Comfortably Out Of The Comfort Zone

“Difficult” questions provide the best solutions

Why wouldn't you take the step into the unknown? Even if you do not have the required knowledge, there is always a partner who does. At Van Rijnsbergen Elektrotechniek and PureBlue Water, they know what good collaboration leads to. Both companies relied on itsme Industrial Automation, with a successful solution as a result.

They are can-do people at Van Rijnsbergen Electrical Engineering in Nieuw-Lekkerland. What do you expect? When you have been working in home and utility construction for years. Then it's a matter of getting on the building site, having things and materials at hand and getting started quickly. How different that is now, with projects in the marine & offshore. It is a completely different world, says work planner Dirk Mets, in which things are very different with strict safety requirements alone. “After all the preparations, it usually takes a day before we can get started.”
That delay may be a minor setback, but other than that? Dirk feels at home in marine & offshore, which also applies to his father Theo, owner of Van Rijnsbergen Elektrotechniek. Whereas previously only the Netherlands was their field of work, they now travel all over the world. From Germany to Miami, from Finland to Dubai: Dirk and Theo get around. And that after a question from a customer, who called them in a few years ago for lighting and fire protection on a helideck. “Completely different from what we were used to”, says Theo, “but still nice. Dirk and I like to work abroad, it suits us.” And that residential and commercial construction? “That still remains a part of our company - although it is now mainly the five other employees who focus on it.”

New step, new opportunities

You bet that Theo and Dirk left their comfort zone. But no matter how new their “second” field of work was: the move also created plenty of opportunities. Such as when a customer asked for a switch panel for a heating installation on a heliport, where sensors measure the temperature and humidity. Just allowing the installation to be deployed was not an option for Theo and Dirk, instead they were looking for a solution that offered their customers insight, user friendliness and savings. “Because as you can imagine,” says Theo, “if you start half a degree too early, it will cost you an unnecessarily large amount of energy.” Despite the previous experience gained, this project had its challenges. So, Theo and Dirk searched for a partner who could take care of this for them, and they ended up at itsme Industrial Automation. Dirk put his questions to application engineer electrical Pieter van Ginneken, for whom those same questions were not commonplace. “But that wasn't a problem. On the contrary: the more difficult the question, the better the solution. Our knowledge grows with an assignment like this. And by subsequently sharing that knowledge, our customer also reaches a higher level. This is how we strengthen each other.”
After it became clear that the sensors could interact with a Siemens PLC, Pieter and his colleagues worked on formulas to convert the signal into specific values. They also provided the control panel with an HMI screen on which the same values can be read quickly and clearly. All that technology now comes together in one package that customer of Van Rijnsbergen Elektrotechniek can deploy as a standard application. This to the great satisfaction of Dirk, who, like Theo, is enthusiastic about the collaboration with itsme Industrial Automation. “This solution offers value for our customer. That is what we strived for and that is what we have succeeded in - together with itsme.”

​​​​​​​Innovative and challenging

Joining forces as a basis for a successful process. They also know how that works out at PureBlue Water. The company from Kapellebrug designs, realises and supplies widely deployable applications for the treatment, purification and reuse of water. Do you already have a lot of knowledge, but is it lacking in a specific area? Then there is always a partner like itsme Industrial Automation, says Christian Mijnders, who is responsible for Projects & Service within PureBlue Water. “Innovation takes us further, but also in new situations. And it’s those that are sometimes challenging, certainly in combination with the associated time pressure. In that case, I trust itsme Industrial Automation.”
PureBlue Water will move to a new building at the end of this year, in nearby Terneuzen. The building will have an open character, with a lot of glass. That suits the company, Christian says. The lines are short, there is no real hierarchy. Instead, the more than 20 employees of PureBlue Water focus as one team on the right solution for the customer. Christian: “We never give up and I think we are now known for that.” And also: PureBlue Water is a company that doesn’t just make technology work, but also uses it cost-effectively. “It's all about smart building. And as energy-saving and efficiently as possible, so that a customer benefits sustainably and cost-effectively from our solutions.”

Benefit further down the line

Designing, testing, building and delivering: at PureBlue Water they do it all. This also applies to PLC technology, where the company deliberately opts for one brand: Siemens. Yet programming still seems to be a world of its own, Christian says. “I can program, but I don't have the knowledge that itsme Industrial Automation does. So I like to call on Pieter and his colleagues, who helped me with a complex project with multiple communication protocols among other things. Controlling lighting, communication with coolers and measuring instrumentation: it was all covered. itsme Industrial Automation jointly thought up the communication and programming, tested it and put it into operation. We are still benefiting from this collaboration with other projects.”
Pieter listens to Christian's words in agreement. “Such a basis for the future, that is also certainly one our values. We explain what we do and let our customers look along with us. In this way, we increase their knowledge so that further down the line they move forward themselves. And if not? Then they know how to reach us via our help desk.”

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