“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

Noël represents the profile of a dedicated and versatile Data Scientist at Nobleo Manufacturing. His expertise, enthusiasm, and commitment to continuous growth make him a valuable addition to the Nobleo team and contribute to Nobleo’s success in delivering high-quality solutions to clients.

“At my previous employer, I regularly supervised HBO graduation interns in the field of Operational Excellence. During this supervision, I found out that they had little statistical experience, despite their certification as Lean Six Sigma Green Belts from the University of Applied Sciences. A solid statistical foundation was essential for graduation research at my former employer. This realization led me to contact various institutes. At Fontys, my former institute, I stayed in touch after the initial contact.”

This had the effect that Stijn started part-time at Fontys as a developer in the field of Operational Excellence, which later expanded to include teaching. “During my appointment, I wanted to experience more diversity in my role. I wanted to improve existing processes and set up new ones. That’s why I reconnected with Jos, an old acquaintance from my career.”

“Eventually, I started working at Nobleo and continued my development at Fontys at the same time. And yes, I just really enjoy it, otherwise I wouldn’t be here anymore. I have been working at Nobleo for almost 3 years now.”

“That’s never the same, of course. It can even be chaotic at times. I once gave a presentation at an informal pizza meeting about what my schedule sometimes looks like. And it’s all over the place every week. New topics and themes come up all the time. My main focus is on program development, which takes place in between all the other tasks. I review and evaluate new projects and ensure standardization within these projects.”

“I ask myself questions like: ‘What exactly did you do? Was the schedule adhered to? Can we learn from this from a program perspective?’ These questions are also relevant in my role as project manager for various projects, especially with teams larger than 2 or 3 people. The collaboration between everyone is wonderful to see. I always find it very inspiring that we stand there as a team and take on the challenge.”

“Fontys stands for Lifelong Learning, and I find that educational vision particularly fascinating. If you apply that to me, you can ask yourself: why do you do that? I share information, theory, and practical examples (applications of the theory) that I have gained myself.

For me, it is essential that the received theoretical knowledge can be applied in practice. This provides students with practical tools to move forward, and at the same time, I also learn from the students. Engaging in dialogue about certain topics gives me insight into the practical challenges they face. This activates my thought process on how to deal with such situations.”

“Yes, at Fontys, I learn daily how to effectively convey complex theories and cases to students. This provides me with valuable guidelines, especially when we are involved in complex projects and need to share progress with various stakeholders, each with their own discipline. Taking an integral approach and reporting through a good structure helps with that. In projects, we also use tools and methodologies that I teach in the Operational Excellence course. Staying current and up-to-date in this area helps with the projects. Additionally, there is also the Operational Excellence lectureship, which mainly translates between scientific research and application-oriented research. Connecting with the lectureship also helps me to look further into the future and contribute to it, perhaps with our Nobleo team.”

“I am passionate about everything related to engines. Currently, I pursue karting as a hobby. I own my own 125cc 2-stroke kart and share this hobby with my brother, brother-in-law, and father-in-law. It’s fantastic to constantly try to improve your lap time and enjoy the speed. Karting also requires insight and a sense of adjustment, so you can get the most out of yourself and the kart. It’s a fun hobby and a moment of relaxation for myself. Although family life naturally takes priority, it’s also nice to get away occasionally. In the meantime, I maintain both my and my brother’s karts.”

"I always find it wonderful that we stand together as a team and tackle the challenge together"

Stijn Totté – Program lead – Stijn Totté – Program lead

It all started with LinkedIn. “I find LinkedIn a fantastic platform because it allows me to keep track of where people are.” A new chapter began when he saw that Philip had started at Nobleo. “I reached out and through Philip, I got in touch with Jos.” And so began Anton’s adventure at Nobleo.

Over the years, Anton has worked on a series of remarkable projects, some of which he brought in himself. At Nedcar, Volvo Gent, Daf, and Ebusco, Anton focused on projects related to Lineside engineering, model line setup, and LEAN implementation. At Nedcar, he laid the foundation for the Masterlist.

“Within logistics everyone was looking for, if I have a product, where the Point Of Use on the line is. So, where is it consumed or installed in the line? And no one in logistics knew that. Because I had Nedcar experience, I knew that there is a Fundoshi, which is the Japanese word for work description, and that Fundoshi precisely indicated which products you needed to assemble. At some point, with the help of PE, I linked the logistics database to the Fundoshi database. That allowed me to precisely determine where the product was consumed in the line.”

Anton Hendriks – Process improvement consultant – Anton Hendriks – Process improvement consultant

At Volvo Gent, Anton showed that you’re never too old to craft. “One afternoon, we started building boxes with paper, tape, and plastic, simulating the process. Later, we implemented it in production.” Furthermore, Anton introduced the pizza meeting and, along with former colleague Ivo, initiated simulations within Nobleo.

Anton’s career at Nobleo began with a project at Philips Medical Systems. As he looks back, he recalls his time at Nedcar, long before joining Nobleo. “They had a reorganization, and I received my dismissal letter from Peter Thissen. I’m actually still grateful to him for that.” says Anton. This unexpected departure opened the doors to consultancy and gave his career a powerful boost. After working at Medical Systems, Anton brought Nedcar in as a client and indirectly brought in Peter as well. “He kicked me out, and I brought him back in,” Anton laughs. “I introduced various people from my network to Nobleo, including Jeroen, Ivo, and Peter Lemke.”

What is the secret behind Anton’s consistent success and perseverance? “Always keep looking around for opportunities and solutions,” Anton shares. He emphasizes the importance of simplicity and avoiding unnecessary complexity. His advice for the new generation of professionals within Nobleo is to keep learning and seize opportunities. “Try to build your process with simple means. What works well today can be even better tomorrow.”

So, what motivates someone to stay at Nobleo for a whole decade? “I find it a great place to work,” says Anton. He has always seen the appeal of a work environment that pursues not only commercial interests but also meaning and impact on clients and partners. Improving processes with people on the shop floor is what Anton enjoys the most.

On August 1st, we celebrated Anton’s 10-year work anniversary, a milestone that not only celebrates his dedication to Nobleo but also the impact of his work and contributions to our team. Together, we wish Anton all the best for the coming years, full of new challenges, opportunities, and achievements. Congratulations, Anton, and thank you for ten wonderful years at Nobleo!