He thinks we should sell ourselves a little better in the Northern Netherlands. Especially when it comes to the innovative technical manufacturing industry. Because, in addition to beautiful high-tech companies, we have now built up a unique ecosystem in which educational institutions, the business community and governments work together. This makes us attractive to young talent. Exactly the target group that our new chairman Binne Visser (1968) wants to reach. He follows Kor Visscher who retired in June. ’’The trick is to be attractive to captivate young technical talent and ultimately bind them to us.''
Raised at Philips in Drachten, where he is celebrating his silver jubilee this summer, he has experience in engineering, project management, supply chain management and R&D, among other fields. The industry still holds few secrets for him. This is evident when in 2017 he was named the Maintenance Manager of the Year. He has the ability to make maintenance of machines and production lines predictable. From collective to planned maintenance. ’’Solving a breakdown is good, but making sure the breakdown never happens again is better.’’ That's why Visser looks at things from all sides and breaks old patterns with new ideas and working methods. ’’We collect a lot of data about our machines, but as humans we don't see half of the interactions between all the parts. If you make those visible, you can predict when your machine needs maintenance.'' He knows how to empower maintenance engineers and teaches them to always think two steps ahead. ''You never win with defending, which is why you have to look ahead. You do this with the knowledge on the floor and by placing responsibility where you can influence the process. That way maintenance adds value and it's also an inspiring job.''
Smart Industry Hub
As brand-new chairman, he rates the potential of the business cluster highly. ,,What we are doing is unique in the Netherlands. Of course there are more collaborations and business clusters, but nowhere is so much knowledge, talent and managerial power linked to make an attractive industrial region.’’ This fits seamlessly with State Secretary Mona Keijzer's assignment to create a so-called Smart Industry Hub set up. In these hubs, field labs, regional and national industry and interest groups, regional and local development companies, knowledge institutions and strategic partners work together. ,,With the intention of joining forces in the region so that the digitization of the economy, Industry 4.0, will gain momentum. This is important for our future. Only if we work together will it get a face and attract the best techies. In the North there is a lot of everything and you can live well too!’’
Curriculum
Binne Visser has been named Maintenance Manager of the Year 2017 in the Netherlands by the Dutch Association for Effective Maintenance (NVDO): Jury Report: ,,The title went to Binne Visser due to his ability to predict maintenance within the Asset Management chain, the optimal positioning of Maintenance in the organization, his vision, work processes and results. These are widely carried out by the Employees, Managers and Staff within the organization. He is an example worldwide for colleague plants”.
Professional experience
- April 2011 - present: Director of Production Engineering & Maintenance, Philips Drachten
- October 2006 – April 2011: Senior Project Manager, Philips Drachten
- June 2003 – October 2006: Grouplead Engineering, Philips Drachten
- April 2002 – June 2003: Project Manager, Philips Drachten
- January 1999 – April 2002: Lead Engineer, Philips Drachten
- August 1991 – January 1999: Various positions at Philips Drachten Development
Education
- Bachelor of Electrical Engineering, graduated with Honors 1987 – 1991, Technical High School (NHL), Leeuwarden, the Netherlands
- Technical Middle School with specialization in Electronics 1984 - 1987, (MTS), Drachten, the Netherlands
- Technical Primary School with specialization in electronics 1980 – 1984.
Binne Visser is married and lives in Hemrik in Friesland. His son (24) has just graduated from the University of Groningen in Technical Operations Management and his daughter (22) is studying medicine in Nijmegen.