INFO
Photobook in a carrying case used for acquisition by Heineken abroad
1963-1969
wood, cardboard, metal, photo, paper
43 x 50.7 x 6.3 cm
The technical one-stop-shop
T.B.B., Technisch Beheer Buitenland, or Technical Management Abroad, became a vital part of Heineken in the late 1950s. The employees of this department travelled all over the world to build or refurbish breweries. Their successors from HTB, Heineken Technisch Beheer, Heineken Technical Management, took along black carrying cases when doing business abroad.
From 1931, the Technical Management Abroad department handled everything from start to finish in terms of construction and mechanical engineering at foreign Heineken breweries-to-be. Tasks included personnel provisioning and care, as well as the procurement and logistics of equipment, machinery, raw materials, and packaging materials on site.
One-stop-shop
As an indispensable one-stop shop, T.B.B., especially the group engineers, formed the link between the parent company in the Netherlands and the breweries in Africa, Asia, and South America. With Heineken's acquisitions and takeovers the department also grew and was soon bursting at the seams. In the early 1960s, the T.B.B. staff left the head office of the Heineken export branch in Rotterdam for a separate office in the city on the Maas River.
Quality control
The primary objective of all these efforts was quality control of the Heineken beer brewed under licence. Maintaining consistent beer quality worldwide has been and remains the key to Heineken's international success. From the first foreign brewery acquired by Henry Pierre Heineken in 1927 – the Brussels-based Brasserie Léopold – the company developed brewing protocols for licensees to ensure the distinctive flavour. The crucial ingredient, the famous A-yeast, is still supplied by Heineken itself to this day. Additionally, foreign beer samples are regularly sent to Rotterdam, where they are assessed and analysed by the technical brewing department and laboratory.
HTB
In 1962, Heineken established the new subsidiary Heineken Technisch Beheer, Heineken Technical Management, which encompassed the 'totality of technical know-how.' HTB staff members carried their black cases with them when scoping out potential new projects. Each case contained the photo album Tomorrow's breweries for tomorrow's society, with shots of the breweries in Kuala Lumpur (Indonesia), Freetown (Sierra Leone), Kumasi (Ghana), Johannesburg (South Africa), Burgos (Spain), Massafra (Italy), Luanda (Angola), Moundou (Chad), Kadima (Nigeria), Kisangani (Congo), and Den Bosch.
The cases remained in use until 1969, the year in which Technisch Beheer NV 1969 was transformed into the Technological Centre, alongside the Central Engineering and the Production Netherlands departments. The technical organisation of both domestic and foreign Heineken breweries had outgrown its original structure and adapted to a new global reality.