Maurice Servais, Quality Engineer
The workday of Maurice Servais
If anyone is proud of his job, it is Maurice. After completing his graduation project in 2012 on optimising the production process at the former Façade Beek, Maurice was asked to do the implementation. He first worked as a Management Trainee and then as an assistant to the director/plant manager.
Since the integration with Vandersanden at the end of 2017, I have been working in the Quality Department. My colleagues and I support employees on quality for both production and sales, we provide assistance for new, innovative projects, and are responsible for product certifications and the quality management system. It's a varied job, where no two days are the same!
Wednesday 6th March 2019
8am
The working day starts with answering some e-mails. The questions are diverse and concern, for example, the technical quality of bricks, the status of ongoing investigations or updates to technical documentation.
9am
External ISO audits are scheduled soon. Therefore, it is important to prepare everyone involved properly so that the auditors' questions can be answered correctly in terms of content. Today, I am in front of a group of sales people in the Netherlands. I explain to them what and how the audit will go and what questions they can expect.
11:30am
A brainstorm session for an innovation project of Brick Solutions. This is specifically about a system application of strips, where we look at the practical possibilities of our products in relation to the client's requirements. New processing and methods in combination with new markets provide a different approach to existing products and information.
13pm
Lunch break and time to answer some more e-mails. The R&D manager from Spijk reports that a number of recipes for different products have been modified to prevent cracking. This adjustment affects the technical properties of the bricks which means a different classification is needed. I update the documentation so that everyone in the company has the correct and up-to-date information.
13:30pm
Production inspection in folders. Every week, we check and discuss the production of the previous week. Any remarks and/or points for improvement are converted into actions with the people involved. These discussions take place at all production locations with someone from the quality department present.
14:30pm
A training course for new field staff. In this so-called 'Quality Toolbox', I take them through the technical aspects of our products; how are they built up, what do the parameters mean, which parameters are important for sales and which are pitfalls, approaching the technical sheets, certification of products, etc… Everything to provide these colleagues with a good technical background to be well prepared to enter into a conversation with customers.
16:30pm
Follow-up session with the IT department on an ongoing optimisation project. Short discussion to go through the state of affairs and address possible remarks.
17:00pm
Just checking emails and answering a few questions. The day is over. A day to be proud of.
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