Can you tell us something about yourself, how you got here? Career background?

Kris: Before I started at Easy Conveyors, I worked for 25 years at an international company, spending the first 10 years on production, project engineering, and manufacturing engineering. After that, I moved to procurement and supply chain. I did this for about fifteen years. Overall, I was responsible for purchasing non-production goods within the group, which was about 28 companies. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

I started thinking about my future: I’ve traveled a lot and I have a family. Isn’t it time to do something different? At that time, we also had to work 4/5. So, I started working one day a week at Easy Conveyors, part of Easy Systems. That was really fun and exciting. At a certain point, the question arose: Would you like to work full-time at Easy Systems? This was initially to breathe new life into the company, and to manage the purchase department. Since last year, I have been focusing entirely on Easy Conveyors.

 

Can you tell the outside world: What does your role involve? What are your main tasks/responsibilities?

Kris: To be a business unit manager, you have to be a jack of all trades. Luckily I have 25 years of experience. It involves collaborating with the marketing department to increase visibility, starting business development to find new customers and projects, discussing and approving quotes, managing order intake, ensuring orders run smoothly, keeping the warehouse well-stocked, and communicating with customers. My tasks are extensive.

 

What do you think is the vision/mission of Easy Conveyors?

Kris: We aim to achieve a high-quality supply chain process by deploying high-end conveyor modules and components. It is our mission to improve our clients’ success by enhancing supply chain efficiency and maximizing production facility utilization.

 

What are the biggest challenges for Easy Conveyors at the moment? How do you see Easy Conveyors in the market in 5 years?

Kris: One of the major challenges for Easy Conveyors is visibility. How do customers find us? We address this through marketing efforts. We also participate in trade shows such as Logimat, and Hannover Messe. In October, we are going to IntraLogisteX in Miami to generate brand awareness. We also created a new website for this purpose.

 

Another important challenge is to improve the service level. We have partly addressed this by becoming an independent unit within the Easy Systems group. We moved to Tienen and are also working on a new organizational structure. We now have an employee responsible for the warehouse. In September, a new Inside Sales engineer will start, also to enhance communication with the customer. Additionally, new ERPs are being introduced, and the webshop will be fully rolled out. All these efforts will contribute to serving the customer better and ensuring orders are delivered on time. Over the past two years, we also faced challenges regarding prices. Materials sometimes became three to four times more expensive.

 

What is the best part of your job?

Kris: The versatility. Every day is different. One day you’re working on a price list, the next day on a webshop. Naturally, this comes with some stress because you have to juggle so many balls.

 

How do you stay up to date with the latest trends and developments in the industry?

Kris: By visiting trade shows. How are our competitors doing? What are the new trends in the market? You can also find a lot on LinkedIn.

 

What is your favorite product so far?

Kris: I think it’s the diverter. It’s a unique development. There’s a lot of future in it. It incorporates know-how from our local R&D engineers. It’s a product that I believe can break through.

 

How do you ensure customer satisfaction is maintained?

Kris: A very important aspect is listening to the customer and communicating a lot. In the past, we were not always very communicative. Customers would ask questions, and we wouldn’t respond, or at least not effectively. We are now heavily focusing on this. Hence, a new Inside Sales position has been created to help improve this. If a delivery cannot be made within the requested timeframe, we communicate that as well to keep it tranparent.

 

Which skills/knowledge would you like to further develop?

Kris: It has to be communication skills. Everyone can always improve in this area.

 

What do you consider your greatest professional achievement so far?

Kris: In the past, I’ve started up many new factories from greenfield. I’ve done this three to four times. It’s always fun. This is somewhat comparable to what we did at Easy Conveyors last year. The organization was adjusted. These are enjoyable tasks that bring a lot of satisfaction.

 

What are the short-term and long-term goals of Easy Conveyors?

Kris: In the short term, the main goal is improving the service level so customers can place orders more easily.

The second goal is communication. We need to keep growing in this area. If you don’t communicate with customers, you won’t get new sales projects.

At last, we want to keep developing new features. Take the ETS wheel curve as an example.

In the long term, the goal is to become a larger international player. We need to offer these modular systems to integrators who can then distribute them worldwide.

 

What is a fun fact about yourself that people may not know?

Kris: In my free time, I have a fairly social life and I organize many events. I also regularly play DJ sets under the name DJ Moose.

 

Do you have a message for the team of Easy Conveyors?

Kris: We now have a good team assembled in Tienen with a lot of potential. It consists of people who have the best interests of the company at heart and are fully committed to it. I am very happy with the team.