Link 2017 Zuid Nederland Special by henjuitgevers.nl

TH E CO N N ECTI O N B ETWE E N TEC H N O LO GY, MAR KET AN D MAN

Magazine

SPECIAL SOUTHERN NETHERLANDS April 2017 | volume 19 | issue 2

THEME HIGH PERFORMANCE IN HIGH PRECISION PILOT PLANTS ARE THE ENGINES OF BRIGHTLANDS CAMPUS CHEMELOT

PHENOM-WORLD AND NTS MECHATRONICS: FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY AND PEOPLE

JAN MENGELERS EINDHOVEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

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CONTENTS 4 SHORTCUTS

20 22 25 28 31 34 36 39 43 47 51

• South Netherlands high-tech perfectly aligned for printed electronics • The Netherlands ‘too large’ for decisive industrial policy • Balluff introduces integrated safety solution THEME HIGH PERFORMANCE IN HIGH PRECISION • Philips mechatronic breeding ground for high-tech ‘polder model’ • Jan Mengelers, President of TU/e, advocates for splitting up TNO • Unique Dutch integrated photonics ecosystem is gathering momentum • Round table on the strengths, threats and opportunities for Mainport Brainport STRATEGY Sioux expansion strategy offsets dependence on a few large customers INNOVATION Pilot plants are the engines of Brightlands Campus Chemelot HARD TO SOFT Deep learning from MathWorks: how to build an autonomous anything PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Thermo Fisher Scientific: Ramping up to an easy-to-use workflow STANDARDISATION Digital collaboration in the sheet metal supply chain STRATEGY Yaskawa: smart collaboration on smart technology PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Metamorphosis of Thomas Regout in final phase STRATEGY Eriks: holding your own in the battle of the sales channels PARTNERS Phenom-World and NTS Mechatronics: focus on technology and people PRODUCT INNOVATION By buying companies ACAL BFI is acquiring knowledge PROCESS IMPROVEMENT KMWE interprets production excellence broadly

High performance in high precision. Development and construction of high-precision machinery and equipment. That is what the Southern Netherlands region - Brainport - the central topic of this publication, excels in. A concentration of high-grade research institutes, such as the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), and a network of high-tech manufacturing companies. With the strongest proof being the chip production machines of ASML. Located in the heart of the Brainport ecosystem, this semicon company is capable of building the most complex machinery that humanity has produced thus far. This Brainport ecosystem has three powerful features. First, the special culture in this region: a business mindset with a touch of fun, On invitation of Link Magazine open and accessible, willing to cooperate with a high goodwill factor. I also met very friendly, engaging people in other Dutch regions. Jan Mengelers is the guest Those regions also have the ecosystem the ‘golden triangle’ of editor-in-chief of this special re-search institutes, governments and businesses with their supply edition of Link. Mengelers is chain. Why then does what works here not seem to work there? My President of the Eindhoven observation is that rarely do all three sides of the triangle have anyUniversity of Technology. thing in common at the same time. In Rotterdam, for example, the city and port rarely speak with each other. Here, however, the three groups see each other at all kinds of functions: in the Eindhovensche Fabrikantenkring (an association of the directors of manufacturing companies based in Eindhoven that has existed since 1944), the PSV Business Club, for academic ceremonies and so forth; every single time. The fifty leading decision-makers in the triangle know each other and have each other’s mobile number. If the mayor of Eindhoven calls me, I take the call, and vice versa. There is a kind of mobilisation force here that gets things done; an unprecedented power that I have not seen elsewhere.’ The second strong feature is the presence of the entire industry ecosystem working together to make a success of low-volume, high-complexity, high-precision machinery and equipment construction. There is world-class technical expertise available within the TU/e and fine institutions like DIFFER and TNO, surrounded by a very well-developed industrial fabric with a number of large OEMs - ASML, Philips, DSM, NXP, DAF - and strong first- and second-tier suppliers who work closely with the OEMs. Not many regions can boast all these ingredients. The third major feature consists of this region’s exceptionally well-developed multidisciplinary technological core competencies that are necessary for high precision. In this region, we have turned the making of incredibly complex tools into an art form - we have gone from strength to strength, and built up our competencies in mechanics and electronics to mechatronics and system integration. And on top of that, we now have knowledge of software development, data sciences and photonics as technology of the future. All muscle groups required for acting globally are present and trained here. This special issue and the numerous concrete cases deliver the proof and show how Brainport consistently works to further strengthen its global leadership position in high precision. JAN MENGELERS, GUEST EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

PUBLICATION INFORMATION Magazine COLOFON

This special issue is a supplement to the April 2017 issue of Link Magazine. Link Magazine is a management journal that discusses contemporary forms of co-operation between companies themselves and between companies and (semi)government bodies, universities and colleges of higher education. Link Magazine is published six times a year.

APRIL 2017 PUBLISHED BY H&J Uitgevers Mireille van Ginkel Bosscheweg 76, 5151 BE Drunen The Netherlands +31 10 451 55 10 +31 6 50 68 78 36 www.linkmagazine.nl

ADVISORY COUNCIL J. Beernink MSc (Golden Egg Check), ing. D.M. van Beers (Festo BV), J.C.A. Buis MBA (RR Mechatronics), ing. B. Draaijer (V en M Regeltechniek), F.M. Eisma (Trumpf Nederland), J.A.L.M. van Erp MSc (Holland HighTech), ir. J.F.M.E. Geelen (Océ), ir. R. van Giessel (former CEO Philips CFT), ing. A.L. Goudriaan MBA (Bosal), ing. J.B.P. Hol (Legrand Group), ir. T.J.J. van der Horst (TNO), prof. dr. ir. J.G.H. Joosten (Dutch Polymer Institute), ir. W. Jouwsma (Bronkhorst High-Tech), R.J.C.M. Kok (former president OTB Group), ir. M.W.C.M. van den Oetelaar (Bosch Rexroth), dr. ir. M. Peters (president & CEO Moba Group), dr. ir. D.A. Schipper (Demcon), E. Severijn (Siemens PLM Software Benelux), H.G.H. Smid (Variass Group), ir. W.W.M. Smit MMC (DBSC Consulting), ing. N.J.F. van Soerland MBA (Philips Healthcare), ir. H.H. Tappel (Bronkhorst High-Tech), prof. dr. L.H.J. Verhoef (TU Eindhoven), W.B.M. van Wanrooij (IBN Productie), ir. S.J. Wittermans (ASML).

EDITOR IN CHIEF Martin A.M. van Zaalen FINAL EDITING Hans van Eerden, redactie@linkmagazine.nl THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE CONTRIBUTED TO THIS ISSUE Pim Campman, Jos Cortenraad, Jan Mengelers en Wilma Schreiber TRANSLATION Powerling Nederland, Bunnik GRAPHIC DESIGN Primo!Studio, Delft PRINTED BY Veldhuis Media, Raalte SUBSCRIPTION € 66.60 per annum ADVERTISING OPERATIONS H&J Uitgevers John van Ginkel john.vanginkel@linkmagazine.nl +31 010 451 55 10 +31 6 53 93 75 89 ISSN 1568 - 1378 No part of Link Magazine may be copied or reproduced without the publisher’s permission. This publication has been compiled with the utmost care. Nevertheless, the publisher cannot be held liable for any inaccuracies. No rights may be derived from this publication.

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

SHORTCUTS SOUTH NETHERLANDS HIGH-TECH PERFECTLY ALIGNED FOR PRINTED ELECTRONICS When most people hear the word electronics, what comes to mind are printed circuits with all kinds of components on them, linked together by thin copper lines. But beyond that preconception on the part of the general (and industrial) public, a small, flexible revolution has been taking place and numerous printed electronics (PE) products have now been developed that can be made using processes which are quite welldeveloped, notes Peter Visser, Programme Manager High Tech at BOM Business Development. These kinds of electronics can be printed onto a material that is flexible and stretchy enough to be incorporated into intelligent textiles, in order to monitor the user’s heartbeat, for instance. For example, within the OP Zuid PE Printed Electronics programme (bringing together BOM,

Holst Centre, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Maastricht University and some 10 SME model firms) there is a project to develop a production process for a smart blister packaging that warns patients if they forget to take their pills. Work is also taking place on a smart insole that gives runners feedback about their running gait and how they can adapt it to avoid injury. The Eindhoven firm Ato Gear will shortly be bringing a beta version of the insole onto the market. This is partly thanks to firms like Metafas in Asten which, together with the partners within the OP Zuid PE programme, has embraced a screen printing process to print the very fine conducting lines on a rubber-like substrate, making use of quickdrying materials. ‘We are currently looking into which components of the production process can be

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made more flexible and costfriendly’, says Visser, who points out that this is a relatively simple printed PE product. ‘For more complex products, such as washable, smart textiles, more R&D effort is required, although the early results are very encouraging.’ However, it is clear that this is a promising market, for which the production processes are largely in place, but which is not yet properly valued by many industrial players, asserts Visser. In that regard, De Budelse, a printer specialising in packaging and involved in the smart blister packaging is ‘a fast changer’. And speed is of the essence, because companies and governments in countries like India, the US and China are investing heavily in the development of PE products and processes. Visser:

‘The starting position for the high-tech industry in the southern Netherlands in particular, with its knowledge of complex machines and processes and its creativity in devising innovative products, is very favourable. In order to make it easier to get into PE, we have an IP portfolio from the Holst Centre available especially for SMEs. We also working with educational institutes such as Fontys and Maastricht University to make sure there are sufficient people with multidisciplinary training entering the labour market, with knowledge of the printing process, materials and electronics.’ In order to raise awareness, the OP Zuid PE project will this autumn again be holding its PE-Event, specifically aimed at SMEs. www.stimulus.nl/opzuid

BALLUFF INTRODUCES INTEGRATED SAFETY SOLUTION

BKL stands for high-quality. We are specialized in engineering, production and inspection of hoisting- and lifting tools, modules and machines. We work for well-known OEM’s serving several markets. Thanks to the combination of outstanding production facilities, experience and creativity of fifty professionals we are able to build customized machines. BKL excels in :

EXPERTS IN SAFETY

Smart insole. Photo: Ato Gear

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

Balluff is the first company in the world to announce its success in producing an easy-to-integrate, cost-saving safety solution based on IO-Link, a point-to-point communication system for connecting sensors and actuators to an automation system. Safety via IO-Link combines automation and safety in a single system. It offers the familiar benefits of IOLink, such as straightforward data transport and information exchange, a high degree of flexibility and universal applicability. Unsurprisingly, Balluff states that Safety via IO-Link marks a logical step for manufacturers on the path to smart industry. In addition to safety components from Balluff itself, components from other manufacturers can also be connected to the new I/O

module. It is also possible to combine it with standard components, such as binary sensors. The module is connected to an IO-Link master, with Profisafe/Profinet guaranteeing secure communication with the control level. Parameters are configured centrally by means of the controller’s programming interface. The system’s simple, transparent structure saves time and money for cabling, reduces the requisite space in the control cabinet, and enables more streamlined system concepts. The high degree of standardisation results in lower maintenance costs, says Balluff. Safety via IO-Link enables applications to be adapted to changing user requirements quickly and easily. www.balluff.com

THE NETHERLANDS ‘TOO LARGE’ FOR DECISIVE INDUSTRIAL POLICY After years of lobbying, late last year the Dutch cabinet named Brainport the country’s third economic core area, alongside Schiphol Airport and the port of Rotterdam. This month, a National Brainport Action Agenda was presented to the political parties in the Lower House, setting out in broad terms what the extra billions of euros in government money may be invested in. Winning core area status means that policymakers in the Eindhoven region have succeeded in demonstrating that investing in hightech industry in the economic core area around Eindhoven is good for the whole country. Such proof is difficult and time-consuming to deliver, which is one of the main reasons why formulating and implementing this kind of regional industrial policy takes a long time in the Netherlands. We may live in a small country, yet for the purposes of drawing up and rapidly implementing industrial policy our country is apparently still too big, contends Fokko Leutscher. He has been CEO of Frencken Europe since the start of this year but previously worked for ASMI in Singapore for ten years. That country, at 716 km² only slightly larger than the Netherlands’ Noordoostpolder municipality, has an Economic Development Board which identifies the best development areas before independently investing in them heavily and quickly. ‘In

response to the arrival in Singapore of European companies like ASMI, which had to build a supply chain for high-precision metalwork themselves, they set up a high-tech industry programme. Based on your targets for turnover and investment growth and the increase in added value per employee, you can get tax breaks of up to 100 percent. Or you can get grants, ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of euros, for investing in an innovative reactor or machine, for example, on condition that you build it there. You can also get financial support for moving high-quality jobs to Singapore.’ In his experience, the subsidies and exemptions involved are substantial and are usually awarded within a few months, sometimes even within a few weeks. ‘But’, he immediately adds, ‘that speed can be achieved only because in such a small country it is clear to everyone that investing public money benefits the entire economy. In the Netherlands, that is less obvious. Which means it’s a good thing that regional government first has to demonstrate that national impact. Fortunately, players like Brainport Development are becoming increasingly well versed in doing so’, he says, referring to the designation as an economic core area. The test of national impact will be satisfied once the agenda is adopted, says Joep Brouwers,

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Deputy Director of Brainport Development and closely involved in drawing up the Action Agenda. Which could still take some time, he points out: ‘The agenda was presented to the politicians in The Fokko Leutscher, CEO of Frencken Europe. Photo: Frencken Hague in early April. country, which attaches great The final investment choices – for value to the principle of ‘share and things like talent development, research & development and infra- share alike’, a decisive industrial policy ‘still cannot be taken for structure – will only be made in consultation with the new cabinet.’ granted’. www.brainport.nl In other words, according to www.frencken.nl Brouwers: in our relatively large

Govers Govers Accountants/Consultants Accountants/Adviseurs Our rankbehoren among the industry Onzeclients klanten tottop de in toptheir in hun or we support development sector, of wij their ondersteunen huntowards ontwikkeling reaching their potential. This is achieved daar naar toe.fullest Dat doen we door een hoge through our de in-depth knowledge of the value kennis van waardeketens, door focus chains, a focus on performance en improvement op performanceverbetering, door actieve and active orientation towards thevan development oriëntatie op de ontwikkeling nieuwe of new business models attractive earnings businessmodellen metwith aantrekkelijke models. verdienmodellen. Beemdstraat 25 Beemdstraat 25

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Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

THEME HIGH PERFORMANCE IN HIGH PRECISION WORLD-LEADING DUTCH DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING OF HIGH-PRECISION MACHINES AND EQUIPMENT

PHILIPS MECHATRONIC BREEDING GROUND FOR HIGH-TECH ‘POLDER MODEL’ The Netherlands’ vanguard position in high-precision engineering has its origins in the mechanisation and mechanical engineering of Philips. One core competency is mechatronics, the cooperation between disciplines such as mechanics, electronics and software. The Dutch ‘polder’ is also a master of the art of cooperation, between people and between companies. Between OEMs and system suppliers, who partly take responsibility for the design and production of high-precision systems.

Motion control is a typical core competency of Philips Innovation Services. Photo: PInS

BY HANS VAN EERDEN

hilips in 2017 is a health tech-centred business. The group has a wideranging central innovation division in the shape of Philips Research and Philips Innovation Services (PInS), which cover markets such as semicon and lighting in addition to healthcare. High-precision equipment is one of PInS’ areas of expertise. Accurate motion and positioning have been core competencies for a long time now, and such things as dynamics, electromagnetic actuation, sensor systems and control have been added to these, says Marcel Renkens, Fellow Architect Mechatronics. The combination of all these disciplines, including software, is mechatronics. The typical Eindhoven or, perhaps, Dutch signature of this field is the emphasis on understanding, he

says. ‘We do our utmost to make a prediction of the performance of the equipment we design using simple models at an early stage. Advanced technologies enable us to calculate everything, but we always endeavour to return to that simple model in order to understand the system’s behaviour. Combined with smart control, this ensures better control of highprecision performance at system level.’

HIGH DEGREE OF PRECISION The next step is to boost the intelligence of the system to be designed by smart use of ‘smart’ sensors, actuators and calibration technologies, adds Gert van Schothorst, Principal Architect Mechatronics. ‘In healthcare, for instance, where there is a great deal of price competition, this smart calibration helps us achieve solid performance with inexpensive hardware. This contrasts with the situation in

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

semicon, where only performance counts and more expensive solutions are therefore possible. The external requirements set there, such as by ASML (global market leader in lithography machines, ed.), give rise to possible solutions that we can translate to fit areas of application such as healthcare.’ In recent years there has been an increasing degree of attention to thermal effects which, however small these may be, can disturb the performance/accuracy of a system. To this end, the Advanced Thermal Control Consortium was recently set up, reports Van Schothorst. Companies such as ASML, FEI (electron microscopes, now part of Thermo Fisher Scientific) and PInS are collaborating on research work with the universities of technology in Eindhoven and Delft in order to generate understanding of and solutions to these effects. Meanwhile, ASML’s machines (for example) are capable of operating at such a high degree of precision that the tiniest disturbance can be calamitous, meaning that all potential (multi-physical) sources of disturbance have to be scrutinised. Consider in this regard the vibrations caused by the flow of water through cooling pipes. A research consortium has been set up for flow issues as well. Hence the multidisciplinary nature of high-precision systems has reached a zenith. Furthermore, the structured approach of systems engineering is crucial, in accordance with the V model for product development (systems requirements – design – realisation – testing – validation) and the CAFCR method (developed by Gerrit Muller of TNO) for systems architecture design (Customer Objectives, Application, Functional, Conceptual and Realisation views with respect to the product or system to be developed). Renkens: ‘The importance of good architecture is recognized at the highest level in Philips.’

OEM WHITE BOX MODEL Classic OEMs like Philips, FEI and particularly ASML are the pillars in Dutch high-tech industry. From the perspective of a desire to

continue on from their success, ‘the new ASML’ is often called for. Nevertheless, the model in which the OEM carries out research, development and engineering for its machinery largely in-house seems to be outdated, because the span of control for the current, complex machines is too big for a single party. In response to this, ASML started experimenting with the OEM white box model: making an OEM-like system supplier fully responsible for the development, production and life cycle management of a module. A new generation of OEMs is taking that model to its ultimate consequences by focusing on developing their new machine’s core technology and core process. System architecture and chain management are their key specialisms. Examples include SoLayTec and Liteq. Additive Industries pursues a similar strategy, but involves suppliers more closely in development.

MODULAR Last year saw Eindhoven-based OEM Additive Industries launch the world’s first genuinely industrial 3D metal printer, the MetalFAB1. ‘It’s not our goal unto itself to become as big as ASML’, says CTO Mark Vaes. ‘We started off from serving the needs of the market for an industrial 3D printing system. We now have 45 employees and are creating most job

The modular structure of Additive Industries’ MetalFAB1. Photo: Bart van Overbeeke/Additive Industries

opportunities outside of our own company by way of our partnership with system suppliers and other suppliers.’ The MetalFAB1 is modular, and in turn each module has submodules. This enables customer needs to be fulfilled quickly and flexibly and simplifies full outsourcing of the machine’s parts to various system suppliers. The modular structure can also help shorten the time-to-market. ‘I don’t believe in first-time-right’, explains Vaes. ‘In theory it’s possible, but it takes a lot of time. Getting beta versions tested in the field by customers as soon as possible enabled us to learn and improve the design rapidly. If changes to modules (or submodules) occur, then these are easy to replace.’ Additive Industries saves on development time by using existing components and modules (or submodules) in the modular system architecture wherever possible. ‘That might cost more money, but proven technology ensures that our machinery is robust. In the first phase, quality has been paramount; now we are tackling modules to reduce cost price.’

MARKET AS STARTING POINT Vaes acknowledges that he is ‘building’ on the Philips foundations: ‘A rich ecosystem has been created here, with plenty of spin-offs and system suppliers. Education and training play an important role, as does the experience people acquire by working for different companies. We distinguished ourselves not by proceeding from a technical invention but rather by starting in 2013 with a potential market, which we sought to gain a thorough understanding of on the basis of interviews so as to then develop a machine for it. After drawing up the requirements, we kept the potential customers in the loop in order to be able to adjust the design, if required.’ This close cooperation also applies to the system suppliers. ‘Our engineers visit them to ensure we can immediately resolve any problems that might crop up during assembly of the modules.’ An important success factor for rapid deveCONTINUE ON PAGE 9 >

LEARNING ROBOTS THANKS TO DUTCH CONTROL TECHNOLOGY Thoroughbred mechatronics, integrating a large number of disciplines in high-tech system designs, is something that can be found in robotics. The Netherlands has no history in classic, tightly programmed production robots. But all the more when it comes to integration of those robots into production lines. Take VDL Steelweld in Breda, specialists in robotising flexible lines capable of working on multiple car models. Developers/builders of robots can be found in a typical Dutch sector like agricultural engineering. Lely in Maassluis is a global player in the field of dairy robots that milk cows in a reliable way. Delft-based spin-off Lacquey has focused on robots’ ‘hands’: grippers for handling horticultural products such as peppers and lettuce. In the Netherlands, it is the universities of technology – Twente (UT) and

Eindhoven (TU/e) as well as TU Delft – that are proving to be the ‘breeding grounds’ of new robotics. TU Delft has a broad scope and is looking to connect with the market by way of the RoboValley initiative. Spearheads include learning systems, actuators and human-machine interaction, says Robert Babuska, Professor of Intelligent Control & Robotics and founding Scientific Director of the Delft Robotics Institute. These topics reflect the rise of interactive robots capable of working with people (cobots) on a physical and social/cognitive level, in production environments as well as in such sectors as healthcare. Classic, heavy-duty robots are not suitable for this, because they are not aware of their environment and partly as a consequence of this are unsafe. Robots need to be given lighter structures and

different controls, with actuators that exert less force. ‘Developing awareness of surroundings in robotics is something that’s still in its infancy’, says Babuska. ‘We have seen the pace pick up in recent years when it comes to artificial intelligence and machine learning, as evidenced by the rise of automated driving.’ From the perspective of its strength in fundamental control technology, as an essential ingredient in mechatronics, the Netherlands will be capable of connecting with machine learning. After all, a ‘correct by design’ control system on its own will have insufficient intelligence to be able to get robots to behave properly in unpredictable environments.

www.tudelft.nl

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

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Special Issue - Dutch High Tech - April 2017

Layout of TNO’s EBL2 facility. XPS analysis technology can identify changes in surfaces which could be indicative of contamination. Illustration: TNO

CONTINUATION OF PAGE 7 >

lopment is the software, says Mark Vaes. ‘This is becoming increasingly important in hightech mechanical engineering, but it’s common to still see a typical method of software development, which is unfathomable to other disciplines and only starts once the hardware is in place. To the detriment of the turnaround time. It’s crucial that we develop more swiftly and to this end we are using modelbased design.’

CONTAMINATION CONTROL The increasing emphasis on software does not mean that there are no more challenges in terms of hardware. Due to the progressive miniaturisation of semiconductor structures particles and molecular contamination are having an increasingly significant impact. TNO, the Dutch organisation for applied scientific research, is a specialist in this field and set up the International Center for Contamination Control, which combines research efforts for a variety of applications. Contamination control encompasses three steps, says Director Business Development Wilbert Staring: ‘Prevention, diagnosis and remediation. You can minimise contamination by implementing measures in the early stage of development and choosing the right materials and structures. We can review customer designs in terms of these aspects. If contamination nevertheless occurs during the production phase, then you have to carry out a diagnostic procedure in order to identify the source of it. You then need to do a redesign or implement measures to mitigate harmful effects.’ TNO focuses solely on the genuinely critical systems. ‘Things only start to get interesting for us below one micrometre.’ Besides semicon, TNO has traditionally been strong when it comes to space, adds Business Developer Jing Zou. ‘It started long ago with contamination control for space optics. Once a space vessel is launched, you cannot fix any

contamination problems, so prevention is paramount. Another issue is the long lifetime of space systems, which requires you to reduce their lifetime sensitivity.’ One appealing TNO project is Tropomi, a European satellite instrument to monitor global air quality more accurately than ever before, set to be launched this year.

EUV Space was leading in contamination control, but now semiconductors is setting the pace, with requirements that are orders of magnitude more stringent. The latest ASML lithography systems use Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) light and this is extremely sensitive to absorption under atmospheric conditions, why is why the process is done in a vacuum. For the purposes of test work, TNO recently commissioned EBL2 (EUV illumination and analysis facility 2). Zeiss will be using EBL2 for testing the mirrors for the EUV illumination system it is supplying to ASML. TNO is also anticipating demand from other semicon parties, e.g., concerned with lifetime tests: how will materials survive EUV, how will the performance and reliability of EUV tools evolve? Contamination issues are also found in many other advanced optics systems, hence constituting one of the topics in the Dutch Optics Centre set up by TNO and TU Delft last year. Metrology is now the biggest challenge rather than manufacturing clean systems. It is down to the resolution, the smallest impurities that can still be detected, as well as the measuring speed. Solutions come in the form of, e.g., Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) for resolution and high-throughput SPM for speed, which employs a large number of parallel, miniaturised, SPM scan heads. Yet another solid example of Dutch mechatronics.

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THEME HIGH PERFORMANCE IN HIGH PRECISION JAN MENGELERS, PRESIDENT OF TU/E, ADVOCATES FOR SPLITTING UP TNO

‘THERE IS TOO GREAT A GAP BETWEEN UNIVERSITIES AND RESEARCH INSTITUTES’ The Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is an important source of knowledge and young research talent for the high-precision industry in Southern Netherlands. But fulfilling that role properly has come under pressure. The industry is desperate for research results that are more commercially viable than the university can deliver at present. And for more graduates than the university can offer at present. While the attraction of research centres and overseas companies to scarce talent is increasingly growing. An outside world where you can simply ignore the ‘Balkenende salary standard’ and governments invest more heavily in technical education and research. President Jan Mengelers expresses his concerns and wishes and fires a few warning shots across the bow by suggesting to split up TNO (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research). BY MARTIN VAN ZAALEN

im Pelsma, the CEO of Aalberts Industries, recently suggested making technical education free as that would ultimately lead to a higher supply of technical talent to the hightech industry. That did not go down well with the Dutch education sector, which held nothing back in its criticism of the suggestion. Because giving preferential treatment to technical education programmes would come at the expense of other education programmes. Unless, argues Jan Mengelers, President of the Eindhoven TU, you increase the government budget for technical education beyond the current budget for education. ‘Unfortunately, that did not make its way into the political agenda of the campaigns ahead of last month’s elections. The Netherlands has made significant cuts in recent years while other countries like Germany and Switzerland and Nordic countries have invested heavily in technical education and research. This explains why these countries consistently top the World Economic Forum’s rankings.’ He hopes that additional investment in technical education will still find a place in the coalition agreement of the new government. ‘Because then it will indeed be possible to give technical education programmes a higher funding priority.’

REVERSE KNOWLEDGE WORKERS GRANTING SCHEME Medical education currently has funding factor 3, technical education has funding factor

1.5 and the other programmes funding factor 1. ‘If you look at the labour market demand figures of the ROA (Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market, ed.), the only segment where the labour demand is twice the supply is the technology segment. In all other segments, the difference is either much smaller or the supply higher. This alone should bolster the argument in favour of raising the funding factor to 2 or even 3.’ Mengelers is mindful of the fact that additional budget cannot be quickly converted into additional academic scientific staff, or more education infrastructure. That is why he is calling for a ‘Reverse Knowledge Workers Granting Scheme,’ referring to the scheme that was put in place during the 2009-2010 financial crisis years. This scheme made it possible for the government to contribute financially to the salary of talented but redundant knowledge workers who were able to spend some of their time on innovation projects at research institutes: ‘Let the government help in paying the salaries of R&D people in the high-tech industry so that they can devote part of their working time to serving as guest lecturers at a university such as ours.’

BETTER SCOUTING Mengelers also advocates for spending the limited investments in technical education more effectively by selecting students on the basis of talent and motivation. Not that he is in favour of the selection-at-the-gate strategy as is the custom in Anglo-Saxon countries. ‘In the Netherlands, we have all decided that a secondary education diploma is sufficient to

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

gain access to higher education. I think that’s great: health care and education should be as accessible as possible.’ But the process of choosing a study programme that best suits a prospective student could be better managed, continues the president: ‘Here in Eindhoven, we have a scale-up, StudyPortals (150 employees, ed.), of an alumnus of the TU/e, who specialises in matching students to the right programmes. Scouting for talent among students in the Netherlands could be done better.’

EXODUS OF TALENT He immediately compares this to the world of pro football: ‘Like PSV (he sits on the board of the foundation in which the club’s shares are held, ed.) continues to follow its club-trained players’ careers after they leave, we as a university have to do much better in terms of following the careers of our alumni and former employees. So we know when they are at a stage in their careers where working at the TU as a researcher would be attractive to them. And we can make them a well-timed offer.’ However, just as between European clubs, the budgetary constraints between universities can also vary widely. ‘The budget of MIT, our role model in the US, for example, is seven times higher than ours, while we have the same number of students and two and a half times as many employees. There are also increasingly more institutions in the Middle East that are offering our talents three times the salary we offer, plus a private lab. This can increase the exodus of talent and that concerns me.’ Adding with a quasi-confident look, befitting an ‘unfeasible’ idea: ‘Actually, we should follow the example of the football world, i.e. enter into contracts with our talents so that we can ask for a transfer fee....’ As if to give himself a pep talk, he continues: ‘Thankfully we are scientists, different from football players, independent spirits. Who are driven to discover the mysteries of Mother Nature and who do not allow themselves to be swayed by a higher salary.’

PILLORY On the research front, he sees other foreign practices which can undermine the way for Dutch TUs to further strengthen the competi-

tiveness of the country’s high-tech industry. ‘The freedom that professors have, say in Silicon Valley, to pursue extra-curricular commercial activities is much higher than here. Fortunately, scientific knowledge in the Netherlands is often brought to market by creating a start-up. An enterprising professor can buy as high as a 10% share - without voting rights - in the company. In other words, such a professor cannot become a major shareholder, or run and grow the private company in the Netherlands. That is immediately regarded as a conflict of interest. Only professors in medical science are afforded more freedom by their universities. If you step over the limits, you run the risk of getting nailed to the pillory. By the Jan Mengelers hopes that additional investment in technical education will find a place in the coalition agreement of the new government. ‘Because then it will indeed be possible to give technical education programmes a higher funding priority.’ Photo: Bart van Overbeeke Dutch weekly, De Groene Amsterdammer, for example, which last year publisuniversity. The same applies to the NLR. DLO, (9). The research work of the universities is at hed a list of professors and their extracurricuwhich is integrated with the Wageningen levels zero to three. That of the six major lar activities and additional earnings. University in the Wageningen University and research institutes for applied research - in Scientists earning money through knowledge Research Centre, is already setting a good addition to TNO, these are Deltares (focused developed with public money is unacceptable, example.’ on applied research in water and subsurface), that is the prevailing public opinion in the ECN (Energy Research Centre of the NetherNetherlands polder. Furthermore, we cannot lands), MARIN (Maritime Research Institute compensate talented scientists with a higher TNO, TOO COMPREHENSIVE Netherlands), NLR (Netherlands Aerospace salary because of the ‘Balkenende salary TNO is, as far as he is concerned, too compreCentre) and the DLO (Agricultural Research standard’. And because research resources hensive. This institute conducts research into Service) - is at levels four to six. have not increased here, we cannot bind them topics such as renewable energy, health, nutriwith large research budgets.’ tion and high-tech systems, defence & security As a result, a lot of knowledge with great and mobility. Jan Mengelers fires a few warTOO MUCH FRAGMENTATION market potential remains unused, gathering ning shots across the bow: ‘At TU/e, we have a The main recommendations in the ‘Evaluadust on the shelf. His conclusion worded in a High Tech Systems Center headed by Maarten tion of the applied research organisations neutral tone: ‘If a scientist really wants to Steinbuch. Technical research into mobility is (TO2)’ report published last month reads as undertake something commercially, he would also concentrated in Eindhoven. TNO’s follows: ‘Create sufficient focus and volume in have - is practically forced - to go abroad.’ the knowledge areas the Netherlands wants to activities there could be integrated with highexcel in, including funding’ and ‘Encourage tech. TNO’s chemical research can also be collaboration among TO2 institutes and other integrated with the chemical research of this SPLITTING UP TNO knowledge players. The primary focus in the university. That is how you can fix the fragFor him, a much less fait accompli in the polshort term is on strengthening cooperation mentation of universities, technical institutes der landscape, is the way the Dutch research among technical universities and TO2 institucommunity is organised. In his opinion, it and the industry. This allows you to respond tes.’ This according to the commission headed would make more sense to concentrate the much more readily to the needs of society for by Anton Schaaf who prepared the report. publicly-financed research activities conshorter-term research in a particular area. Strengthened by this, Jan Mengelers advocates cerning certain major social themes, from idea Applied research is currently conducted at the for integrating research activities from TRL to application, on the (technical) universities. technical institutes, separately from the levels zero to six. ‘There is currently little theA cluster based on the Technology Readiness university. That is why our university will now matic focus, too much fragmentation, distinct Levels (TRLs) of zero to six. With the most organise applied research, around our core separation between universities and research salient consequence being: splitting up TNO, fundamental photonics research, the Institute institutes, stagnating the translation of basic the Netherlands Organisation for Applied for Photonic Integration, within an as yet to research to the market. That is why Deltares Scientific Research, where Mengelers served as be set up Integrated Photonics Development and MARIN can be integrated in their Board Chairman until 2014. Center.’ entirety with components of the Delft TU. There are ten TRLs, from basic idea (0), Because all the knowledge on water technothrough proof-of-concept (3) and R&D logy and shipping is concentrated within that prototype (6) to full market introduction www.tue.nl

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

THEME HIGH PERFORMANCE IN HIGH PRECISION UNIQUE DUTCH INTEGRATED PHOTONICS ECOSYSTEM IS GATHERING MOMENTUM

$1/GBPS@400GBPS IN 2019 IS THE PHOTONIC ‘MAN ON THE MOON’ When looking back in, say, 2025, mid-March 2017 may well be regarded as the ‘tipping point’ in the global integrated photonics evolution. In the unique Dutch ecosystem forces were joined to accelerate the development of this technology which will accommodate the ongoing massive growth of datacenter and telecom (5G) traffic as well as enable a myriad of novel, e.g. sensing-based, applications. $1/Gbps@400Gbps was defined as the ‘man on the moon’ roadmap target for 2019. BY HANS VAN EERDEN

n Monday, March 13, representatives of the unique Dutch integrated photonics ecosystem gathered at the Ministry of Economic Affairs to combine forces and start a taskforce aimed at accelerating the technology development. As all the technology building blocks necessary are available in the Dutch Photon Delta and the surrounding European countries, it is about time to merge them for producing market-ready solutions. Two days later, during a roundtable at the Link Magazine home office, key players discussed the roadmap for bringing a first integrated photonics killer application to the datacenter market within two years. They talked about urgency, ecosystem development and a call to action. The panel moderator, Gert-Jan Vaessen, manager at BOM Capital, raised the question whether the hype surrounding photonics is justified. Ton Backx, a Professor at TU Eindhoven, President of the Institute for Photonic Integration and CEO of Photon Delta, believes it is. ‘There is a clear urgency, which stems from the growth in internet traffic. Just look at the growth of data centres, thanks to giants such as Google and Facebook, and the rise of

Netflix, Spotify and similar companies.’ Semiconductor technology is gradually reaching its limits with regard to data communications and telecommunications. The energy required for chip performance and cooling already accounts for three percent of the worldwide energy consumption and that share is doubling every two years. Photonics can and must offer a solution to this problem within five years.

KILLER APP

Photonics (modern light applications) is a supplementary basic technology which can help data communications and telecommunications develop further, when combined with electronics. The combination is faster and more energy efficient than either of the two technologies by themselves. Integrated photonics has a leading role in this process: in 2020, integrated photonic chips (PICs) and their applications will generate a turnover of € 60 billion (ten percent of the total photonics market). The question asked at the roundtable talk was which killer application can ensure that this prognosis becomes reality? Backx suggested that the answer to this question lies in data centres, in the transceivers and chips that facilitate photonic (fibre-based) network traffic. The data communications market is mainly a high-volume, price-driven market; in a technological respect, the telecommunications market is the driving force due to the higher quality Ton Backx (Institute for Photonic requirements. ‘The Integration, Photon Delta): proper margin can be ‘There is a clear urgency, which obtained from niche stems from the growth in internet applications, such as traffic.’ all kinds of sensing.’ There are also oppor-

Patrick de Jager (ASML): ‘I hope that there will soon be a number of killer applications, because volume provides a boost.’

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tunities for sensing in high-tech systems and infrastructure.

SENSING It is the core business for the fast growing company Technobis in Alkmaar, the Netherlands (more than sixty employees): the use of photonic measuring principles for registering (changes in) physical quantities, such as length, pressure or temperature. That makes it possible to monitor deformation in precision machines, the mechanical load placed on parts of a construction or the temperature of critical components. Compared to classic discrete optical/photonic systems, integrated photonics is much cheaper and much smaller, and it performs much better (resolution and accuracy). ‘We are one of the first users of integrated photonic sensing’, said Pim Kat, CEO of Technobis. ‘Our ‘boxes’ monitor, for example, the forces on landing gear or the mechanical load on aircraft wings. They are used in the Airbus A350 and the Apache helicopter, amongst others. Airbus and Boeing are now also investing in the technology, because they see that we are able to cater for their real-time, high-speed control needs.’ Kat agreed that the technology will lead to breakthroughs in application possibilities. ‘Our technology can already be found in six different areas in an aeroplane. We have

completed a project in Formula 1, but we simply do not have time for the car industry.’ Ton Backx named the lidar the killer app for this market segment. It is a type of radar sensor used for collision avoidance in self-driving cars. Compared to this, aerospace remains a niche market, with only a few thousand aircraft a year, in which up to ten systems are installed. It is also a market that requires a long-term approach. ‘We started in 2008 and now within two to three years, our systems must be ‘flight qualified’. We also focus on the health care market. We are already able to produce disposable diagnostic guidewires for as little as $50. That opens up a larger market.’

ECOSYSTEM Technobis is an important player in the Dutch ecosystem. Research, design, production and application development are all combined under the flag of Photon Delta. Research is concentrated around the technical universities of Eindhoven (Institute for Photonic Integration) and Twente (MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology) and has resulted in spin-offs such as EFFECT Photonics, SMART Photonics and Lionix. People are working hard at the moment setting up the Photonics Integration Technology Center (PITC), the national shared facility centre where research results can quickly be developed further to the level of industrial use. As a result, the Netherlands has grown to become a leader in technological developments, explained Erik Teunissen, Senior Managing Consultant at the consultancy firm Berenschot. He was the programme coordinator for the Dutch research and one of the initiators of a European research consortium. He was also involved in the creation of Photon Delta, which was set up in the autumn of 2015 as a platform to accelerate the growth of the Dutch photonic ecosystem by efficiently bringing all the parties in the photonics supply chain together and by making it possible for them to work together in open innovation. ‘Boosting application development is key for this ambition’, stated Teunissen. ‘Pim Kat has shown that you can become a market creator,’ added Ewit Roos, Managing Director of Photon Delta. ‘His company, Technobis, has shown that this technology can be used to replace expensive systems with low-cost disposables. This way, a whole range of applications has become possible and a further dozen or so companies like Technobis could well be created.’

What is needed now, according to the roundtable, for bringing photonics to the market fast, is clout, entrepreneurship and a ‘man on the moon’. Photos: Kees Beekmans

FOUNDRY An essential building block of the ecosystem is production capacity. This is provided by the TU/e spin-off SMART Photonics (31 employees), which is the world’s only pure-play (independent) foundry and which opened a production line for PICs (on the Indium Phosphide technology platform) in 2015. ‘We carry out research together with the Eindhoven TU into the development of new building blocks for our platform and we follow our industrialisation roadmap’, explained CFO Robert Feelders. ‘Our aim is to be able to reliably produce high volumes. Last January, we visited Facebook and Google, amongst other companies, during a trade mission; they want to know whether we can provide the

right volumes at the right price. For markets other than the data communications and telecommunications markets, it is important that the technology becomes better known. We have a small number of Dutch customers, but the large majority are from abroad. For the Dutch business community as a whole, it is important that we do not only export wafers with chips, but also produce packaged chips and complete systems. In 2018, SMART Photonics hopes to open a new factory for volume production in Eindhoven, where high-quality products can be produced at an acceptable CONTINUE ON PAGE 15 >

WINNING THE RACE WITH DOWN-TO-EARTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP What is missing in the discussion is attention for down-to-earth entrepreneurship, according to Hans Streng, serial entrepreneur and currently CEO of Luxexcel, based in Turnhout (Belgium) and bringing 3-D printing technology for optical products to the market. He calls it the ‘region reflex’ of Brainport as new technology arises. ‘It is all about what people will be able to do with it in the future and the money that must first be invested in it by other parties, such as the government and large companies, so that further research can be carried out and more technological developments can be achieved. Or they hype young and chaotic entrepreneurs, who jump right on top of the technology, but who do not succeed in meeting the hyped expectations. Ultimately it is about the execution which makes the technology ready for the market.’ In between that, there is a large area occupied by small and medium-sized companies that have a keen nose for the market, that grab the opportunities that the new technology has to offer them and

that simply get things moving by building their company from the ground up by themselves. Streng points to Wim van der Leegte, the figurehead of the Dutch manufacturing industry, who created the VDL empire in half a century, and to high-tech companies such as Sioux and Prodrive Technologies. ‘They are only ever mentioned in the newspapers when their companies become large. They form the bridge between a phenomenal technology and hip start-ups. If this type of company is given the opportunity and takes the opportunity that it is given, the VDL of photonics will rise to the surface all by itself. The technology is valid. The question should be what sort of photonics products can be marketed at the moment and who has the entrepreneurship to gather the money for that, from customers, obviously. This requires competitiveness, the will to win, also from the Americans. I do not see enough of that competitiveness in the region.’ www.luxexcel.com

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

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CONTINUATION OF PAGE 13 >

price. Pim Kat is anxiously waiting for this to happen. ‘We are currently not able to guarantee our customers the production capacity needed for a ramp-up of production.’ One of the possible locations for the new factory is the High Tech Campus Eindhoven (HTCE); after all, an ecosystem requires a physical location. ‘We want to offer this factory a place on the campus’, said Cees Admiraal, Business Development Director of HTCE Site Management. ‘We realise that it is a relatively new technology and it, therefore, requires long-term development.’ ‘Admiraal’s offer is much appreciated’, said panel moderator Gert-Jan Vaessen. ‘Because SMART Photonics’ new factory is the epicentre of the urgency surrounding photonics.’

ASML ASML, the world market leader in lithography machines, is the informal leader of the hightech ecosystem of Eindhoven and the surrounding area. Up until now, ASML has focused on the classic semicon and has only been indirectly involved in the developments in photonics. However, ASML machines can be made suitable for photonics. For example, SMART Photonics has recently purchased a refurbished ASML machine and adapted it for the production of PICs. ‘For us, integrated photonics is a part of MOEMS (micro optoelectromechanical systems), just as MEMS (micro electromechanical systems) is’, explained Patrick de Jager, Director New Business at ASML. ‘The MOEMS market includes an unbelievably divers range of applications, but they all represent small volumes. We are also buyers of integrated photonics.’ He points to systems that Technobis has developed for monitoring nanometre-scale deformations that influence the performance of ASML machines. ‘Currently, the entire world market

for integrated photonics could be supplied by only five ASML machines. I hope that there will soon be a number of killer applications, because volume provides a boost.’ What De Jager implies is that until then, it is not worthwhile developing dedicated machines for PIC production.

Pim Kat (Technobis): ‘Within two to three years, our integrated photonics systems must be flight qualified.’

CHALLENGES Now that a renowned player such as ASML, which could raise the level of the equipment needed for PIC production, has become involved, all the elements required for a complete ecosystem are available. All the more, because ASML pushed the Dutch machine builders and mechatronics suppliers to new levels, according to Backx, so they should be able to achieve the positioning accuracy of up to 100 nanometres, which is required for the assembly of photonic systems. ‘The system suppliers that are united in Brainport Industries are able to do this and realise it creates opportunities for them. The task is now to bring all the components of the ecosystem to maturity and to align them.’ Of course, research still has some issues that need resolving, but production is the biggest challenge: packaging and testing, in particular, require attention, besides lowering the cost price and increasing the capacity, as mentioned previously. ‘Technobis is going to do this themselves’, said Pim Kat. ‘For a photonic chip, it is more complex than expected and nobody is yet able to do it well. That is why we are going to set up a factory with a cleanroom and test equipment in Alkmaar, and also set up a training programme for working in the cleanroom.’ Erik Teunissen: ‘When the technologies necessary for packaging and testing are in order, the supply chain in the Netherlands will be complete and we will be the world centre for delivering PICs.’

ACTION

Robert Feelders (SMART Photonics): ‘The Netherlands should not only export wafers with chips, but also produce packaged chips and complete systems.’

This conclusion was shared by those sitting around the table. The problem is, however, that the development to market readiness is not going quick enough. ‘For example, our market research shows that at the current rate of development, the desired price level for mass use in data centres will be achieved in five years,’ said Ewit Roos. ‘However, the sector wants us to be at that level by next year.’ ‘That is not possible, but two years is possible, provided the required investment is available,’ added Ton Backx. ‘Then, we will still be ahead of the rest of the world – United States and China.’ ‘Only if the correct technological choices are made though’, said Patrick de Jager. ‘With MEMS, everybody wanted some-

thing different in technical terms and for that reason, it did not really get off the ground. I believe in killer apps, because they create critical mass.’ ‘The Netherlands should also learn from what happened with the photovoltaic solar energy market’, added Erik Teunissen. ‘Our country gained a great deal of knowledge, but the rest of the world earned the money, because we forgot to create an ecosystem.’ That is why Cees Admiraal argued that the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency should promote the Netherlands even more as the place to be for photonics. In order to attract (international) business, investments in infrastructure are required, such as the already-mentioned factory, with the aid of public money. ‘The provinces of NoordBrabant and Overijssel have already assumed extremely ambitious positions by, for example, supporting the PITC’, reported Ewit Roos. The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs has now also got involved and its first step is setting up a national task force.

COORDINATING THE CHAIN What the participants of the round-table talk think is needed now is clout, entrepreneurship and a ‘man on the moon’. That is $1/Gbps@400Gbps in 2019 or in other words, in two years’ time, a data communication speed of 400 Gbit per second for a cost price of 1 dollar per Gbps must be a reality. ‘Everything must be mobilised to achieve this. It is extremely urgent and we cannot afford to drag our feet any longer’, said Professor Ton Backx. ‘This applies to the entire chain, so the architecture must be well defined’, reacted Patrick de Jager. ‘ASML New Business is able to help the chain by coordinating the systems engineering top-down.’

www.photondelta.eu www.tue.nl www.smartphotonics.nl www.technobis.com www.berenschot.nl www.asml.com www.bom.nl www.hightechcampus.nl

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

THEME HIGH PERFORMANCE IN HIGH PRECISION ROUND TABLE ON THE STRENGTHS, THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR MAINPORT BRAINPORT

‘THERE IS A REAL MOBILISING FORCE HERE TO GET THINGS DONE’ The fact that the high-tech ecosystem in the Brainport region is an extremely powerful engine of the country’s economy and welfare is beyond dispute. It’s great that the government has at long last attached the ‘mainport’ label to it. But what makes this ecosystem unique? And what are the strengths, threats and opportunities for preserving or even enhancing that position of global strength? That was the subject of the round table set up by Link Magazine in Nuenen on March 15. Putting the ‘miracle of Eindhoven’ into perspective.

BY PIM CAMPMAN

oderator (and guest editor-in-chief of this special issue) Jan Mengelers opens with the soft skills which he believes set Brabant apart: a dash of conviviality, an open attitude and a willingness to work together. These things are important, agrees Gerrit van der Beek: ‘Coming together, having a laugh; the culture here connects people, in business too.’ Joep Brouwers adds: ‘In highly complex manufacturing industry, you do nothing alone. Whatever you make, you make with a whole lot of others. Things work well if you deal with each other in a businesslike and non-hierarchical manner; it helps things go smoothly.’ Frank Mulders points to a harder fact, one which he believes is unique: ‘The entire chain of OEMs, suppliers and research and educational institutes is present here. It is a wonderfully rounded and large ecosystem, in which all the players come across one another – in the manufacturing forums in Eindhoven (EFK) and Helmond (VICH), Brainport Industries, the Brabant-Zeeland Employers’ Association and other networks. And because

Gerrit van der Beek (Liteq): ‘It is crucial to have firms which are outstanding in a specific discipline.’

we all operate globally, we understand and value each other. For example, when I visit ASML, outwardly I feel AAE but inwardly I feel ASML. I appreciate how smart what they do is and what we do together. In this region, we are so connected that we are proud of each other.’

THE SAME COMPETENCES ‘The supply chain is in order here’, notes Bas Hulsken. ‘We think of Brainport as ‘Optical Valley’, with world-class competences in imaging. Our scanners make really big images at very high resolution, the opposite of what ASML do. But it calls for the same competences. The control systems for nanometre-precise positioning, high-speed data processing, the know-how required to make good optics; all of this is very well represented in this region. I travel all over the world, but I have only really seen that here. Foreign visitors are amazed when they see the quality of suppliers like Prodrive, Frencken and Sioux CCM.’ The region is very important for Vanderlande too, says Vincent Kwaks. ‘Philips has a proud engineering culture here and has created a sense of technology-driven entrepreneurship

and togetherness: we are at the top of the league table in the Netherlands in terms of employee satisfaction. These founding aspects of the ecosystem are in this region’s DNA.’

GENUINELY DISTINCTIVE Core competencies which are a legacy of the past, such as mechanics, optics and accurate positioning, Van der Beek describes as ‘a kind of nucleus for new competences and products’. ‘In particular software competences, which are becoming ever more important – for embedded systems and ultimately also for new applications; they keep the ecosystem thriving. Mengeler adds: ‘All the muscle groups for acting at a global level are welldeveloped. ASML makes the most difficult machine in the world, thanks to the superb mechatronics and software competences which have been developed here.’ This is what sets Brainport apart, Brouwers remarks. ‘The province of Zuid-Holland has more high-tech firms than we do in numerical terms. But they don’t have that complex ecosystem with very large players centred on a number of core competencies. With all due respect to Twente (the industrial region in the eastern Netherlands, ed.), which is itself a very attractive region, the high-tech key players there feel more connected with the ecosystem here. It is key to their development.’

A KIND OF MOBILISING FORCE Jan Mengelers takes a step back: ‘Elsewhere in the Netherlands, I have also encountered very pleasant individuals who are good at bringing people together. And you also find that golden triangle there, made up of research institutes,

Jan Mengelers (TU/e): 'Which of the political parties is still talking about support for innovation? Not one.’ Bas Hulsken (Philips Digital Pathology Solutions): ‘Foreign visitors are amazed when they see the quality of suppliers like Prodrive, Frencken and Sioux CCM.’

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companies and their supply chains and government. So why doesn’t what works here work there? My observation is that two of the three sides are often present, but rarely are all three connected. Here, all three sides of the triangle are constantly mingling, on all kinds of occasions. The 50 top people within that triangle know each other and have each other’s mobile numbers. There is a kind of mobilising force here to get things done. That culture of knowing each other, coming together, working together and goodwill is part of the usefulness principle; an unprecedented strength which I have not seen elsewhere.’

GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN Gerrit van der Beek identifies a danger: ‘Many companies started off in a specific discipline – electronics, mechanics, software – and are shifting towards becoming system suppliers. They are all becoming rather alike, whereas I believe it is crucial to have companies which are outstanding in a specific discipline.’ Frank Mulders recognises the danger; he believes the prospects are better for complementary collaborations between parties together performing the role of systems supplier. ‘That is a far more effective method than doing everything yourself and all becoming applications managers. Let’s not all start competing with one another but instead develop that collaboration further.’ Vincent Kwaks observes that Vanderlande’s ecosystem is largely located outside the Netherlands. ‘Looking at what we have developed over the past five years, our supply chain has become far more international. Not all the competences we need are present in this region. Robotics, for example, you definitely won’t find in Eindhoven.’ Which is

Vincent Kwaks (Vanderlande): ‘People are being trained for jobs they are not going to get – because those jobs will have changed even while they are at university.’

not to say that Vanderlande is gradually turning its back on the Brainport ecosystem. ‘I think that 70 percent of our engineers come from the Eindhoven University of Technology, so that connection is part of our fabric.’ His advice: decide which competences are essential and invest only in those. ‘The restrictions on government support for research institutes has enormously diluted knowledge development and research. Given that scenario, it is a crying shame to do the same thing in two places at once. A single university of technology (with three sites, ed.), as advocated by ASML’s Peter Wennink, is a good idea.’ Mengelers adds: ‘We need to think carefully about which competences we need if we are to still be developing and building world-class things here in this region in 2030.’

NEW INCUBATOR Joep Brouwers cites the heritage of Philips as an ‘enormous incubator’. ‘If photonics had been a promising, upcoming technology 20 or 30 years ago instead of now, people at Philips would have been given the money and space to work out what to do with it. Philips might have spun off a firm which would immediately have had a position in that new market; look at the story of ASML. We need to rediscover that incubator role in the ecosystem, otherwise we will have a serious problem.’ As yet, there is no tailor-made answer to how that should be or can be done, says Brouwers. ‘Much of what the OEMs and research institutes discover and develop never gets used, it’s lying in a drawer somewhere. The challenge is how we can get a handle on that within our ecosystem. There is a lot to be gained by doing so. Besides that, we need to find a way to re-engage with what Philips succeeded in back then, with its deep pockets and golden touch at getting stuff onto the market. For example, by forming an alliance of OEMs, top suppliers and research institutes, with public support.’

There was a mixed company sat around the table at Collse Hoeve. Moderator Jan Mengelers, chair of the executive board of Eindhoven University of Technology, was representing the research institutes, while Joep Brouwers (a member of the Brainport Development management board) was there on behalf of an intermediary organisation. The OEMs were represented by Bas Hulsken (head of technology Philips Digital Pathology Solutions), Vincent Kwaks (CTO Vanderlande) and Gerrit van der Beek (CEO of start-up Liteq). And Frank Mulders, CEO of AAE/Grauel, provided some useful input as a systems supplier.

HIGH-RISK, HIGH REWARD The fact that the pool of high-tech OEMs in the region needs to be expanded is something everyone agrees on. Van der Beek points to the importance of good support for start-ups – and sees a gap there. ‘It is almost impossible to find the money to turn a great innovation into a successful company. Investors are really looking for software-like, app-like innovations they can cash in within one or two years. As a result, brilliant high-risk, high-reward innovations are dying a death, or being picked up by foreign players. Which means those innovations are lost to the Netherlands.’ According to Mengelers, the government needs to adopt a position on this. ‘But which of the political parties is still talking about support for innovation? Not one. Getting politicians on board is a hard sell. In Singapore, it’s a very different story: there they are putting €3 billion into a new national programme over 10 years – they are going for it.’

INSUFFICIENT AMBITION Mulders observes that start-ups are not seen as sufficiently cool and sexy in the Netherlands. ‘Promising start-ups deserve to be valued more in my opinion.’ Van der Beek adds: ‘In the States, if you have a couple of failed start-ups behind you, you are a hero. Here, CONTINUE ON PAGE 19 >

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

TURNING PARTNERSHIP INTO SUCCESS Why has High Tech Campus Eindhoven turned so many brilliant ideas into world-class businesses? The answer is an open secret. The success lies in the dynamic, productive ecosystem created when over 150 high-growth companies choose to build their future at a single location.

HERE AT THE FOCAL POINT OF ADVANCED KNOWLEDGE AND HEIGHTENED SKILLS, THINKING AND CREATING KNOW NO LIMITS. TECHNOLOGY BECOMES BUSINESS,

Repeatedly recognized as the “smartest square kilometre in Europe”, people here are working on technologies that will affect the lives of billions of people. They are focussed on finding answers to the big global questions in Health, Energy and Smart Environments. We invite you to discover more about the secrets of our success. Find out how your company can benefit!

WITH COMPLETE FACILITY SUPPORT IN A CULTURE OF CREATIVITY. HIGH TECH CAMPUS EINDHOVEN IS THE CATALYST THAT INITIATES AND ENCOURAGES THIS VIBRANT CULTURE. THIS IS A PLACE WHERE PATHS CROSS, IDEAS MEET ACTIONS, AND INNOVATION ACCELERATES.IT IS A SPRINGBOARD FOR THE BRIGHTEST AND THE BEST TO REACH NEW HEIGHTS. HERE, THE UNCONSCIOUS SEARCH REVEALS A CONSCIOUS DISCOVERY, WITH AN OPEN MIND TO THE WORLD AROUND AND THE ROAD AHEAD.

TU R N I NG TECH NOLOGY I NTO BUSI N ESS

w w w.hightec hc ampus.com /cont ac t

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you have a black mark against your name.’ Kwaks says he talks to companies who are happy to put a lot of money – ‘up to 50 million’ – into a start-up. ‘As long as they believe in it.’ He cites the ‘Make Next’ platform set up by ASML, Huisman and Vanderlande as a breeding ground for new OEMs. ‘Within that platform, we help scale-ups with knowledge and expertise in technological, organisational, strategic issues, IP matters, etc. A firm like Smart Photonics was happy to receive that kind of help, but a lot of others say: ‘Leave it, we’re fine as we are.’ Many potential scale-ups in the Netherlands lack the ambition to move on up to the next phase; they simply aren’t interested.’

HIGH DEGREE OF ALIGNMENT Bas Hulsken returns to Brainport’s strengths. ‘We (Philips Digital Pathology Solutions, ed.) are growing enormously, we are doubling the headcount of our development organisation pretty much every year. We consider ourselves lucky that there is so much technical talent in this region. Moreover, in a sense that talent is self-nurturing: engineers from the various companies meet socially and share knowledge and competences informally. That way, the incubator role we were talking about is distributed across multiple companies. My advice would be: put a lot of effort into enthusing,

Joep Brouwers (Brainport Development): ‘We need to rediscover that incubator role in the ecosystem which Philips used to have, otherwise we will have a serious problem.’ Frank Mulders (AAE/Grauel): ‘In this region, we are so connected that we are proud of each other.’

growing and holding onto top talent.’ Jan Mengelers endorses that. ‘The Brainport National Agenda (see page 4, ed.) which is on the way will emphasise the retention and further development of talent and expertise. There is a lot to be gained that way, and we need to communicate our successes in this area more explicitly, including abroad. Students are able to follow high-quality, English-language study programmes at the Eindhoven University of Technology. After which, because the connection with high-tech industry is already there, they walk straight into brilliant jobs within the ecosystem – perhaps not with the big salaries sometimes paid elsewhere in the world, but with a good allround package which the current generation really values.’

‘Continuous change’, says Vincent Kwaks, ‘is a must. Stand still for a moment and you’re finished. We have a permanent focus on changing our organisation so that it can handle change, so that it is adaptive. There is also a role for educational institutes here. The thing is, people are being trained for jobs they are not going to get – because those job will have changed even during the time they are at university.’

www.aaebv.com www.brainport.nl www.liteq.nl www.philips.nl www.tue.nl www.vanderlande.com

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Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

STRATEGY SIOUX EXPANSION STRATEGY OFFSETS DEPENDENCE ON A FEW LARGE CUSTOMERS

SOFTWARE AS A FOUNDATION FOR INTERNATIONALISATION From software-only development partner to fully-fledged systems supplier for high-tech OEMs. That is the transformation which Sioux has managed in a targeted and steady fashion over the past five or six years. ‘As a multidisciplinary firm with, we believe, a fairly unique profile, we offer existing and new customers a complete, strong proposition’, so say management team members Ron Willems and Arnoud de Geus. A strong foundation for the next challenge: internationalisation. BY PIM CAMPMAN

nternationalisation is both a desire and a necessity, according to Ron Willems, director of Sioux’s software division, which includes its growing electronics arm. ‘The Netherlands and Belgium – where Sioux, founded in 1996, has also long been active, ed. – are becoming too small to guarantee a healthy spread of customers. I believe we could easily put all of our 500 engineers to work there – but that would make us very dependent on a few customers. Sioux wants to – no, needs to – avoid that, the more so because that would hamper our ambition of significant further growth.’

DIVERSIFYING STRATEGY Sioux moved into the German market some time ago. It is particularly active in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, which have numerous OEMs specialising in the type of engineering in which Sioux’s added value lies: low volume, high complexity, high precision. Arnoud de Geus, director new business development at the Sioux Group: ‘We are able to play a useful role for various ‘Mittelstand’ OEMs, with say a few hundred million euros in turnover, and we also have a good power balance with them.’ Ron Willems: ‘As a multidisciplinary engineering firm that can also physically deliver and demonstrate its added value, there are opportunities for us there.’ More and more existing – read: primarily Dutch – customers prefer to put the development and assembly of their machines or modules into the hands of a single partner. Linking in with that trend, in 2010 Sioux set out a diversifying strategy which has since been rolled out step-by-step. Today, the Eindhoven system house has all the development disciplines in-house, plus growing capabilities and facilities at the subsequent steps, such as prototyping and testing & assembly.

UNIQUE PROFILE Without, emphasises Ron Willems, compromising on what has made Sioux distinctive

springboard to this, in 2011 we acquired NBG in Nederweert. Under the name Sioux Manufacturing, this firm builds complete end products and control units – casings, electronics, cabling – for various customers. Ron Willems: ‘Sometimes they can be pretty complex, but mechanically they are not precise down to the nearest micrometre or nanometre. We assemble them in sometimes large numbers, up to several thousand per year.’ One step further: high-tech, low volume machines/modules which do meet the requirements of ultra precision and which Sioux has been assembling at its own production facility including cleanroom since last summer, close to its head

and great over all those years: software development. ‘In the engineering of complex machines and modules, typically half of the workload is in the software and the other half in the other disciplines put together – and the balance is shifting ever further in favour of software. We see this among just about all our large customers. And the same is now happening in our own business. We are starting to acquire quite a unique profile with the combination of our various development disciplines. There are plenty of system suppliers, but which ones are strong in software development and industrial mathematics? Those are precisely the two Arnoud de Geus (left) and Ron Willems (center): ‘We are starting to acquire quite a unique profile in areas of expertise we the combination of development disciplines and manufacturing capacity.’ Photo: Bart van Overbeeke also offer. office in north Eindhoven. MuTracx (disruptiI believe that that combination is where our ve PCB printers; an acquisition) and Liteq strength and uniqueness lie.’ (ditto, lithography packaging machines) have The result: Sioux is carrying out more and given that facility a flying start, explains more multidisciplinary development projects, albeit always containing a large software comArnoud de Geus. ‘We are now also getting ponent. Ron Willems: ‘In order to be able to final test & assembly orders from customers tackle them properly, we rejigged our organifor whom we are already doing engineering. sation somewhat a little under two years ago. That’s the great thing: as a development Whereas previously, as a smaller company, partner, we can see the direction in which our we were a single pool, these days we work in customers are headed, and as a multidisciplidiscipline-based teams. A matrix organisation nary partner we can respond proactively.’ from which we can take the people who can Communicating that strong proposition, deliver the best contributions to a particular to potential customers abroad is Sioux’s development project.’ challenge. De Geus: ‘Foreign parties, including German ones, are increasingly feeling pressure from Asian competitors, which means they are HIGH-TECH ASSEMBLY more open to inno-vation. With a clear and The developers now have short lines of strong profile, that definitely offers us at communication to their colleagues with Sioux opportunities.’ electronics and mechatronics knowledge and expertise, in order to translate a ‘design on computer’ to a product built in-house. As a www.sioux.eu

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

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INNOVATION PILOT PLANTS ARE THE ENGINES OF BRIGHTLANDS CAMPUS CHEMELOT

TESTING NEW MATERIALS, BIO-BASED AND OIL-BASED For Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Sittard-Geleen 2016 was another hectic year. The brand-new Center Court conference and meeting building opened its doors, the 3D-print centre doubled its capacity, SABIC opened a new research centre and several new companies moved to Brightlands, including DSM Innovation Center. 2017 is opening with the pilot plant zone, a ‘quarter’ for pilot plants.

director Emiel Staring. SMEs usually do not have the resources to set up their own pilot plants and purchase the right equipment, nor the knowledge to operate them. A pilot plant is therefore essential.’ InSciTe expects the first concrete results in the near future. ‘We are seeking to establish whether the work done in the laboratory can be replicated on a larger scale in a pilot plant. Only then will we take the step up to a demo factory.’

TECHNOFORCE SEPARATES SUBSTANCES

The pilot plant lane built in 2016, with an area of 3000 square metres, has already been largely let out. Photo: Dols Fotografie

BY JOS CORTENRAAD

etween a labyrinth of tubes and pipes, surrounded by somewhat dated lowrise buildings, the newly opened pilot plant zone actually hardly stands out. It is a clean, sober building with no frills. Only once you are behind the white façade does it become clear that this is where the new engine of Brightlands Chemelot Campus is purring away. It is home to five advanced pilot plants, operated by bioplastics pioneer Avantium, paper manufacturer Sappi, chemicals separator Technoforce, petrochemicals giant SABIC and the Brightlands campus’ own multi-client multi-purpose pilot plant. ‘This is indeed a very important pillar of our campus’, says Luc Lanclus, Chief Operations Officer at Brightlands. ‘We have attracted numerous companies and research institutes and their laboratories, in which scientists, academics and businesses are working together on new materials and applications, both bio-based and oil-based. It soon became clear that besides laboratories, there was also an urgent need for pilot plants. They are needed to test the materials and substances before taking the

step up to expensive production facilities. In 2014, we decided to add some new buildings designed especially for that purpose: the pilot plants. These facilities are more than ten metres high in order to allow room for a complete distillation column. In addition, we also provide the permits and round-the-clock security. Naturally we are also expecting cross-fertilisation and cooperation. Wherever possible, new technologies and knowledge are shared. That is one of the hallmarks of this campus.’ The pilot plant lane built in 2016, with an area of 3000 square metres, has already been largely let out. One part is also available for SMEs to rent per half day, including specialist operators.

INSCITE: PILOT PLANT ESSENTIAL Valorisation institute InSciTe is the largest customer at the Brightlands multi-purpose multi-client pilot plant, where several test installations are set up. ‘We initiate our own research projects with DSM, Maastricht University and Eindhoven University of Technology and we also work with entrepreneurs who want to test their ideas, says InSciTe

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

Technoforce Solutions is an Indian equipment manufacturer specialising in plants for separating and purifying substances. In 2013, the company moved into Europe, deciding to establish a presence at Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen. ‘Because of its central location, easy accessibility, infrastructure and, above all, the facilities on site’, says director Ben Bovendeerd. ‘Environmental permits, security and energy are all provided. Plus knowledge workers who speak English, that’s very important for our Indian parent company.’ Technoforce made a modest start but scaled up significantly last year because the demand for separation plants is high. ‘We were able to move into the new building where the pilot plants are concentrated. Because we get a lot of requests and are growing steadily, we decided to build eleven new pilot plants in one go. This specific combination of complementary separation technologies under one roof including a laboratory is unique for Europe.’

A NEW GENERATION OF POLYPROPYLENE The Saudi company SABIC, which has its European head office in Sittard, has a prominent presence on the adjacent industrial site, with two naphtha crackers and several downstream polymer factories, and is currently putting the finishing touches to a pilot plant for developing the next generation of polypropylene. ‘The pilot plant will contribute to the production of better materials in our factories’, says Bert Groothuis, Director for Technology & Innovation. ‘Our customers are primarily looking for variants with improved stiffness/impact resistance, processing properties and other secondary properties, and we are keen to satisfy their requirements.’ Besides investing millions in the pilot plant, SABIC previously moved a substantial part of its R&D department to the new research centre at the Chemelot Brightlands Campus.

It currently employs 200 people, a number that will rise further in the years to come. Bert Groothuis: ‘The campus is not only attracting businesses but also scientists, universities and other educational institutions; knowledgesharing is regarded as the engine of the campus. For SABIC, this is the ideal place to continue to grow and innovate.’

NANOCELLULOSE AS A NEW RAW MATERIAL The pilot plant operated by paper manufacturer Sappi was the first to be commissioned. The company wants to use it to lay the foundations for the large-scale production of nanocellulose. ‘This is the basis for a revolution in new materials’, says R&D Director Math Jennekens. ‘Nanocellulose will replace oil as the raw material for numerous synthetic materials. It is lighter, stronger, more durable

and good for the environment.’ Cellulose is obtained from wood and is the most important raw material for paper. Nearly ten years ago, Math Jennekens, then already Research & Development Director at one of the largest paper manufacturers in the world, with factories in Maastricht, Lanaken and elsewhere, launched the idea of using it to make other products. Sappi is aiming to build a large factory for nanocellulose as early as 2020. Until then, the energy-efficient pilot plant in Geleen will serve as the forerunner and the place where researchers can experiment and test to their hearts’ content.

SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS CAMPUS Luc Lanclus expects a second building for pilot plants to be constructed in the near

future. ‘We are seeing the number of start-ups grow and also large established companies coming to this campus. They want to be part of this ecosystem. Incidentally, we are far from done here yet. Together with Chemelot Industrial Park, we want to transform ourselves into the most sustainable and modern campus in Europe for materials and fine chemicals, with the business-oriented R&D campus as a catalyst; a place where knowledge is translated into concrete products and processes. At the end of the day, it’s about the money.’ www.brightlands.com www.chemelot-inscite.com www.technoforce.net www.sabic.com www.sappi.com

BRIGHTLANDS INNOVATION FACTORY: EVERYTHING FOR START-UPS Start-ups are the fuel for any campus. New entrepreneurs are therefore given as much help and nurturing as possible, but successes are limited. In the long run, barely 10 percent survive. The Brightlands Innovation Factory in Limburg is taking a different approach. ‘We only let start-ups go once the factory is up and running. Even if that takes ten years.’ Attract 40 start-ups, every year – that is the ambitious goal of the four Brightlands Campuses in Limburg. ‘No problem’, says Léon Klinkers, CEO of the Brightlands Innovation Factory. ‘There is no shortage of ideas. The challenge is to enable the start-ups to grow into into companies that turn a profit, create jobs and contribute to the economy. And that’s not so easy. Figures show that the vast majority of start-ups never make it that far and go before their time. That usually has nothing to do with the idea per se or a lack of professionalism, but more with a lack of support. Start-ups are let go too soon. That's why we are taking a different approach with the Innovation Factory.’ In effect, the Innovation Factory is building on Startup Bootcamp, a tried-and-tested method of helping start-ups to convert their ideas into business plans. ‘That’s right’, says Léon Klinkers, himself a successful entrepreneur until he chose to start working for Brightlands last year. ‘There was nothing wrong with it. However, making a business plan is just the first step in a process of growing towards maturity. The bootcamp, which is about distilling the most promising ideas, is followed by four more equally important phases. We are now taking an integrated approach. Including the bootcamp of course. It all starts with an idea. That idea first needs to be properly worked out and evaluated. When both parties agree on its viability, that’s when it really begins.’ He likes to use a simple image to illustrate what he

Brightlands Innovation Factory masterclass. Photo: BIF

means: a funnel with five stages, each one narrower than the one before. The idea is followed by the incubation, acceleration, valorisation and scaling-up phases. ‘Each stage requires a different type of support, and different funding. In order to test an idea, you need money; running tests requires even more capital. And ultimately, for production you are talking about several millions. We support the process right up until the opening of the production facility, so to speak.’ Brightlands Innovation Factory supports start-ups which apply to the Chemelot Campus in Geleen, the Health Campus in Maastricht, the Agrofood Campus in Venlo and the Smart Services Campus in Heerlen for help. ‘We have a unique proposition’, continues Léon Klinkers. ‘Thanks to the mutual collaboration there, the start-ups can make use of labs, research institutes, test plants and experts in big data. Dozens of experienced entrepreneurs and knowledge workers are involved in the Innovation Factory, supporting the potential start-ups in every

area – from marketing to finance and from production processes to sales. There are also specialists to help with finance and such matters as IP. And not unimportantly: once the start-up is ready to start manufacturing, there is sufficient room on the various campuses, plus all the facilities and associated services. Ultimately, our goal remains to valorise and create jobs here. We aim to deliver around 200 start-ups by 2023, representing 1000 extra jobs.’ Early this year, the Brightlands Innovation Factory entered into a partnership with the French incubator IncubAlliance. ‘Our ecosystems are quite similar. By working together, our start-ups gain access to a huge network in Saclay, just south of Paris. It is home to companies such as Dassault and Airbus, firms which are very interested in the new materials we are developing in Limburg. Conversely, the French start-ups gain access to our network. We believe in international collaboration.’ www.brightlandsinnovationfactory.com

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

DEEP LEARNING FROM MATHWORKS

HARD2SOFT

Business is no longer just about selling a machine or apparatus, with

future business models focussing on service

HOW TO BUILD AN AUTONOMOUS ANYTHING

instead. Software plays an indispensible part in this servitization strategy and at every stage of the value creation process, from initial product development right up to series manufacturing.

Autonomous technology is on the rise, as demonstrated by the advent of self-driving cars. Applications of autonomous technology can be found in a wide range fields, such as robotics, aerospace and medical imaging. The main drivers for this (r)evolution are big data, smart algorithms, cloud and embedded software. MathWorks offers matching software applications and is organising the MATLAB EXPO 2017 event for engineers and business developers to learn about the potential of autonomous technology. cars, robots, and drones; it can be used in a wide range utonomous systems have been around of application areas for some time now, but interest in like predictive autonomous technology has exploded maintenance, autoin recent years in the wake of such mated trading and autonomous technology used, e.g., for the medical image interMars Rover. Launched in 2003 to explore the pretation.’ Hirsch surface of the red planet, this self-controlled identifies three main Michelle Hirsch, head of MATLAB Product Management: ‘I want to demystify autonomous vehicle, using the on-board computer, had to technology.’ Photo: MathWorks drivers behind this find its own way, as communications with (r)evolution: the ground control were taking at least six minuavailability of ever-increasing computing tes. Self-driving cars with varying degrees of INCREMENTAL APPROACH power and sensor technology for data acquisiautonomy account for a large part of the Although the deployment of autonomous tion and processing; advances in algorithm growing interest, but there are many other systems is generally not as complex as a development for the analysis of big data; and business areas that can benefit from autonomission to Mars, there is not a lot of movethe flexibility to leverage both cloud systems mous technology as well. As will be shown by ment in the market, Hirsch observes. ‘That and embedded devices for deploying autonoMichelle Hirsch, the head of MATLAB Prosaid, I’m surprised to see how many engineers mous technology. To illustrate the rewards, duct Management at MathWorks, a leading are investigating machine learning for instanshe takes a look from the creator’s perspective developer of mathematical computing softce. In recent years, MathWorks has developed and that of the user. Building autonomy into ware for engineers and scientists, in her keytools for machine learning and deep learning an existing product or system increases a note presentation at MATLAB EXPO 2017 on to complement our model-based design and manufacturer’s competitive edge. This is June 20 in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, entitbig data analytics offering. We have a mature directly related to the benefits the customer led ‘How to build an autonomous anything’. tool chain that helps users to integrate autogains from autonomous systems, such as an nomy into their systems.’ That’s not to say that improved efficiency and savings on cost and Hirsch advocates the instant transition to full THREE DRIVERS time. ‘Safety is a major concern too. Autoautonomy. ‘Yes, there are people talking about ‘Autonomous technology will touch nearly nomous systems offer the opportunity to that, but for practical reasons and safety every part of our lives, changing the products tackle more challenging jobs and do things considerations, I suggest an incremental we build and the way we do business,’ Hirsch that aren’t safe for humans.’ says. ‘Not just in products like self-driving approach. By adding bits of autonomy, designers and users can learn how to work with this new technology.’ ‘In that way, they can gradually shift from deterministically controlled to supervised to automated operaA VERY BRIEF GUIDE TO AUTONOMY tion and finally to fully autonomous adaptive systems’, Stephan van Beek, Technical Manager at MathWorks Benelux, adds. Hirsch: • Autonomous system: an adaptive system • Deep learning: form of machine learning with ‘This will be the main message of my keynote. (machine, robot, car, airplane) that can make amazing capability for human-like learning, I want to demystify autonomous technology decisions and act based on sensing and learning especially for image recognition. and show engineers how MathWorks can help from its environment, where typically in the past • Big data: engineering and/or business data them integrate it into their work.’ human intervention was necessary. collected from any source (sensors, internet) in BY HANS VAN EERDEN

• Machine learning: numerical method (as a central part of artificial intelligence) with algorithms using computational methods to ‘learn’ information directly from data without assuming a predetermined equation as a model.

such large quantities that they cannot be handled by a computer without smart software to deal with memory and performance limitations.

RETHINKING BUSINESS MODELS According to Marcel Stakenborg, Managing Director of MathWorks Benelux, companies CONTINUE ON PAGE 27 >

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

ADVERTO RIAL

FIBER SENSING IN AEROSPACE BECOMES REALITY WITH INTEGRATED PHOTONICS

TECHNOBIS LAUNCHES THE AEROGATOR, A MINIATURE MULTIPLEXED FBG INTERROGATOR Technobis, the most innovative Dutch manufacturer of Integrated Photonics based fiber sensing systems and devices has launched its new miniature fiber sensing product the AeroGator, which is specifically designed towards multi-parameter aerospace applications.

“Full solid state, multi-channel, fiber sensing versatility, fitting into a miniature turnkey solution, has not been easy, but we made it work”, says Program Manager Aeronautics and Space, Rolf Evenblij. “Aircraft manufacturers and avionics suppliers have been waiting a long time for airworthy devices to make fiber sensing technically and economically viable in aircraft.” Technobis is developing and providing fiber sensing systems since 2006 for a wide range of applications and environments. Starting with free-space optics, now since 5 years based on Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) technology, Technobis has introduced sensing solutions providing up to sub-femtometer wavelength shift detection resolutions, sub-nanometer displacement sensing resolution and sampling rates up to 20Mhz. Using miniature and high performance acquisition and control electronics, combined with ease of compatible PIC packages replacement allows multi-parameter fiber sensing solutions, such as damage and impact detection, load monitoring, shape sensing, distributed FBG sensing and more.

The launch of the AeroGator demonstrates great versatility, providing channel multiplexing up to 32 channels, high resolution sensing, high sampling speeds per channel and programmable multiplexing profiles. With its small dimensions 100x70x37mm, its weight of less than 300 grams and low power consumption, the AeroGator is by far the smallest footprint multi-channel FBG interrogator currently available. Following this launch, different fiber sensing chipsets for sensors per fiber channel and higher resolution are being developed as we speak. To learn more about the AeroGator, contact Rolf Evenblij at +31 72 3020052, or email, rolf.evenblij@technobis.com, or via the website at www.technobis.com.

Technobis Fibre Technologies BV Pyrietstraat 2

T +31 (0)72 3020040

1812 SC Alkmaar

E info@technobis.com

The Netherlands

I www.technobis.com

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are looking for new ways to innovate and adopt new business models to face increasing global competition. ‘We see an interesting trend, globally and also in the Eindhoven region: industrial companies traditionally rooted in mechanical and electrical hardware engineering are starting to add more and more software components to their products to improve machine performance and predict machine failure, among other things. They’ve

MATLAB EXPO 2017 MATLAB EXPO is a one-day event organised by MathWorks, where engineers as well as product and line managers can learn about the latest product capabilities of MATLAB® and Simulink®. Users will present innovative applications they developed using these MathWorks tools. There will also be ample opportunity for networking and visiting demonstrations of real-life applications by MathWorks and over fifteen partner companies. The event in Eindhoven will feature a keynote presentation by Hardt on revolutionising transportation with the Hyperloop and one by Tessella on the design of an autonomous control system for ESA’s Solar Orbiter satellite. www.matlabexpo.nl

started to rethink their business models and are asking how they can make money on services, in addition to the revenue generated by product sales. Servitization is hot.’ The rise of autonomous technology is forcing industrial companies to rethink their in-house software development strategy and capabilities. ‘In the Netherlands, for instance, DAF is working on self-driving trucks’, says Stephan van Beek. ‘Meanwhile, CSi is investigating the use of drones for case-picking and academic researchers are adding autonomy to robots’, he continues, Stakenborg adding that ‘software is driving these developments, and MathWorks offers a powerful set of tools to enable our customers to embrace this trend. Most companies know us as the provider of technical computing software. At this year’s MATLAB EXPO, we will showcase the benefits and capabilities of using our tools for data analytics and autonomous technology.’

CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT ‘This trend is also affecting MathWorks itself ’, Stakenborg concludes. ‘As a vendor of technical computing software, we’ve turned into a strategic enabler for software-based innovation. We’ve become a mission-critical business partner in supporting our customers for new business development. We’re engaging with customers on a higher, more strategic level, involving technology roadmapping and

DLR’s humanoid robot Agile Justin autonomously performing a complex construction task. Photo: German Aerospace Center (DLR)

looking for ways to maximise the business and technical impact of our solutions.’ This, he explains, is why MathWorks collaborates with Link, a magazine that is creating awareness by focussing on the challenges and possibilities of software-driven innovation. ‘Because there’s no turning back’, he adds, illustrating this with something one of his customers said: ‘As a machine builder, we have to transform our company from a hardware shop to a software powerhouse.’ www.mathworks.nl

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT THERMO FISHER SCIENTIFIC’S MATERIALS & STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS (FORMERLY FEI) IS DEVELOPING TOWARDS BECOMING A COMPLETE HARDWARE & SOFTWARE SOLUTION PROVIDER

RAMPING UP TO AN EASY-TO-USE WORKFLOW The hardware of Thermo Fisher Scientific, market leader in high-performance electron microscopy, is impressive – with the biggest platfom in its range aptly being called the Titan. In engineering the new generation of hardware, the bar is set extremely high in terms of beam stability and positioning accuracy. However, the importance of software is increasing as well and the company is developing towards becoming a 50/50 hardware/software provider, says Senior Director Engineering Brit Meier from the Eindhoven site. ‘If you really want to offer added value, you need to be good at software.’

‘We always need to come up with new ideas, hunting around for new developments with our customers in order to identify what is going to be the ‘next big thing’: we need to understand at an early stage which questions will drive our customers in the research domain.’ Meier points to the continuously decreasing dimensions in semiconductors and materials science; for example, the size of semiconductor structures, which is heading towards 10 nanometres or even smaller, in line with Moore’s Law. ‘The earlier customers like Intel, Samsung and TSMC can discover ever smaller 3-D faults in their wafers using our equipment, the sooner they can fine-tune their processes and the less money they will have to spend on development.’ This places high demands on the stability of the electron beam and the positioning of wafers and other samples. For a stable and robust design, all the relevant disciplines – from electron optics and motion control software to detection and image processing – have to be bundled together. ‘Systems Brit Meier, Senior Director Engineering at Thermo Fisher Scientific, talking to members of her Eindhoven team: ‘We operate in a multinational environment with strict procedures for product development, and at the same time we nurture our local strengths.’ Photo: Bart van Overbeeke integration is our strength.’

WORKFLOW BY HANS VAN EERDEN

ince last autumn, Materials & Structural Analysis – ‘combining hardware and software expertise in electron, ion, and light microscopy with deep application knowledge in the materials science, life sciences, electronics, and natural resources markets’ – has been part of Thermo Fisher Scientific, a world leader in serving science. Thermo Fisher Scientific regards electron microscopes as a highly valuable addition to its own portfolio for scientific instrumentation, in particular the mass spectrometry for life sciences applications. With approximately 2,700 employees worldwide, the three biggest sites are Hillsboro (Oregon, USA), Eindhoven (the Netherlands) and Brno (Czech Republic).

Pre-development (concept development) and engineering for high-end transmission electron microscopes are carried out in Eindhoven.

SYSTEMS INTEGRATION Brit Meier is in charge of approximately 280 employees. ‘It is my task to enable the team to operate in a multinational environment with strict procedures for product development, while at the same time providing space for the ‘fun & pride’ factor, with local strengths being nurtured and allowed to grow. That is what I learned from working at Philips.’ (Meier came over from Philips four years ago. The Eindhoven site itself has a Philips history, being in part a successor to Philips Electron Optics.) She sees herself faced with two big challenges.

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

The second challenge lies in the life sciences market. ‘Here we are experiencing a steep ramp-up with our Titan Krios for research on proteins and protein complexes. We need to supply each individual customer with the right innovation at the right time and at the right quality. We owe this breakthrough to the decision made by Rob Fastenau (former head of the company in Eindhoven, ed.) to develop cryogenic technology for freezing samples, which enables studying biological samples much more accurately. We supply every Titan Krios application-specific and where possible with a complete workflow setting, and we also incorporate solutions by other Thermo Fisher Scientific product groups and third-party vendors. We try to understand the customer’s ‘best known method’ and configure a suitable

workflow for it, from preparing samples to processing the analysis data. Biologists want to understand the action of proteins, not play with samples and microscope settings. They want an industrial flow for processing their samples. We support them in configuring that workflow and train them in the use of the Titan Krios. The same applies to semiconductors and materials science. Ultimately, what counts for the user is the value per sample.’

SERVITIZATION So it is logical that a large service organisation should be maintained. ‘We supply capexintensive equipment and offer the service around it. We want to bind customers to us by meeting their wishes as far as possible – sometimes perhaps too much – by always being available when they have questions and problems and by regularly releasing software updates, etc. We always record the customer’s experiences with our product and what we can improve in a service requirement document, with a focus on serviceability.’ However, Materials & Structural Analysis is not yet presenting itself as an integrated solutions provider. ‘In semiconductors, for example, we do have employees permanently stationed with customers for service and maintenance, but we don’t second operators the way other Thermo Fisher Scientific groups do in the analysis market.’

Software and ICT are playing an important role in the shift towards ‘servitization’. For example, there are software and cloud tools to collect information on the equipment at the customer premises. ‘We can perform online monitoring and remote diagnostics, although that is still a sensitive issue in semiconductors in particular, because all their know-how is wrapped up inside the production recipe. Some customers are afraid that they will lose their intellectual property if we are also supplying their competitors. But the industry is starting to learn how to secure its IP properly. Roughly a third of our customers are already connected to us online. Here in Eindhoven we have a control room where we can call up data and monitor 24/7 if necessary. We look at key parameters, depending on the usage of the equipment; for example, temperature, beam deformation, coil condition, sample positioning performance. We have a service innovation program into which we can input these data in order to learn what we need to improve in subsequent product design.’

FOCUS ON SOFTWARE Will Materials & Structural Analysis become a software provider? Brit Meier: ‘Software without hardware doesn’t do much, and vice versa. The high-tech region here was built on hardware, but software capabilities are clearly increasing. If you really want to offer added

value, you need to be good at software. In engineering, we are heading towards fifty percent software. Our customers are getting younger and, in line with the Industry 4.0 trend, what they are looking for is changing. The specific know-how of operators is diminishing, so our user interface needs to be easier to understand. We are all growing towards a digital world, so perhaps in 30 years time we will only be using pictograms.’ So everything is all about easy-to-use workflows. ‘We have developed an app that can simulate the workflow. The app presents the best known method and, for example, visualises how we can make things easier for customers by having them use the right consumables.’ Software is also crucial for analysing the images made by microscopes. ‘Depending on the use case and the detection method, customers make their own software for that purpose or get it from us or a third-party software supplier. Thanks to an acquisition four years ago, we now have our own Visualization Software Group which supplies software for turning the images into 3-D reconstructions. But if customers want to use special software, we make our system available for that.’ Just as this hardware-intensive company is increasingly opening itself up to software. www.thermofisher.com www.fei.com

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STANDARDISATION ASML/FDP AND SMART BENDING FACTORY INITIATIVES

DIGITAL COLLABORATION IN THE SHEET METAL SUPPLY CHAIN Sheet metal is often not the most critical product for high-tech OEMs, but it does deserve their attention: there is still scope for plenty of efficiency improvements in engineering, production and outsourcing. ASML is working with FDP on the digitisation and standardisation of sheet metal specifications, in order to take outsourcing to a higher level. Further down the supply chain, the Smart Bending Factory field lab is working to digitise the order process.

BY HANS VAN EERDEN

ithography machine builder ASML in Veldhoven has been outsourcing sheet metalwork for its electronics casings and construction parts for years. Suppliers receive a STEP file, which contains the product design as a ‘bare’ 3D model, plus a PDF containing a drawing. That drawing depicts many dimensions and tolerances, so you could easily overlook the functional dimensions and lose sight of the general overview. Presently, the production process runs primarily via the delivered STEP file, as suppliers are increasingly working CNCcontrolled. A fully-dimensioned PDF on its own simply doesn’t fit into the actual production process any more, as Jan Jongmans, Mechanical Expert at ASML discovered two years ago. ‘Making and reviewing drawings costs a great deal of time and ultimately it isn’t the most effective for a supplier.’ So there was room for efficiency improvements, and because there was no general sheet metal standard, Jongmans himself went to visit the suppliers: how were their laser cutters, press brakes, etc. performing, which information did they really need and what was the best way for ASML to supply it?

STANDARDISATION Jongmans translated his findings into the dsTPD (digital sheet metal technical product documentation). That includes the STEP file, a functionally dimensioned PDF (which only contains the product-specific dimensions and tolerances), and a tolerance document. The latter document contains shape and position

The key objective of standardisation: making the 2D drawing more surveyable. Left: the former, overcrowded drawing, and right: the drawing with just the functional dimensions.

tolerances, tolerances for profiling, etc., that all depend on product dimensions and plate thicknesses. That data no longer needs to be listed on the dimensioned PDF, which means the focus can rest more on the functional aspects, and the processing yields fewer errors. Jongmans decided to retain the The next step: A 3D model listing all product manufacturing information (PMI) 2D drawing for now. ‘We wish to include all and an accompanying 3D PDF. suppliers in this development, but many are far off being able to CHAIN ORGANISATION process 3D models. Within ASML we are busy Jongmans contacted FDP, the chain organisalooking to see how we can set the next step in tion for sheet metal, with a view to working motion, towards the 3D model that includes together. ‘We were already in talks with chain all product manufacturing information (PMI) partners about standardisation of the inforand an accompanying 3D PDF.’ mation transfer via drawings’, announces The standardisation document makes life Frederik Lodeizen on behalf of FDP. ‘It took a easier for both the engineer and the supplier. lot of time to remake drawings that OEMs ‘Designers now get a good sense of the possihadn’t delivered properly. We wanted to elimibilities and manufacturability of the products nate those extra hours and the risk of errors. they are designing. Moreover, this has made That was how the DSX guideline came about, the entire outsourcing process more transwhich ASML was able to build on. We are now parent and efficient.’ The proposals have been attempting to make their proposal universally welcomed by suppliers, states Jongmans. The applicable for OEMs.’ Lodeizen has already chain has clearly indicated the need for stanbeen in discussions with NEN, the Netherdardisation, specially if in the future suppliers lands’ standards body. ‘What is now on the can retrieve 3D models from the clients’ intable is suitable for formal standardisation, formation system, in order to start productibut we can also opt for a lighter procedure on. This will require a covering letter setting that will result in a ‘Netherlands Technical out the general specifications which apply to the manufacture of the product.’ CONTINUE ON PAGE 33 >

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

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Agreement’.’ The collaboration between ASML and FDP works both ways, says Lodeizen: ‘They are a large client with a lot of clout who can effectively reveal the benefits for OEMs and suppliers, in this case our members, and vice versa, we offer a platform via which they can meet the entire sheet metalwork community.’

SMART BENDING FACTORY Sheet metal suppliers are not sitting still either. 247TailorSteel in Varsseveld (not a direct supplier to ASML) set up an online portal ten years ago where clients could order cut sheetwork. The entire ordering process is automated and within a matter of minutes the client receives a quotation for which the delivered file (DXF or DWG) is comprehensively analysed. The next step goes up a dimension: the same level of automation for setting sheet metalwork, using a STEP file. That’s why 247TailorSteel undertook a Smart Industry Fieldlab initiative, the Smart Bending Factory, where clients can order fully digitised cut (sheet, tube) and set metalwork products online. The goal: reducing the delivery time from weeks to days, and significantly reducing the total cost of ownership for clients. The project manager of the field lab is Ferdinand Nibbeling, Sales Manager at 247TailorSteel: ‘Digitally we have made great strides and we have the latest technology in terms of bending

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE Also involved with the sheet metal community is the Icelandic multinational Marel, a large food processing equipment OEM. At Marel Nederland in Boxmeer, Manager Engineering Gerard Hutting, is all for standardisation. Marel outsources a lot and also has its own sheet metal production. A big challenge for Hutting is that Marel has sites in various countries, each with its own engineering and production culture. He maintains close contacts with Jan Jongmans: ‘We work with our own sheet metal standard for engineering and manufacturing and are now looking at the differences with ASML.’ Marel’s aim is to achieve harmonised standards, including for sheet metal, in order to become more flexible in terms of internal and external production options. ‘Currently there is still too much in the way of local knowledge and conventions in a drawing. The advantage we offer ASML is that we have a global perspective, which can

prevent the preferences of local stakeholders weighing too heavily. We also believe the standardisation document needs to be compact. ISO standards are very extensive, and always only partially relevant to Marel. These days, designers stop reading after two pages. We will make sure the standardisation document gets

equipment. We already analyse bending jobs automatically in the field lab using software, but manual work is still needed. If the drawings have not been made in accordance with our guidelines, we discuss a solution with the customer, such as amending the drawing, accepting a different bending radius or using a different tool. We then incorporate this into the software, so that the portal handles the issue automatically the next time.’ Nibbeling anticipates the ASML and Smart Bending Factory initiatives will converge. ‘Our goal is in just a few years’ time we’ll only be working with the STEP file in accordance with one-off tolerance agreements made with the client. Ultimately, all communication needs to take place digitally.’

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Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

STRATEGY CROSSOVERS WITHIN FIELD LABS PROMOTE INNOVATION

SMART COLLABORATION ON SMART TECHNOLOGY

Yaskawa is exploring the possibility of moving to the new Brainport Industries Campus in order to contribute to the chain of the Factory of the Future and the industrial automation which is its central feature. ‘We see opportunities in the market for robotics. However, we cannot realise them alone, we need other parties to develop and market new automation solutions.’ BY WILMA SCHREIBER

s a major international player in the field of industrial automation, Yaskawa is a crucial piece of the jigsaw for an initiative like the Brainport Industries Campus (BIC) in Eindhoven. BIC’s distinguishing characteristic is co-development, says Eddie Mennen, Managing Director of Yaskawa Benelux in Son. ‘Industrial automation is a buzzword that every politician in The Hague is talking about. We don’t just want to develop smart products in Japan, our strength also lies in developing new applications for robots. For this reason, we want to do some joint development, thinking and acting locally as a global player.’

ECOSYSTEM Yaskawa uses its own roadmap, Vision 2025, to identify which technologies the company considers important and what it wants to have achieved in eight years’ time. The three priorities are mechatronics (robotics, motion and operating systems), sustainability (smart electric drive systems to save energy) and humatronics (bringing technology to people – for example, Yaskawa is participating in the development of exoskeletons and invests in care robots). ‘We can deliver the technology, but making the business case is still difficult. There is also still a really big gap between

Yaskawa already has the technology for mobile robots in-house. Photos: Yaskawa

technology and practice. Because how do you teach a robot to put compression stockings on someone? Aging is also an issue in Japan, hence our interest in this domain.’

HANDS-ON That long-term vision is typically Japanese, says Mennen. ‘As such, we have invested heavily in technology in recent years. That takes time; smart industry requires medium-term thinking. It can take five to ten years before new technologies are ready for the market. This is why an initiative like BIC is very valuable. It builds up an ecosystem in which companies work together systematically – rather than looking to earn money right away, because that is not always possible.’ In terms of budgets for smart industry (or Industry 4.0 as the Germans like to call it), the Netherlands cannot match its eastern neighbours, says Mennen. ‘Look at German industrial policy, which attracts billions. We cannot compete with that with just the occasional millioneuro investment from the government. Which

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

is why the BIC model – a hands-on approach, with an industrial environment in addition to field labs – really appeals to us and we are happy to supply engineers and materials for it. Thinking about where we want to get to with a number of chain partners, working on a product together, with an end user who acts as a launching customer’, he says. ‘The fact that everyone is on the same site makes it easy to meet. Because it’s not just about smart technology, it’s also about working together in smart ways.’

ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS Yaskawa is particularly interested in the Flexible Manufacturing field lab: 24/7 operation, series size 1 and fully automated. ‘The field lab plays the lead role in the development process – from the lab, new concepts go to the factory for testing, etc. That requires adaptive systems that can react at series 1, smart artificial intelligence that can respond and correct itself with the help of databases. As a result, there is a cross-over with the field lab in this area for

software, where systems learn to configure and programme themselves.’ Another important partnership Mennen can see happening within BIC relates to vision. ‘We need our robots to have eyes, there’s still a lot of work to be done in this area. With 3D vision, we hope to increase robots’ flexibility. The idea is that this will lead to shorter changeover times and little downtime – those are the drivers.’ Finally, Yaskawa also sees potential in the smart logistics technology cluster, another priority area at BIC. ‘Take mobile robots which are not limited to one fixed location but can move around and perform tasks all over the place. We already have that robot technology in-house.’

SHARED FACILITY Mennen cites the arrival of the educational institute Teclab at BIC as an important development. ‘We have plenty of orders, the biggest threat at the moment is the shortage of good people. Educational institutions cannot keep up with developments and you can hardly blame them. It is therefore a good thing for companies to be active in this area themselves. We need people at intermediate vocational (mbo) level who have practical knowledge. Because if you have never welded yourself, you’ll never be able to programme a welding robot properly.’ Yaskawa is a partner in Teclab;

the company has already supplied a handling robot and recently also installed a welding robot. ‘It is a shared facility, designed for students and for bringing businesses up to speed on new developments. And we can use those robots ourselves for tests, training and demos.’ Yaskawa is seriously considering moving to BIC in early 2019, when its current lease at the Ekkersrijt industrial estate in Eindhoven expires. The importance of BIC is obvious to Mennen. ‘We see opportunities in the market for robotics. However, we cannot realise them Advanced vision enables the new generation of robots from Yaskawa, the Motoman, GP series, to recognise biscuits for example, increasing their adaptive capacity. alone, we need other parties in order to marselves and for our customers in order to use ket new products. Training is very important all that great technology.’ for unlocking the market for new applications, getting young people enthusiastic about technology’, he says. ‘Yaskawa is posting www.yaskawa.eu.com double-digit growth, we need new people ourwww.brainportindustriescampus.com

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

PROCESS DEVELOPMENT METAMORPHOSIS OF THOMAS REGOUT IN FINAL PHASE

PEOPLE FIRST, THEN TECHNOLOGY Thomas Regout once made nails, now Maastricht's oldest manufacturing company (1834) is a global supplier of telescopic runner systems for furniture, storage systems and numerous applications in industry and the automotive sector. It is a highly competitive market, prompting the company to completely reinvent itself. This year, the metamorphosis will be complete. From a logistical point of view, Maastricht is ideal, located as it is at the intersection of motorways and waterways. Moving to China might seem obvious, but it is not convenient for the European market. When confronted with short delivery times, we would have to ship our relatively heavy runners using expensive air freight. Plus, we have a number of sister companies which are thriving on the site here in Maastricht. I also know that the owners are sensitive to culture and heritage, to the people who have been working here for over 30 years in some cases. All in all, there are plenty of reasons to stay.’ Ruud Keulen ‘in’ the new machine that will shortly become operational. Photo Johannes Timmermans

CONTINUITY BY JOS CORTENRAAD

hey may not be nails, but the runners for desk drawers and filing cabinets don't seem very complicated at first sight. ‘They aren’t’, says Ruud Keulen, director of operations, picking up some end products from a pile. “In fact, this is a fully developed product, a commodity. Manufacturers of offices and kitchens regard them as a kind of afterthought, just like the car manufacturers after they have devised a new system for a movable console or a trunk that opens automatically. Generally speaking, customers don't pay more than €10 for a telescopic runner, unless it’s a very big one. We make them from a few decimetres to one and a half metres long, capable of withstanding loads of

many hundreds of kilograms. They are a bit more expensive, but they certainly aren’t hi-tech products with a price tag to match.’

MAASTRICHT In other words, they are products most likely to be manufactured abroad using cheap labour. Nevertheless, in 2010 the present owners Joost van Luyken and Leon Moonen decided to stay in Maastricht following their management buy-out. ‘For several reasons. Thomas Regout is very strong in various niche markets. We are no longer in bulk production. We deliver top quality products in relatively small batches. Our manufacturing is customer-specific and fast – in Europe, we can deliver our products to the customer inside a week. None of our competitors can say that.

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

But that’s not the whole story. On the contrary, in 2011 the Executive Board presented a radical plan to ensure continuity. The core of the plan: a completely new production line, more than 100 percent more efficient, featuring far-reaching automation and robotisation, and a much higher capacity. A plan that would allow the work to be done by significantly fewer than the current 215 staff and drastically cut unit costs. Ruud Keulen, an old hand of the international automotive industry, was given six years to get the job done, together with the management team. In 2017, i.e. this year, the transition is scheduled to take place. ‘As an outsider, you might conclude that this will be a painful restructuring. But you would be wrong. We didn’t start the technical implementation of the plan until 2014. We first set about creating the

organisation. We worked out how many people we would need now, in 2017, to operate the new production line and everything that goes with it. Technology is great, but you need people who can operate it. We offered all our permanent staff the opportunity to be part of the process. Special training programmes were set up in partnership with various regional training colleges, we established links with national and European innovation programmes and called in the help of universities and universities of applied sciences.’

CULTURE We did all this in order to first get the organisation in order and enable people to make the transition to the new Thomas Regout. ‘When it came to executives and managers, things weren’t always straightforward. This was a hierarchical business with an old culture. It isn’t easy to bring about change in those circumstances. And I hardly need point out that you are bound to hit some teething troubles when building a completely new production facility from scratch.’ Meanwhile, production has to continue. ‘That too. In fact, in order to finance all the investments, we even had to ramp up production. And the upswing in the economy meant that the pressure increased further. The development of the new production line has been taking place in parallel with regular

production for over two years now. Believe me, it has not always been easy.’

INTEGRATION However, the end is in sight. The new production line will become operational this summer. The production department is a hive of activity. There are engineers testing the new machines and fitting monitoring and scanning systems, and IT people implementing the new software. The old fluorescent lights are being replaced with low energy LED lighting (‘sustainability is an issue for us too’). The new line will only take up half the space currently being used. ‘We have managed to integrate various operations. A piece of steel is shaped according to the specifications, with the various holes and lips, then milled and prepared for assembly. We are switching to a flow system, allowing us to make huge savings in changeover times. Special software helps us to work very efficiently and continuously. Technology and logistics are perfectly coordinated.’

VACANCIES In part because dozens of production staff will soon be leaving. Doesn’t that seem a little harsh? ‘Yes, but they are not permanent staff. We use agency staff. So they know their work here is of a limited duration. I don’t think they will have any trouble finding work; firms are

crying out for production line workers here in Limburg. We don’t need to let any permanent staff go. In fact, we have vacancies which we are not finding easy to fill. At Thomas Regout, you will see a lot of grey hair on the work floor; experienced people who are embarking on a second career, going back to college at the age of 50. I’m really proud of that. Sometimes it takes blood, sweat and tears, but to be an operator here you really need to know your stuff. We use two people to monitor an entire production line.’

ULTIMATE The work floor still has a chaotic air during the construction phase, but Ruud Keulen is calmness personified. ‘I am quite sure it is going to work out. We are ready for the next step. And after that, a new phase will begin. We are going to create a fully automated transport system for the supply and delivery of materials. Smart logistics will bring time savings. Our ultimate aim is to supply our customers within 24 hours. And even more ambitiously: we want to install a product configurator that will allow you to order a single telescopic runner if that’s what you need. Is that what industry is looking for? Yes, nobody wants to wait these days. Time-to-market is crucial. Thomas Regout is taking that step.’ www.thomasregout.com

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STRATEGY HOLDING YOUR OWN IN THE BATTLE OF THE SALES CHANNELS

‘HIGH-TECH INDUSTRY WANTS ITS VOICE TO BE HEARD’ OEMs are increasingly focusing on their core business and want everything else in the chain to be taken care of for them. ERIKS is responding to that with knowledgeable and skilled employees, co-engineering and its own rapid prototyping cell. A position higher up in the chain is a win-win: it gives customers and ERIKS itself an edge on the competition.

BY WILMA SCHREIBER

s a service provider in the field of mechanical engineering components, ERIKS serves all the industrial sectors by improving products and processes and ultimately results. The company has more than 450 locations (with its head office in Alkmaar) and 8,000 employees, and is active in 21 countries worldwide. With ever-accelerating developments, high-end customers in the OEM and MRO markets more than anything want other activities to be taken out of their hands so that they can focus on their core activities. ‘And they are looking for savings: which supplier can do A, B, C, D and E at the same time, so that I can let a dozen other suppliers go? You see it at FrieslandCampina and Tata Steel, but also at OEMs like Philips. They are looking for suppliers that will help them improve existing products and develop new products’, says Dennis Boeijer, sales manager for O-rings, Rubber Technology & Dynamic seals at ERIKS.

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT A second requirement is speed. ‘Companies want to get to market as quickly as possible, because the shorter the payback period, the better. Our speed in co-engineering makes us an attractive partner, and it keeps us both ahead of the competition.’ He cites the food industry as an example. ‘This industry is subject to all kinds of approvals, standards and laws, requirements which our products must also meet because they may come into contact with foodstuffs. The legislation is constantly changing. For instance, new European legislation came into force last year’, says Boeijer. In order to comply with Regulation EC 1935/2004, ERIKS adjusted dozens of rubber compounds. ‘We perform the tests in our own

For test sample purposes, ERIKS is continually making 3D prints in various rubber and/or plastic materials. Photo: ERIKS

laboratory, so that we can make the adjustments quickly for our customers – sometimes even before they are aware of the new requirements.’

company always orders the right component and, thanks to electronic ordering, there are no more errors. It’s about making the customer’s products and processes faster, smarter, safer or more efficient.’

REDUCE By thinking about customers’ supply chains, ERIKS helps them reduce their Total Cost of Supply and Total Cost of Ownership. ‘For example, by delivering better products that last longer and need to be replaced less often. That saves money. Or by configuring the ordering process more efficiently, so that a

CO-ENGINEERING Another aspect that sets ERIKS apart is coengineering. The extent of co-engineering varies depending on the business unit. ‘My department, Sealing & Rubber Technology, is CONTINUE ON PAGE 41 >

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known in the market for its own brands and its own development using 3D printing. Our approach is born of necessity, since the MRO market alone is not big enough’, says Boeijer. ‘An engineer consults the customer about shape and material. Then a drawing is produced, which he converts into 3D, followed by a 3D print. This sample is installed in the customer’s machine to see if it fits and meet expectations. After approval, we then produce the final product in our own rapid prototyping cell, on which the client can then perform functional tests.’ The process from engineering to testing now takes only two to three weeks to complete; a few years ago, it would have taken three to four months. ERIKS doesn’t mass-produce itself; for that, the company works with manufacturing partners.

interrupted. After that, our engineers were able to solve the problem and offer an improved product within a few days, thanks to our own rapid prototyping cell and 3D printing. If

innovate too, so it is a continuous battle of the sales channels, in which we are trying to stay ahead of web shops and other distributors.’ There is another difference in approach com-

‘If you can do that, you have done 80% of the work of winning over the customer’

you can do that, you have done 80% of the work of winning over the customer. In the end, this manufacturer awarded the mass production of the hoses to us.’

WINNING

FLEXIBILITY

What ERIKS gains from this strategic approach Boeijer illustrates with a practical example. ‘Some time ago, a manufacturer that markets boilers was facing planning problems relating to a rubber hose. A halt to the production line, which produces another central heating boiler every 90 seconds, costs a lot of money’, he explains. ‘The first thing we did was to make sure production would not be

The ability to respond to customer-specific requirements calls for flexibility, a characteristic generally lacking in big-name brands, says Boeijer. ‘They are trying to get a foot in the door with the big OEMs in the Netherlands too, because that's where the volumes are. And once you're in, they’ll come back to you when they are looking for replacements. That is our motivation too. Competitors

pared to the big-name brands. ‘They mainly try to push their own products, without investigating the problem or exploring other possibilities. The high-tech industry in particular, which has a lot of expertise in rubber compounds and seals, wants its voice to be heard. That is why we are most successful among manufacturers who are facing highly specific requirements. Our co-engineering strategy links in with that seamlessly. New developments in design, products and materials remain our main motivation.’

www.eriks.com

Always on the cutting edge of excellence • • • • • •

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Local support & Global Solutions Motion Technology www.pbaeurope.com

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The Ar t of Mechatronics

AAE, The Art of Mechatronics, is an advanced high-tech machine manufacturer located in Helmond with an international reputation. With more than 200 highly motivated employees we make products which are subdivided into three business units: high precision parts, proto and serial systems and our own assembly and printing machines (Grauel). We also develop and produce special machines which are 100% customer specific. By combining knowledge of technology and pure craftsmanship with passionate people we are able to find solutions that always seamlessly meet the demands, require-

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ments and preferences of our customers. Co-development means to think, dare and act together. This is our great strength.

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MANUFACTURING INNOVATION LOW-COST INTELLIGENT AUTOMATION FOR HIGH-COMPLEXITY, HIGH-FLEXIBILITY, LOW-VOLUME INDUSTRY

FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY AND PEOPLE High-tech industry in Eindhoven and its surroundings is leading the way in technical product innovation, but it is often still characterised by traditional low-volume batch production. Manufacturing innovation with a focus on the social aspect offers a way forward, as shown by the case of Phenom-World with NTS Mechatronics. ‘The Netherlands can compete with any country in the world; low-cost intelligent automation is the future.’ BY HANS VAN EERDEN

henom-World in Eindhoven develops and markets table-top electron microscopes. Neighbouring NTS Mechatronics (200 employees), part of the NTS-Group, performs the assembly of the various Phenom models. The turnover (€25 million in 2016) of Phenom-World is growing steadily, but the market is challenging, explains CEO Emile Asselbergs. ‘We are a high-end table-top supplier and our competitors have only one weapon, price. But in the low-end market segment, which is all about big volumes, we don’t always want to lose the battle on price.’ Prompting Asselbergs to talk to NTS about cost reduction. ‘We thought we had reached the limits in terms of cost. The numbers were rising and there was constant pressure on price’, explains René van Wijk, CEO of NTS Mechatronics. ‘Every year we shaved a bit off the cost price with value engineering, until we had reached the ‘cost of design’ and couldn’t go any lower. In that scenario, moving to a low-cost production country would have been the classic approach. However, that was not an option, because Phenom-World’s objective was to be ‘made in Holland’. We couldn’t reduce hourly wages, so we had to reduce the number of hours required for assembly. However, we still had batch production, featuring lots of changes to the product. A concept like one-piece flow was virtually unknown in our high-complexity, highflexibility, low-volume industry.’

From left to right René van Wijk (NTS Mechatronics), Hans Verwijs (JHV Interim Management), Emile Asselbergs (Phenom-World), Alfred Plagge and Steven Blom (both Blom Consultancy) in conversation in front of the WCM planning board (not visible). Behind them is the clean room where NTS assembles Phenom microscopes. Photo: Kees Beekmans

WORLD-CLASS MANUFACTURING The partners decided to bring in an external consultant with knowledge of manufacturing. ‘Someone able to think completely outside the box, drawing on knowledge from other industries, and add manufacturing innovation to the product innovation which this region is known for.’ That person was Hans Verwijs of JHV Interim Management. ‘I did indeed witness a lot of batch production with small lot sizes in the high-tech industry here. There is certainly scope to configure this more efficiently by working in-flow, with low-cost intelligent automation. I learned that from

Steven Blom.’ Verwijs therefore decided to involve Blom Consultancy in the assignment for Phenom and NTS. ‘A natural choice because they have such deep roots in Japanese production thinking, more than any other consultancy.’ Steven Blom became fascinated by production at an early age and was immersed in Japanese production philosophy as the first production director of Fuji Photofilm in Tilburg. ‘The Netherlands can compete with any country in the world; low-cost intelligent automation is the future. Batch sizes are CONTINUE ON PAGE 45 >

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

Brainport industries is a supplier network of 95 high-tech companies active in high-mix, low-volume, high-complexity in the Netherlands. Brainport Industries provides a fer fertile ground and a solid structure fo or collaborative projects whether they are related to technology, market or people and represents the interests of its members on political level.

YOUR HIGH TE TECH CH OPEN SUPPL LY NETWORK

www.brainportindustries.com w ww.brainpor .brain tindustries.com Y O UR HIGH TECH OPEN S UPPLY NET W ORK

CONTINUATION OF PAGE 43 >

getting smaller and we need to move towards one-piece flow, with fewer stocks, reduced space requirements and less waste. The way you keep quality under control with robots in mass production you can also do manually by getting employees to check the previous production step at the next one.’ There is a crucial role reserved for people in this. That social aspect was often lacking in the technical approach of World-Class Manufacturing (WCM), lean and six sigma, noted Blom. Prompting him to introduce the Japanese concept of monozukuri to the Netherlands.

complete transparency between client and supplier as a precondition for the process of change. ‘Phenom-World people move around freely on our shop floor. We have an interest in the predictability of production and the manufacturability of the product. That is why we make the customer part of our team. We expect just as much of the customer as they do of us.’ Van Wijk also points to the need for cultural change. ‘We thought we had everything under control by measuring the familiar key performance indicators. If the feedback calculation matched the pre-calculation, we had done well. But we were missing potential savings in our pre-calculation. Moreover, we

‘Wow, the boss is listening to us and using our suggestions!’

‘It is about autonomy, connection, meaning and expertise. Monozukuri seeks a balance between technical and social aspects and focuses not only on delivering the product but also on the people performing the production tasks. How do you get people to think about their own roles in the process? When building a line for flow production, you can incorporate the social aspect by introducing daily management in the workplace and small group activities aimed at making lots of small improvements. By removing waste, nonadded value, from the production process, you can make big savings in a short space of time.’

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS According to Blom, standardisation is the recipe for success, in order to be able to organise the flow in production efficiently: use as many standard components and modules as possible and add the flexibility, the customer-specific features, to the product late on in the process. However, this does require that the engineers stop making constant changes to the product, because that disrupts the flow. Thus, Phenom-World is now only permitted to change existing products twice a year. ‘It was hard for our engineers to stop meddling’, admits Emile Asselbergs. ‘We had to change our culture.’ That culture, the organisation around the product, is often forgotten when it comes to efficiently organising and standardising production, observes Alfred Plagge, senior consultant at Blom Consultancy. ‘But if you tackle it well, other aspects soon follow. You get questions from facilitating departments that want to be part of the new production configuration; for example logistics, purchasing, warehouse, shop floor planning and also new product launches.’ René van Wijk of NTS Mechatronics cites

managers had to make a shift from traditional control to a facilitating style of management. Instead of telling employees what to do, we had to start asking them what we could do to help them and give them the space to continuously make improvements. Besides, top-down control is no longer sustainable because our industry, with all its customer requirements and regulations, is too complex for that. We need people to take more responsibility.’

INVOLVEMENT In late 2015, the joint process aimed at efficiency improvement in Phenom assembly began; a year later, it started to bear fruit. One-piece flow assembly lines have now been configured for the various Phenom models. The number of assembly hours has been reduced by one third, the total lead time by nearly two-thirds and the quality (yield) has improved by half. Emile Asselbergs: ‘It hugely exceeded our expectations. We invested jointly with NTS and we are now sharing the dividends.’ Alfred Plagge of Blom Consultancy praises the involvement of both managements. ‘Often people will start using a tool for efficiency improvement, work with it for six months and then think the job is done – but of course it’s not like that. I have rarely seen the kind of comprehensive approach to WCM taken in this case.’ Steven Blom: Because René and Emile support the process of change, the employees implement it. That’s monozukuri: people are given a lot of space to do things differently, better. ‘Wow, the boss is listening to us and using our suggestions!’ Employees start putting forward their own ideas, for example to change the layout of the production facility, and the boss merely has to approve them.’ René van Wijk recognises: ‘The com-

mitment and loyalty of our employees has increased because they feel more valued.’ Hans Verwijs describes the cooperation between customer and supplier in this case as exemplary and in particular cites the example of onepiece flow being configured in a clean room, with a clean supply of materials and the removal of finished products. Stocks of materials have been reduced to zero, halving the required floor space, which is of great benefit because square metres in a clean room are expensive.

CHAIN-WIDE The new working method will be rolled out more widely, continues Emile Asselbergs: ‘It means our engineers can focus more on real innovation. We are going to build a pilot plant where new products can bridge the phase between development by our company and production at NTS. There we can apply the final changes to the design, define the bill of materials and draw up the assembly instructions. We will build the first 20 units there, in a partnership between our developers and service people and the NTS production engineers and technicians. Only then will the new products go into the NTS factory and will the process of change stop, aside from those two times per year.’ Apart from that, all parties in the chain are going to coordinate their planning, from the rolling forecast issued by the Phenom-World distributors to the forecast NTS communicates to its suppliers. That commitment is in line with the Japanese philosophy, says Steven Blom. Incidentally, NTS Mechatronics is not ready to ditch its current Materials Resource Planning in its entirety, reports René van Wijk. ‘We still want the scale model of ordering in bulk, but we will be configuring the supply to us as one-piece flow.’ Blom expects a battle ahead to convince suppliers. ‘For many of them, receiving daily order lists from NTS will take some time getting used to.’ Van Wijk: ‘In order to really be able to do it properly, you need to be pretty much vertically integrated and enter into strategic partnerships with external suppliers.’

EYE-OPENER Conversely, NTS Mechatronics is already talking to several customers, says René van Wijk: ‘For us, Phenom was a pilot, an eye-opener. We are now extending that to other products and the other NTS companies. In production terms we were a traditional company, we believed that automation was for the highvolume manufacturers. But it turned out that it can also be suitable for high-complexity, high-flexibility, low-volume and that’s the big lesson from this collaboration.’ www.phenom-world.com www.nts-group.nl jhvmanagement@hetnet.nl www.blomconsultancy.nl

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

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PRODUCT INNOVATION EINDHOVEN SPRINGBOARD FOR FURTHER GROWTH ON THE CONTINENT

BY BUYING COMPANIES, ACAL BFI IS ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE The British company Acal BFI operates as a components wholesaler in various European growth markets. Its customers, OEMs as well as smaller manufacturing companies, are setting the bar ever higher. They want suppliers that can contribute ideas and have in-depth product knowledge. ‘For that reason, wherever possible we buy up manufacturers of sensors, electrical components and other high-quality parts ourselves’, says managing director Pieter-Jan Rovers of the Dutch site in Eindhoven. BY JOS CORTENRAAD

he trend is unmistakable: as well is growing autonomously, wholesalers are expanding by swallowing up smaller rivals. Acal BFI seems to be taking just that path, but actually things are a little more nuanced says Pieter-Jan Rovers. ‘Our parent company in the UK acquires the manufacturers of the products we sell on to our customers. It is a successful strategy. We increase our influence on purchase prices and we acquire the most up-to-date knowledge for ourselves. After all, it is the Pieter-Jan Rovers expects steady growth over the coming years. Photo: Bart van Overbeeke manufacturers who employ the specialists; they keep up with the latest technological working with innovative manufacturers which developments. In turn, we know what the firms, distributed across the most important are now sailing under the flag of Acal BFI.’ OEMs want and are able to feed that back market sectors for Acal BFI. They include directly to our manufacturers. As a result, we firms operating in the Netherlands, such as move up from being a glorified order picker Contour, MTC and Foss. The most recent HEALTHCARE AND GAMING to a knowledge supplier. Increasingly, we sit acquisition was Variohm, a distributor and The exponential growth around the Internet down with our customers to advise them on developer of sensors. ‘Of course, the demand of Things is astonishing. ‘Countless devices the best components. And the great thing is for sensors is increasing massively, just like the are connected to one another via the internet. that we make them ourselves.’ electronics for the Internet of Things and that You can use your smartphone to turn up your has everything to do with energy and energy heating, order your groceries and control your storage. Developments are moving extremely TV. We use apps to operate milling machines NETWORK rapidly. Take the electric car, for example. and reset the software in our cars. I believe It’s not just Acal BFI who benefits. ‘No, the I recently bought a petrol car, but it will manufacturers gain access to our network and there are currently already 60 billion devices undoubtedly be the last one. The next one will customer base in one go. We serve more than worldwide equipped with a transmitter that be an electric car, possibly self-driving, with 20,000 customers in Europe. Slowly but surely, can make contact with internet. And how dozens of systems, thousands of sensors and we are also making inroads in the United about the applications in healthcare? Remote numerous displays. In the automotive sector, States and Asia. In our marketing, we automadiagnosis and treatment, robots in the home, the demand for components will be insatiable. tically include our component manufacturers. special programs to prevent diseases. As a wholesaler, that is an important market That way, we kill several birds with one stone.’ Health will be as big as the gaming industry, for us. But we want to be more than just a Pieter-Jan Rovers pulls up an interesting I recently heard. There are no limits.’ supplier. We want co-development, to be infographic to illustrate the strategy. In recent involved across the board. To this end, we are years, the parent company has acquired eleven CONTINUE ON PAGE 49 >

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CONTINUATION OF PAGE 47 >

ENERGY Pieter-Jan Rovers foresees a revolution in the energy sector, too. ‘It is already underway. We are saying goodbye to oil, electricity is being generated sustainably. The challenge is the production of batteries and capacitors that are small, charge quickly and have a long life. The acquisition of the Scandinavian firm Noratel was therefore a useful step. Noratel is a specialist in capacitors, transformers and other components for power supplies.’ Acal BFI is part of Acal PLC, a UK listed company with over 5000 employees and various production sites. It has eight sites on the European mainland, employing 560 people, primarily in sales and distribution. The customers in continental Europe are supplied from a large distribution centre near Frankfurt.

COMPETENCE CENTRES In Eindhoven, the company employs 35 people engaged solely in buying and selling. ‘From here we also provide the complete logistics for our distribution centre and the ICT for various countries. At Acal, cooperation is key. We have set up competence centres at different sites in Europe. Marketing is handled in one place, just as the specialists in sensors are concentrated at a different location. Increasingly, our sales force is made up

of technically highly trained people who are able to advise our customers. They know the markets and are up to date on the latest developments. That is precisely where we set ourselves apart. Of course we do still simply sell components, but with their technical backgrounds our sales people are growing into the role of creators of solutions. Ideally,

components worldwide. Of course I don’t know exactly how it will all turn out. We are following our strategy. For the time being, I am not seeing any changes. We are investing heavily in our web platform. With the expansion of our product range and the acquisitions, we can offer our customers more and more. We demonstrate that in presentations

‘Our sales people are growing into the role of creators of solutions’

we like to get them involved at the design stage so that they can contribute their ideas. The smaller companies in particular appreciate that, because they do not have that technical expertise in-house. You need to consolidate knowledge, not disperse it.’

BREXIT Naturally, Pieter-Jan Rovers is not happy about the Brexit vote. ‘No, definitely not. Just as we are not happy about nationalistic tendencies in Europe and protectionism in the US. Nobody can turn back the clock. Not even Donald Trump. A car or machine is always the sum of international knowledge and skills, of

on the website rather than in a web shop. Very often, customers don’t realise we offer tailored solutions, and that we are keen to have a seat at the drawing board. I am constantly looking for new candidates for acquisition and cooperation – increasingly, we are looking towards Asia and the US. We are taking a lead from our customers, who are also internationalising and globalising. I cannot imagine that stopping. On the other hand: I have seen the world change massively over the course of thirty years. You have to stay on your toes.’

www.acalbfi.com

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Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

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With its myriad of services and products, Brecon Group offers an ‘all-in-one concept’ for optimal cleanroom technology, upon completion and for the entire service life of the cleanroom. The various branches of Brecon can assist you using a broad base of knowledge and experience. Are you looking for a partner for the design, construction, reconstruction or refurnishing of a cleanroom or laboratory? Or are you looking for support in determining the correct clothing regime or a periodic maintenance plan? Then contact us for further introduction to our ‘all-in-one’ service package and experience for yourself how it is to work with a business at which flexibility, quality and reliability have been at the forefront for more than 27 years.

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PROCESS IMPROVEMENT KMWE INTERPRETS PRODUCTION EXCELLENCE BROADLY

FROM QUALITY TO QLTCS Whereas originally in industry the term quality related primarily to production characteristics, high-tech suppliers like KMWE are now interpreting it far more broadly. CEO Edward Voncken points to the QLTC methodology used by many OEMs to evaluate their suppliers on Quality, Logistics, Technology and Cost. According to Voncken, S for Sustainability is now being added to the acronym. This includes environmental aspects but also topics like ‘conflict materials’. KMWE is investing widely in production excellence, for instance in technological innovations for in-process measurement. BY HANS VAN EERDEN

PARTNERSHIP s examples of the most important trends behind the drive for production excellence, Edward Voncken cites zerodefect and the reduction in throughput times, plus the ever-present price pressure and technology (innovation), the raison d’être for high-tech industry. The so-called QLTC methodology is now used by many OEMs to evaluate and improve the performance of suppliers in the areas of Quality, Logistics, Technology and Cost. ‘The QLTC requirements are becoming ever more stringent and if a supplier fails to meet the requirements in a particular area, penalties are triggered.’ The urgency is increasing further now that a fifth aspect is being added to QLTC – S for Sustainability. Voncken points to environmental requirements (such as reducing the lead content in electronics and CO2 emissions), but also to the avoidance of so-called ‘conflict materials’, originating from conflict regions. ‘The burden of proof lies with the suppliers and everyone is looking for new standards.’

KMWE QUALITY STANDARD KMWE (500 employees with sites in Eindhoven, Malaysia and India) specialises in ‘high mix, low volume, high complexity’ machining, mechatronic assembly and development & engineering for the aerospace and high-tech equipment markets. KMWE uses quality systems such as ISO 9001 (general), ISO 13485 (medical) and AS 9100 (aerospace). The company invests heavily in the latest technologies (machine tools, automation and robotisation, inspection and metrology) and software (such as model-based CAM). As part of its World Class Manufacturing programme, KMWE is committed to continuous improvement, applying Lean Manufacturing and Quick Response Manufacturing techniques. www.kmwe.com

Voncken is calling for such questions to be tackled jointly, for example by Brainport Industries. He himself chairs this cluster of (over 90) first, second and third-line high-tech companies in the Brainport region around Eindhoven. ‘We can standardise particular things together and learn from each other – for example, how to implement the new requirements in our operating processes and assure standards, but also how to share data more easily in the supply chain – about products and production, quality and logistics – with the help of a ‘smart connector’. With a new production technology KMWE CEO, Edward Voncken: ‘The requirements are becoming ever more stringent.’ Photo: KMWE such as 3-D printing, we are getting more and more questions from customers about the repeatalist IBS Precision Engineering in partnership ability of the printing process.’ with KMWE as the launching customer. This Many of these topics are part of the innovaadvanced measurement solution for 5-axis tion programme for the Brainport Industries CNC lathe cells measures the performance of Campus (BIC), which is being developed near a machine during production, rather than the Eindhoven. Next year, KMWE will become the quality of the products made on that machine first firm to move into the ‘factory the future’ once they are complete. This fits with the there. A practical challenge is the move to the trend of in-process measurement and yields campus from the two Eindhoven sites: KMWE benefits in terms of quality, rejects and costs, headquarters and the DutchAero division, explains Edward Voncken. ‘If a test produces which together employ 350 people and have the same results on the same machine before many dozens of advanced machine tools and and after a move, there is no need to measure production cells. KWME will have to go up all those products in their entirety, provithrough the customer approval process for ded the customer accepts the results of the the thousands of different products in its test as sufficient proof that the product has portfolio again. In particular for the aerospace remained unchanged. We are also investigasector, that requires a comprehensive first ting the application of other technologies, article inspection with lots of accompanying such as laser scanning, and sensors for measudocumentation. rement on the machine. However, often we still need to perform an end inspection of the products, because the customers no longer IN-PROCESS MEASUREMENT have entry controls. They will not accept any An innovation which can simplify and faulty products on arrival, so we need to be shorten this process is the Rotary Inspector, 100% sure that they are right.’ Zero-defect. developed by the Eindhoven metrology speci-

Special Issue - Dutch High Precision - April 2017

Fo l l o

w t h e s t ra t e g y

nu e h t of

r be

The Success of the Dutch Manufacturing Industry is driven by the South In the last 10 years the growth of the Dutch manufacturing industry has outstripped that of other European countries. The South of the Netherlands is clearly the driving force of this success. Brainport Eindhoven set the example and is now one of several innovative regions in the South of the Netherlands. Isah is situated in the middle of this region. Together with its employees and partners, Isah and its business so ware have been contributing to the success of the manufacturing industry for more than 25 years by focusing manufacturers on the key areas where they can be successful and competitive.

Isah started in the Netherlands, and now supports companies across the world. With more than 25 years accumulated experience in this target segment of industry, Isah consultants have the knowledge to make a significant contribution to profitability through sustainable improvements in the operations. Perhaps your company could benefit too?

THE NUMBER

SOFT WARE FOR THE MAKE-TO-ORDER MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY.

Visit our website www.isah.com to see the results from some of our numerous references.