Rik de Man started his career at Nobleo Manufacturing as an Industrial Engineer and slowly took on the role of Program Lead through his experience with Industrialisation & Design House+ projects. His experience in industrialisation projects as an Industrial Engineer allows him to understand customer needs and provide solutions from the customer’s perspective. This ensures that he not only has in-depth technical expertise but also understands the broader context of customer relations and business processes.

The Program Lead plays a key role in aligning program development with customer needs and market trends, working closely with business managers to ensure strategic relevance. At the same time, you collaborate with colleagues to integrate insights and expertise from past projects, continuously refining Nobleo’s propositions and working methods. This role is fulfilled alongside your day-to-day responsibilities, requiring a balance between operational tasks and the ongoing analysis, development, and monitoring of Nobleo’s approach to ensure both strategic alignment and effective execution of projects.

Furthermore, a valuable aspect of the Program Lead role is the ability to develop a broader, more strategic perspective. While practical project delivery remains essential, the real benefit lies in approaching these projects with more vision, structure and long-term impact in mind. This creates a dynamic working environment where you continue to grow in your profession and increase the value you deliver to clients.

Nobleo offers a unique environment where structure and continuity go hand in hand with innovation. It is a place where you are constantly moving and thinking from project to project, ensuring constant development and improvement. As Program Lead within Nobleo, you get the space to learn, grow and work together with your team and customers on sustainable and result-oriented programs.

Ready to take the next step in your career? Join us and be part of something exceptional!

Achieving New Level Manufacturing Together

In the role of Industrial Engineer, you will be involved in a variety of work. You might work on data analysis and data visualisations, as well as setting up and managing processes. You will combine versatility with a practical approach to improve efficiency and results.

As an Industrial Engineer within Nobleo, flexibility is an important aspect. You will be working on various customer projects, so being able to switch quickly is essential. In addition, you must enjoy getting to the bottom of processes and understanding them so that you can provide clarity to others. The ability to subsequently present to stakeholders is a soft skill that you will develop further at Nobleo.

The Industrial Engineer job distinguishes itself by giving you plenty of opportunity to develop yourself. You work in an environment where colleagues think critically with you, so you are never alone. This gives you room to learn from the feedback you receive, which strengthens your growth and self-confidence. The team spirit plays a major role in this; you really work together with colleagues to achieve results.

In addition, the job is extremely versatile. One moment you are working on a project within the high-tech industry, while the next you are involved in an assignment in the automotive sector. This variety offers the chance to work on diverse projects at various customers and thus gain broad experience in different industries.

This makes Nobleo not only a dynamic working environment where achieving project results for the customer is key, but also a place where sociability and a close-knit team define the atmosphere. Being open to each other and working together on challenging projects is complemented by the informal moments, such as the cosy free mibos, which contribute to a strong team spirit.

At Nobleo, everything revolves around both professional and personal growth. Understanding details forms a solid basis for seeing broader connections, which is essential for further growth in the field. This broader view also opens the door to career opportunities, for example to a coordinating or managerial role. With room for fun, cooperation and development, Nobleo is a place where you can continue to grow.

If this sounds like you, then the role of Industrial Engineer at Nobleo could be for you. Discover what your talents can do for Nobleo and feel free to contact us to find out more. Who knows, maybe we’ll see you on our team soon!

Achieving New Level Manufacturing Together

Stijn began his career at Nobleo with various data-driven projects, including analyzing product flows through process mining and simulating production lines. “In these projects, we used client data to simulate processes and analyze potential improvements without disrupting production.” He soon had the opportunity to contribute to an ERP implementation project. “In this project, I focused specifically on the SAP modules for the manufacturing engineering and production engineering departments. I acted as the bridge between these departments and IT, which gave me deep insights into the digital side of production processes.”

In early 2023, Stijn started a project to redesign a production line. “Together with a team of Nobleo colleagues and the client, we analyzed the entire production process. Here, the focus was more on the physical and logistical aspects of production optimization. We applied various lean methodologies to improve the production process.” In addition to process optimization, Nobleo supports clients in setting up new production processes. “In my current project, I’m involved in the industrialization of a new product, where I’ve been working from the start to establish an entirely new production process. In this project, I’m taking on the role of manufacturing engineer.”

Throughout the setup of a production process, Stijn focuses not only on the technical details of a product but also on the manufacturability and the production process. “In product development, deadlines are often strict, which may lead to certain aspects receiving less attention. By focusing on manufacturability and the production process from the start, costly adjustments later on can be avoided.”

Stijn emphasizes the importance of having a broad perspective and overview of the entire process as a Manufacturing Engineer. “With complex products, it’s necessary to divide the work. Having a complete overview of the process is essential to ensure not only product quality but also manufacturability and logistics. This requires collaboration with various departments.”

At Nobleo, Stijn works closely with colleagues to develop the best possible solutions for our clients. “It’s important to be able to consult with a colleague who is an expert in a particular area. This pragmatic approach allows us to act quickly. Nobleo’s strength lies in this flexibility and in leveraging the right expertise at the right time. By sharing experiences and insights, we collectively arrive at the best solutions for our clients.”

Stijn appreciates the diversity and breadth within his role. “I have broad interests, and at Nobleo, I get the chance to work on a variety of projects, from data-driven simulations to manufacturing engineering.”

"By sharing experiences and insights, we collectively arrive at the best solutions for our clients."

Stijn van Dingenen – Industrial engineer – Stijn van Dingenen – Industrial engineer

Harm has followed an interesting career path before joining Nobleo Manufacturing. Surprisingly, he began his studies at the Higher Hospitality Management School. “From the second year onwards, I dropped all hospitality courses and graduated in business administration. I completed my graduation project at ASML.”

After his studies, Harm gained experience at various companies. “At my previous employer, I played a crucial role in streamlining Supply Chain processes and ensuring efficient logistics in the dynamic environment of a startup. Technological development was central, but time-to-market was just as important. Stakeholder management, change management, setting up logistics and assembly structures, and planning were therefore essential in this role.”

Harm was introduced to the Nobleo Manufacturing team through our colleague Stijn, and a strong collaboration was established immediately.

At Nobleo, Harm mainly works on Design House+ projects, where he is part of an internal project group responsible for ensuring quality and setting up a customized supply chain. Design House+ is a collaboration between Nobleo Technology and Nobleo Manufacturing. It offers a comprehensive solution for successfully turning a design into a product, with specific attention to transparency, customer involvement, supplier engagement, and project management.

“What makes Design House+ unique is the integrated collaboration within the Nobleo group. The ‘plus’ in Design House+ is where the added value of Nobleo Manufacturing comes in. We focus on the timely industrialization of the production process. We look not only at the product but also at the process. This approach yields significant benefits for the customer, which translates into a more mature product, resulting in a faster development cycle. You learn faster from your own design, ultimately saving time.”

Harm emphasizes the importance of early Supply Chain involvement in Design House+ projects. “By engaging in discussions with suppliers early on and setting clear expectations, you create more awareness. You encourage partners to actively think about the manufacturability, standardization, and long-term applicability of a product. The better a product aligns with the processes of the suppliers, the less chance there is of errors. This contributes to ensuring and improving long-term quality.”

A striking example of this principle is a project where a complete module was developed for a client in just 26 weeks. “Thanks to the early involvement of partners, including international manufacturing companies, the project was successfully completed, and the module was seamlessly integrated into the client’s system. I am particularly proud of that. My role was primarily focused on the efficient and effective industrialization of the modules, with a strong emphasis on optimizing the supply chain.”

For the future, Harm hopes that the Design House+ program line of Nobleo will be further developed. “I aim to focus more on improving and refining the technical aspects and processes within projects.” Harm also hopes to further develop his project management skills.

With his expertise, enthusiasm, and drive, Harm is a valuable asset to the Nobleo Manufacturing team. “What really appeals to me at Nobleo is the way of working and collaborating. In my view, Nobleo is a hands-on consultancy firm that truly listens to the customer and engages in collaboration with them.”

"When there is mutual understanding, a willingness to support each other emerges. This collaboration not only contributes to improving quality but also fosters innovation within a project."

Harm Jansen – Supply Chain lead – Harm Jansen – Supply Chain lead

Achieving New Level Manufacturing Together

Just two weeks after starting, Karsten began his first project with a developer in the semiconductor industry, Besi. This quick start was necessary because the project was already in full swing. “So far, I have worked on one project and supported various phases. When I started on this project, they were in the middle of the prototype realization phase. In this phase, the design is validated and potentially adjusted before production is set up with a volume producer in Asia. During this initial phase, I was mainly a kind of ‘problem solver,’ interacting a lot with suppliers, the project team, and the project leader.”

Karsten’s technical background is a great asset in his role at the client. “At Nobleo Manufacturing, we are the link between the engineers and the suppliers.” Thanks to his technical background, he succeeded in bridging the gap between engineers and suppliers, an essential role in assessing the manufacturability of the design.

Karsten is proud of how quickly he has mastered the new processes. “I previously had little knowledge about the process, but I picked it up quickly thanks to the opportunities provided at Nobleo.” Karsten has grown significantly both professionally and personally. “In the beginning, I struggled to prioritize my tasks and often wanted to start too quickly, which sometimes made it hard to see the bigger picture. Fortunately, I’ve made progress in this area. Now I more often look at the bigger picture before starting something.”

What Karsten appreciates about Nobleo Manufacturing is the dynamism and diversity of his work. “The work dynamic here is amazing. We have a young team that gets along well even outside of work. Nobleo is a small company, so you know everyone and can easily approach anyone. Additionally, you have a lot of freedom to develop yourself right from the start. Luckily, you’re not alone; you receive plenty of guidance from the more experienced employees. There’s a good balance in that.”

In the long term, Karsten aims to grow into the role of project manager. He expressed this goal early on, which has led the project leader to involve him in some of his tasks and decision-making processes.

Finally, Karsten shares valuable advice for mechanical engineering students: be active and explore what you enjoy through internships, fairs, and conversations. “As a mechanical engineer, you are highly sought after. So be critical about what interests you and what fits you in terms of content and company culture. For me, Nobleo was the perfect choice because you can learn a lot in a short time here. Additionally, you get an insight into various companies and fulfil different roles. Furthermore, the work atmosphere is very relaxed and informal.”

"For me, Nobleo was the perfect choice because you can learn a lot in a short time, get an insight into various companies, and fulfill different roles."

Karsten Slakhorst – Industrial engineer – Karsten Slakhorst – Industrial engineer

“I chose the Data Scientist position at Nobleo because of my interest in Data Science, combined with my desire to stay engaged with the business context. I didn’t just want to develop technical skills but also apply practical insights to create value.”

“At Nobleo, I find an ideal balance between technical challenges, client interaction, and creative freedom. Additionally, I appreciate the flexibility and collaboration within our team. We closely collaborate on various projects, leveraging and valuing each other’s expertise.”

“Currently, I’m involved in a long-term project where my role involves applying quantitative analysis methods to generate practical insights for our clients. One outcome is the development of a planning tool for a client, where we combine complex factory simulations with genetic algorithms to generate optimal production schedules.”

“To accomplish this, I work closely with both the Nobleo project team and the client. One of the challenging aspects of my role is translating complex analytical concepts into understandable language for the client.”

“We always try to approach a project in a structured manner, but the project scope needs continuous management. In the project I’m currently working on, besides developing the tool, many other client questions arise: for example, I’m involved in determining the theoretical end state of a factory. The client aims to increase throughput in the factory and wants to know: what is our maximum capacity? To estimate this, we used the simulation for the planning tool. We looked at: what is the bottleneck within the factory? How can we improve it? Is it realistic? Ideally, you don’t need to test in the actual factory. You test it in the simulation and then see the effect. This way, we’ve identified quite a few improvements. It’s important in a project to continue working from the problem/client question. We focus a lot on the client and what solution fits them best. This makes projects quite dynamic.”

“It’s often useful to structure or visualize data. Creating a schematic representation, for example, of the architecture of the planning tool helps the client understand how the tool works. You can clearly show where the information comes from, what we do with it, and how everything is connected. I also enjoy visualizing data, to create simple insights from complex data, for example, through a dashboard.”

“It’s also interesting to focus on the usability of a tool. So how is someone going to use such a tool? It must be intuitive and reliable. You have to consider quite a few aspects.”

“On an average day, I spend part of my time developing a tool. There are always improvements and/or adjustments to be made. Additionally, I’m mostly engaged in conducting experiments. It concerns the ‘final state’ of a factory. New insights that the client asks for need to be processed. You translate those into a set of experiments and conduct those experiments with the simulation. We also have weekly meetings with the team and with the client. When developing the tool, I collaborate a lot with colleagues, so there’s a lot of brainstorming.”

“Data Scientist indeed sounds quite technical and analytical, and you do need to be that. But I think the business side is also very important. Because it all seems very easy from behind your computer, but there’s obviously a lot more to it. All the problems you’re presented with at university all have a perfect answer. But in reality, that’s not the case; it’s always a bit of weighing things up. What fits best? And there’s not always one very clear answer. This means it’s not enough to simply interpret the results of a data analysis; you also need to translate them into reality. Therefore, it’s essential to understand and appreciate the business context.”

"One of the challenges of my role is translating complex analytical concepts into understandable language for the client."

Noël Krouwel – Data scientist & Industrial engineer – Noël Krouwel – Data scientist & Industrial engineer