Maxicon in Voka Entrepreneurs

Emmanuel Bekaert started work as an electrician/mechanic after his technical training at the VTI in Roeselare. When he noticed a high demand for workers with his profile, he decided to recruit colleagues with the same skills to divide assignments among them. This marked the start of Bekaert Technics. After a few years, he joined Maxicon, which was founded six years ago by Sophie Vangheluwe. "We send out different profiles for project assignments, The largest group are technicians, but we also have technical clerks and flexible employees in retail and logistics.

The technicians carry out repair and maintenance work on companies' machine fleets. "On the one hand, these can be long-planned in advance: dismantling production lines and rebuilding them elsewhere, for example, carrying out annual maintenance or preparing a production department for winter or summer. On the other hand, we also get assignments that are slightly more urgent: then a company wants temporary technical support until it can recruit its own worker with the right profile." Among Maxicon's customers are some big names: NMBS, LVD, VDL, Poco Loco, Unilin, Deceuninck, Coca Cola, ... "Whether it concerns machine maintenance, a targeted intervention, the complete assembly or the fine adjustment of any machine, our customers find with us the right professional at the moment they need him. We also make sure there is a match between our people and the company they are sent to."

The technical employees Maxicon sends out are maintenance managers, engineers, technical draftsmen, work planners,... "Not only industrial companies, but also companies in retail and logistics can turn to us for support. Workers who replenish shelves so that their own staff can take care of customer service, for example. But also forklift drivers, order pickers, loaders and unloaders,... are part of our portfolio."

"A large proportion of our applicants come to us after an acquaintance or friend who already works for us is so positive about us."
- Emmanuel Bekaert, ceo

Most of those profiles are bottleneck occupations. Remarkably, though, Maxicon employs enough of those workers to help other companies out of trouble. "Apart from the fact that our jobs in themselves appeal to many people for the sake of variety, we also make active efforts to keep our employees happy. A large proportion of our applicants come to us after an acquaintance or friend who already works for us is so positive about us."

Maxicon opened a branch in Limburg in September, in addition to its 2 existing branches in Roeselare and Landegem. 20 clerks take care of the planning, monitoring, supervision and administration of the 200 employees on the job. "In East and West Flanders, the orders are coming in smoothly, partly through our existing network and partly through word-of-mouth advertising. In Limburg, we still have to conquer our place a bit. But that will come anyway, with time."

Source: Voka Entrepreneurs - Photo: Kurt