INTERVIEW MARTIN LANGKAMP & MARTIJN BOUWHUIS (IMS)
INNOVATION AND CHARACTER LIGHTS THE PATH TO IMS SUCCESS In today’s high-tech environment, companies of all sizes are looking to stay at the cutting edge of innovation. According to team leaders Martin Langkamp and Martijn Bouwhuis of Almelo-based IMS, the equation is easy. It comes down to a few key factors: keeping the employees interested, keeping the workplace light and focusing on personal development through training. Collin Arocho
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utch innovation in the hightech sector comes from businesses of all sizes. While big names like ASML and Philips are recognized around the globe, there are also several small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Netherlands playing a big role in global high tech. Take, for example, Almelo’s IMS. IMS has been around for just over 20 years, opening its doors in 1999 after it was spun out of Texas Instruments through a management buy-out. Now, in 2020, the automation and technology expert has delivered more than 750 production lines with an emphasis on the medical device, smart device and automotive domains. “We’ve grown a lot since the early days. Now, we see our role as helping our global customers realize their production goals,” explains Martin Langkamp, technical sales coordinator at IMS. “We do that by delivering our innovative machines all over the world that excel in the high-volume production of small, precise and sometimes extremely complex products.”
Character
While IMS’s global customer base is certainly large, the company itself has a relatively small footprint – employing more than 120 people at its 56
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Almelo and Groningen locations in the Netherlands. Despite its small stature, it’s having a big impact on consumer electronics. Currently, the high-tech machine maker is active in delivering machines used in the assembly process for the smart device and automotive sectors, in addition to next-generation headlights and sensors for cars. “The character of IMS is that we’re always focused on innovation, not just locally, but globally,” highlights Langkamp. “That means we do a lot of international projects, which offers our engineers exciting opportunities to travel, learn and share knowledge. That’s part of our DNA.” Another focal point in the character of IMS is the focus on the personal development of its employees. “One of our main focuses is on continuing education for our workers. We find that trainings, workshops and conferences are a great way for our engineers to develop both personally and professionally,” comments Langkamp. “In fact, as we look to the future as we continue to innovate, the necessary competencies of a position can expand and the engineers may be guided to specific courses to bolster their skills. We actually use education-based developmental plans in our evaluation pro-
cess, to help people and the company meet our goals.”
Modularity
Recently, IMS found a golden opportunity to utilize training. Looking to continue to grow and push the cutting edge of complex part manufacturing, the company took on a new role for its customers, helping lead them in the design of production machines by offering series-based machines, rather than one-offs. “For many years, R&D operated more reactively for development, finding solutions for the customers as they arose,” recalls IMS R&D team leader Martijn Bouwhuis. “More recently, however, we’ve started to adopt new methods to become more proactive in the process and we’ve focused our efforts into making standardized products that can be tailored to fit our individual customers.” To get these standardized products, IMS decided that modular thinking was the best way to achieve the new goals and it started laying the foundational work to get its workforce aligned on the idea. However, it was during the Bits&Chips System Architecting Conference, the team found that their modular approach fits perfectly with the principles of system architecting. Langkamp: “For a few
