Back A day at Perron038
With René van de Meeberg
As one of Perron038’s partners, TRICAS has the unique position of being the only company with a full-time location within our innovation center for the manufacturing industry. A familiar face within TRICAS is project manager René van de Meeberg. In this article, René gives us an impression of his workday. “The dynamic environment of Perron038 suits our company perfectly.”
It’s been two years since René van de Meeberg stepped into Perron038 for his first workday at TRICAS. Drawing on his backgrounds in mechanical engineering, industrial product design and business administration, he has since grown into the role of project manager. “TRICAS specializes in innovative product development. Every day we work on technical solutions that help our clients bring a new product to market. In my position, I take care of the connection between the customer and the TRICAS team during a project. To do this, I coordinate the work and communicate with the engineers from my team, the suppliers and the customer. I also have the freedom to take on content-related issues. My experience in the field of industrial product design comes in very handy for this work.”
Work?
Varied and challenging
Each of the three project managers at TRICAS has an average of five or six projects under their belt. Innovative products are developed for customers in a variety of industries: from bendable paper straws to a medical spray applicator. René: “The phases of the various projects are intertwined. That makes my work diverse and challenging, because my job is to monitor and discuss the progress of the projects.
Together with the specialists, I keep the client informed of developments. I fine-tune the plans and then present the final results to the client. I also take care of internal updates and record everything in detailed reports.”
Dynamic
Atmosphere
A regular fixture during the workday is the TRICAS team lunch. “That’s a great time to catch up with various colleagues. We have an unwritten rule that ensures you keep in touch with all your colleagues. I find those personal conversations with my 20 colleagues very valuable,” said René. He also finds the active and dynamic atmosphere here exciting, as well as the knowledge-building events at Perron038 to which TRICAS regularly contributes.
“I see a lot of potential to work together even more. This actually applies to the entire innovation area around Zwolle’s train station (called the Spoorzone), where more and more companies and initiatives are gradually establishing themselves. For example, last year AWL, Tembo, Windesheim, and TRICAS attended a project management course together. I found the dialogue held there to be very informative and useful.”
From idea
To concrete solution
What René likes most about his work at TRICAS are the moments when an idea for a product innovation becomes a reality.
“Everyone in our team has his or her own input and creativity. Combining these allows us to find solutions that we can’t always imagine in advance. The moment that a product or principle is tested and appears to work or to be the right solution is always a thrill. Because with these concrete solutions we can make our customers happy. That’s why you see and hear me whistling as I ride my bike home every day.”
