Our aim is to provide customers with the very best quality
He is proud not only of his personnel, but also the production machinery he has at his disposal. His day always gets off to a good start when a voice from behind a welding masks calls out in a friendly voice, ‘Morning, Arie!’
Arie Blom has been production manager at Gpi for just over a year. In this capacity he is responsible for galvanising the efforts of his workforce in the production of tanks. Prior to Gpi, he worked for 3 years at Machinefabriek Krimpen, a machine engineering company, and before that for 33 years at VDL RPI Metaal, a company specialising in sheet metal processing. When it was time for a new challenge, he discovered Gpi and was immediately impressed by its portfolio: ‘The COO, Arno Rodenburg, has a background in production and can relate directly to the language on the workfloor. As an employer, it’s a clear motivating factor.’
One object in mind: the customer
As production manager, Arie always tries to impress on his workforce the fact that it’s the customer they work for: ‘Our aim is to provide customers with the very best quality, on time and at the right price. This should be our primary focus. The customer is our raison d’être. We need to listen to their requirements and satisfy these. Good communication with the client is vital so that they know where they stand. For example, I’ll sometimes send a photo to them during the production process.’
The power of teamwork
Arie is aware of the fact that a technical business has to be constantly improving its operations and sees this very much as a bottom-up process. ‘If people are involved in the process, they will remain enthusiastic about their work. In that sense we are keen to promote dialogue between our production staff and our engineering managers. Both need and can learn from each other. If there’s a glitch along the way, we all need to muck in and help out. When a problem occurs, I quiz them on how they see the way out of it. After all, they know their profession like the back of their hand.’
Arie has a clear picture of his role: ‘As manager, my aim is to stay positive and motivational, able to engage with others so that we can achieve the best possible result. Everyone has a right to respect and success. Whenever we load a tank onto the back of a truck for delivery, everyone should take pride in that work. I want the welder to think: wow, I was part of that job!’
