Meet one of the driving forces behind our Drive Technology department

My name is Jurgen Vermeulen and this year I have been with Caldic Techniek for 30 years. The past twenty years I have been active as Business Unit Manager Drive Technology. The market is still largely the same, namely apparatus- and machine building in the Benelux, however the diversity and scale of the market has increased enormously. As a result, the Drive Technology division has also changed significantly. As society continues to automate, more and more devices, machines and parts are logically needed. This makes our market an extremely interesting and dynamic market that puts their equipment away worldwide.

In such a dynamic and demanding market that is constantly evolving, the recipe for success is hidden at the same time. Because it is precisely in a market in which so much is happening that we can play the role of technical specialist and assist our customers in devising solutions and applications that will keep them one step ahead of their competition; because their success is our success

In my role as Business Unit Manager, I am responsible for the day-to-day operations but also for the future of the Drive Technology division. One of the most important things in this is maintaining a good relationship with our larger partners, both on the purchase and sales side. In such a dynamic market, you have to constantly keep an eye on where customers’ needs are moving and what role we can play in the supply-chain in order to deliver growing added value. In order to do that well, a team of specialists deals with all kinds of strategic questions on a daily basis: Which way are our customers moving? What is happening in the market? How do we remain interesting as a supplier and how do we remain profitable as a company and competitive at the same time?

The development of our division into the future is a long-term game in which strategic decisions are made that greatly affect the direction of the company. For example, we started a local in-house production unit for timing belt pulleys 20 years ago, based on the question of how to ensure that we remain relevant to our customers. Today, that timing belt pulley production is a significant part of our business model. Very nice to have seen that grow over the years!

We see and feel that technical knowledge is actually under tremendous pressure in almost all directions. There are simply not enough people to be found who have the right knowledge and capabilities. For us as an organization that wants to add value by acting as a technical specialist on a fairly broad spectrum of devices and machines, that is a very real and substantial challenge. You can meet that challenge, for example by training people yourself and giving them the opportunity to specialize and develop further. I am therefore very proud of the way we handle this at Caldic Techniek.

30 jaar in dienst is natuurlijk niet niks. Maar bij ons in het bedrijf zijn de relatief langere dienstverbanden eigenlijk niet zo heel bijzonder. Kennelijk voelen veel mensen zich thuis in onze organisatie en blijft men de uitdaging en motivatie vinden om te blijven. Dat wordt ook gestimuleerd vanuit de structuur van de organisatie. Er is een ontspannen en informele sfeer zonder al te veel hiërarchie. Zo wordt iedereen aangemoedigd er het beste van te maken en zichzelf uit te dagen.

For me, the best thing about working at Caldic Techniek is the space you can get to follow your own path. If you are open to that, it is a tremendously challenging factor that keeps your role dynamic and gives you the freedom to develop in the direction that appeals to you. You then respond to the opportunities you see and pick up tasks that make us better as an organization and that make your job more enjoyable. And so, with the right sense of responsibility, you can actually run your own store within the company.