07/1990 : the start of a professional career

Here we are : Bert Neven (BNE) is allowed to say goodbye to school Industriële Hogeschool Groep T in Leuven, with the degree of Electrical engineer in the pocket.

Before fulfilling military services, he already has the opportunity to work for a few months for Graykarn Belgium NV in Genk, an automation company, mainly active in automobile. The first professional experience, at the same time pleasant and instructive, leads towards Ford Motor Company in Dagenham (United Kingdom), as a PLC-programmer in a project group of automation-engineers.

But the army is calling ...

09/1991 : Siemens

After fulfilling military services, BNE starts to work for Siemens NV in Brussels, department Transport and Distribution of Electricity, first for the design department, later for the sales department.

The main activity is the automation of electrical installations : equipping high-voltage substations with a digital control- and supervisory system for the control, surveillance, interlocking, protection and teletransmission towards a central dispatching.

These systems are used in different voltage levels (150 - 70 - 36 - 20 - 10 - 6 kVAC) by different industrial customers both in Belgium and abroad : Electrabel, Tractebel, Interelectra, Cockerill-Sambre, Amoco, Hydro-Agri (Holland), Solvay (Thailand) en Sonelgaz (Algeria).

BNE is always the realizer of the total project : study, programming, test, commissioning, training of the customer and maintenance of the installations.

A beautiful job ... but the world of high-voltage is small and, after 6 years, BNE wants to enlarge his technical and commercial competences. Time for a change ...

06/1997 : Schneider-Electric

Next, BNE starts to work for Schneider-Electric NV in Brussels, department Automation (AUT). His main tasks and responsabilities are distributed over 2 different domains : sales and technical support of AUT products and realization of AUT projects.

The first domain includes mainly the following tasks : study of customer specifications, design of technical configurations and solutions, creating and defending pricing offers, product support (hardware and software) on customer location, launch of new equipment and technologies, organizing presentations and training for customers and end users - all of this for different applications in different industrial domains : machinery construction, continue and discontinue process technology, utilities, ... The product catalogue exists mainly of programmable controllers (PLC), digital and analog input- and output modules (I/O), operator terminals (HMI), supervisory systems, industrial fieldbus and networks, industrial internet technology (WEB) and associated software.

The second domain includes the automation of electrical substations, as by the preceding employer, but for another voltage level (3 kVDC) and mainly for electrical traction. For InfraBel (B-RAIL), different substations have been installed for the Brussels North-South Link, for the HST, for Zaventem Airport and the complete power supply of the railway stations Brussels-South and Auvelais.

Again an interesting job ... in a collegial environment ... but the market is permanently on the move ...

01/2002 : foundation of BNE Solutions

And as well the companies as the employees have to adapt themselves permanently to the actual trends :

• acquisition, training and maintaining of (own) high qualified personnel and know-how is very expensive
• in order to keep their concurrence position, AUT producers and distributors tend more and more to concentrate on pure product sale (box moving) and to diminish the supply of (expensive) engineering
• for the same reason, AUT customers and end users tend more and more to concentrate on their core-business and to use the formula of sub-contracting (outsourcing) for their supplementary needs on the level of engineering
• the objectives are optimized everywhere : always do more with less money, people and means

In this way, on the market, in between producers/distributors on one hand and customers/end users on the other hand, an opportunity is formed for suppliers of services with added value : consultancy, engineering ...

This fact, combined with the dream of an own company and the presence of sufficient technical and commercial experience, have lead to the foundation of BNE Solutions bvba. The purpose is described in the foundation act :

"The company purpose is, in the broadest significance, as well for its own account as for account of third parties, both in Belgium and also abroad :

• the sale and/or the supply of whatever products, systems, engineering, programming, consultancy, commissioning, training and other services for application in the domains of industrial automation and allied domains;
• production, transport and distribution of electricity, as well as all actions related to electrical traction, information technology, office automation, telecommunication and supervision.

This enumeration is indicative and not restrictive."

An extract of the foundation act is also published in "Commerce and agriculture companies, Annex to the Belgian State Paper of Februari 21, 2002, pg. 167-168, Art. N. 20020221 - 262".

Future ...

The continuation of the Curriculum Vitae of BNE Solutions is strongly determined by you, as customer, as supplier, as business-partner or as employee. If you feel interested to co-write our future, then feel free to contact us ...