Batenburg Beenen, a leading company in synergy and industrial automation

Alex van Dalen gave an interview to NoordZ about the collaborative strength with Batenburg Techniek, smart solutions they are working on, and the focus areas for now and the future: Cyber Security, Data Intelligence, and Robots & Vision.

Curious to know more? You can read the full article below:

More synergy, more meaning, better visibility. That's summarized why the names Batenburg and Beenen are now inseparably linked outwardly. Managing Director Alex van Dalen explains the focus of the technical service provider.

At technical service provider Batenburg, twelve hundred people work. The company consists of three divisions: Installation Technology, Industrial Components, and Industrial Automation. One of the oldest companies within the third division is Batenburg Beenen, with branches in Heerenveen and Zwolle. Beenen became part of Batenburg back in 1986, but in recent years, the industrial service provider with nineteen companies has presented itself more as a whole. The goal is to increase visibility in the market and improve customer service. This includes the organization of the mentioned divisions and linking the name Batenburg to the individual companies. Hence, Batenburg Beenen has been on the facade for several months now. Celebrating Beenen's hundredth anniversary was followed by making the long-standing connection between Batenburg and Beenen more visible.

Collaborative strength

"We hope to further strengthen synergy in the market. As individual companies, we already worked together a lot, but now we emphasize it even more. Customers won't notice anything, as everyone can be found under that one umbrella name. What I notice is that due to this change in direction, we seek each other out even more and share knowledge about projects or solutions earlier and easier," says managing director Alex van Dalen, who joined Beenen in 2011. "The Batenburg division Industrial Automation works for a wide range of clients; Batenburg Beenen designs, realizes, and maintains complete control systems for the markets of food & beverage, machinery, chemistry, infrastructure, and water technology. Within the division, we have about 500 engineers who are skilled in various areas. Taking the step towards more collaboration within the group and greater visibility to the outside world is, therefore, a very logical step. The critical mass of Batenburg is simply larger than that of our individual companies. Especially in times when the complexity of various processes increases, you need collaborative strength. Look at major themes like energy transition and sustainability of the environment. By also focusing more on Batenburg's vision, we can operate more purposefully. The added value for our customers increases. Batenburg is focusing on energy transition and digitalization in the coming years because process safety is playing an increasingly significant role. This includes investing in specialized companies that add value to the entire Batenburg in the areas of Cyber Security, Data Intelligence, and Robots & Vision."

Working within the vital infrastructure

"For example, Batenburg Beenen is working on various projects within the vital infrastructure, such as making bridges remotely controllable for the province of Friesland. Or projects in water purification for our drinking water supply. These are all processes in which Cyber Security plays an increasingly important role because you don't want bridges or our drinking water supply to be hacked. Digital security is an area in which Batenburg is strong. Batenburg Magion has been a specialist in Industrial Cyber Security for many years. Improving the digital security of an office environment is relatively easy; you can simply install a new application version of your software. However, implementing this for industrial processes is much more challenging because you can't just shut down a process to see if a new version works well. Patching has to be done in an external standalone environment, and only after everything is good, you can proceed."

In Robots & Vision, we have made great strides over the past years. For example, we developed an unmanned weed control machine. Through the combination of Data, Artificial Intelligence, and solar energy, the machine autonomously roams the fields and precisely identifies which plant is a weed and which is not. The machine can work 24/7 and directly replaces six people, not to mention the savings on everything around it. No housing costs, no portable toilets placed in the field, no food and drinks to be brought. It's about coming up with smart solutions. The labor market remains tight, it's work that nobody likes to do, but it has to be done. The first unmanned machine was delivered last year, three are currently under construction, and ten more will be delivered next year. The demand is enormous."

Inspirational

Data Intelligence is involved in various industrial areas, including making accurate predictions for planned machine maintenance using algorithms. We also work on batch solutions for the food industry, for example. This allows us to intervene much faster and more accurately in cases like product recalls. Ensuring food safety, process monitoring, and cost control are important principles. Take our customer Huhtamaki, for example: they face the enormous challenge of coming up with sustainable alternative solutions for the huge amount of fossil packaging still in use. This also requires various process-related challenges; it is wonderful and inspiring to work on that together." Alex van Dalen looks confidently to the coming years. "Batenburg is in good shape as a group, and so are we. We work in challenging and complex markets where we can make a significant contribution. More focus for a clear future. Being an appealing company that focuses on innovation where young people feel at home. A place where there is room for everyone's growth and development to fundamentally contribute to better and safer processes for our customers."