Innovating a croissant making machines

Robert, project engineer: "My work produces more than a machine because it also boosts the client's confidence. Modis Engineering seconded me to Rademaker. My assignment was to innovate the existing croissant production line into a better performing machine. It had to be practical to operate and maintain and comply with the latest hygienic design guidelines. Together with Jan van Wees (Rademaker project manager) and a team of engineers we developed a new croissant line.

As a project engineer I was technically responsible for detailing the modules and assessing the design. I was in charge of engineering work, helped to devise solutions for bottlenecks, monitored the scope and supervised quality and the schedule.

We fulfilled all the requirements within the scope. The result is a significantly improved product that is popular on the market. Although I'm proud of the end product, I'm particularly proud of the process as a whole. We carried out this project together with Jan.

Thanks to this experience I've been able to make the step from constructor to chief constructor/project leader and I now lead a team that carries out projects internally at Modis Engineering for Rademaker and others."

Jan van Wees, system architect and project manager at Rademaker, has worked at Rademaker for 32 years and has worked his way up from mechanic to system architect. Jan is responsible for new developments for machines and modules at Rademaker and works in the New Product Development department.

Jan talks about the cooperation and the project: "Robert had worked at Rademaker via Modis Engineering for some time and during this period he'd gained a lot of technical knowledge of the various Rademaker production lines. In combination with his communication skills, he was the right man to help me implement this project. My task during this project was to draw up the main elements of the concept and I was responsible for managing the project.

I really enjoyed working together with Robert. He investigated things properly and communicated well with the engineering contractor. As a result we were able to fulfil almost all the wishes and requirements that applied to the new croissant line."