry case, the customer had to use a garden sprinkler on hot days to cool the condensers on the roof.”

Innovative

“Thanks to our creativity and reliability, we have a broad and loyal group of customers that our technology has helped to grow and develop. To give just one example: for an innovative biomedical laboratory we started out by supplying 3 freezer cells but now we’re also helping them to develop an explosion-proof high-tech freeze-drying installation. The computer-based controls also come from us.”

Among VDH’s first customers

“Fridina has been working with VDH PRODUCTS for a long time. I wouldn't be surprised if we were one of their first customers. We use their controllers for a number of our cold stores. Nowadays that’s the MC3. And VDH also supplies the control cabinets for our installations on superyachts. At our request, they developed a 7-inch touchscreen monitoring and control panel.”

Stainless steel alarm panel

“Because the lines are short, they can react really quickly in Roden. When I contact my account manager, I can reach him straight away. And I really like the way they think along and come up with original solutions. For example, we build multiple cooling and freezing cells on board superyachts. We use VDH’s control technology to do that. When we recently needed a special stainless steel panel above each door – with optical and acoustic alarms for gas detection and isolation – it was no problem for VDH to develop it for us.”

Unrivalled reliability

“No controllers are as reliable as those from VDH. Their products are error-free. And that's so important – the last thing you want is an error when your yacht is in the middle of the ocean! Not many companies can do what we do on those yachts. Our work requires a level of creativity that you don't learn at school, and VDH's technology helps us achieve that.”

Modest

“We’re fairly modest in the way we present ourselves – given the scope of what we do and the high-end quality we deliver. In that respect Fridina and VDH Products are pretty similar. Is that due to your Northern pragmatism? Maybe, but I think it’s probably more thanks to our focus. We prefer to direct our attention on delivering top installations for our broad customer base.”