Will you be the Maintenance Manager of the Year 2012?

"The election of the Maintenance Manager of the Year represents for the BEMAS an opportunity to illustrate the importance of maintenance and the maintenance manager's role in this process."

But what is this election of Maintenance Manager of the Year?

Early that year, BEMAS starts looking for THE person who has translated into concrete success results a maintenance strategy. The contest is open to all, both members and non-members can participate.

The candidate make a folder based on 20 targeted questions. Thus, he makes a "picture" of his maintenance policy. This document will remain thereafter a useful tool for training and information on the internal fuctionning of the maintenance service. The candidate also focuses on some points less obvious. Surely, he may find some points for improvement to make his organisation more efficient. In short, it is a very interesting exercise for the Maintenance manager and his team.
A jury composed of neutral maintenance professionals assessses application receive the folders and select three finalists. The next steps are the plants visits and iinterviews. Whoever gets the best scores become the new Maintenance Manager of the Year.

Why BEMAS organise this election?

Highlighting the importance of maintenance in companies is not just the main objective of the event "Maintenance Manager of the Year" but is also the leitmotif of BEMAS, the Belgian Maintenance Association. For BEMAS, the election is an opportunity to illustrate the importance and role of the Maintenance Manager in the process. Maintenance has a significant impact on companies performances. It is, therefore, essential that it is effective for the production plants in Belgium to remain competitive in the international market.

Why participate?

We can enumerate a lot of arguments why it's worthwhile to participate in our election: to compare you own maintenance management strategy to others, to increase the attention inside and outside your organisation,...

But no other could explain better than Bovyn Erwin, our Maintenance Manager of the Year 2009 and Maintenance Manager at SPE-Luminus Gent Central Ringvaart, can convince you? He says: "BEMAS Maintenance Manager of the Year price highlighted something that I knew existed in the company, but not at what extend. It also brought a sense of pride among colleagues, employees and executive members. I saw it, both in the north and south of the country, in maintenance as well as in production, even in non-technical services. I received congratulations from people I've never met before." 

Erwin Bovyn shows that the electioin has not only positive consequences for the winner but also for the team and the entire company: "Employees satisfaction was very high in 2008, the year before the election. This appreciation was such that our human resources department congratulated us on our score, the highest within SPE-Luminus. After the election, our score is still very tight."

 And if ever you are not among the three finalists, your participation will bring an ideal and realistic overview of your work. "The file I introduced for the election revealed to be a roadmap for our maintenance service. It is an ideal source for a quick overview of our work. I can still use it as material for training new people for a rapid understanding and position to key positions in maintenance" concludes our Maintenance Manager of the Year 2009.

The contest explains in 5 points:

François Depelsenaire is the Maintenance Manager of the Year 2010, a reward for his maintenance strategy

BEMAS, Belgian Maintenance Association, welcomes its new Maintenance Manager of the Year: François Depelsenaire.
François is Maintenance manager at NGK Ceramics Europe Baudour since 2008. The company produces ceramic substrates for catalytic converters for cars and thus provides a key element in the fight aigainst pollution. As in other departments of NGK Ceramics Europe, the vision of maintenance is driven by three basic principles:

• Security
• The quality and the environment first, continuous improvement on one hand
• And the participation of the staff at the other hand.

François Depelsenaire is recognise for his effective maintenance strategy based on the piloting and development of best practices (36 in total).
The annual evaluation of each practice is done by each team member. François Depelsenaire managed to significantly reduce costs,while achieving the most high levels of machines availability ever. NGK is a model student in the principles of TPM (Total Productive Manufacturing).

Congratulations to the two other finalists: Alain Catanese from TNT Express Worldwide HUB and Marc Van Wouwe from Group Van Loon.

TNT Luik Euro Hub receives each night 40 aircraft and 120 trucks loaded. The package must reach their final destination the next morning. For Alain Catanese, a failure is therefore unacceptable. The busy period starts at 10 pm. For 6 to 8 hours, one line must remain available permanently. That's why Alain Catanese attaches great importance to preventive maintenance. Specifically, it's 50% of predictive maintenance and 40% of periodic maintenance.

Our other finalist, Marc Van Wouwe, is maintenance manager at Group Van Loon. This SME is recognised for over 50 years as a neutral ans professional support, which over the years has become the logistic partner for shippers of petrochemicals and service providers.
As a cleaning facilities treat a wide range of "raw", this may have an wrong impact on the facility. In this configuration, Marc Van Wouwe drew our attention with its great general knowledge. Thus it is aware of all techniques and technologies, from oldest to most recent. In addition, it has a very good contact with his staff and serves as a bridge between them and the managers.