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Koen Braekers

Career story Koen Braekers Lummen

Koen has worked at ACE for 5 years as a project leader for the automation part. He is mainly focused on the electrical side and experiences a nice alternation between customer contact and project work, he really likes that combination. 

Can you tell us about your role as project lead automation at ACE?

Koen: I ensure that projects are actually realised, from planning to delivery. Together with my colleagues, I think about the electrical and automation part of the projects.

As a child, I used to take apart everything that was broken. At ACE, we do the same, but in a professional way.

Koen Braekers
Project lead automation ACE Lummen (BE)

Can you give us an example of a project you worked on at ACE?

Koen: One of the most notable was for a well-known retail brand. This project was technically challenging and had a tight deadline. Although not everything went smoothly from the first, we completed and delivered it smoothly.

It involved the refurbishment of two machines for processing cardboard waste. One machine pressed the cardboard into bales, while the other compressed the cardboard into a container, similar to the method used in a container park. The mechanical part of both machines remained, but we provided new sensors and cabling, supplied new control boards with PLC, and completely reprogrammed the automation in an up-to-date Siemens environment.

As the safety of the machines no longer met the latest guidelines, we commissioned a safety study and risk analysis and took the necessary measures to bring them back in line with current standards. We also updated the electrical distribution board that feeds both machines and renewed communication with the overhead system.

The challenge was to carry out the work in phases, so that one machine could always remain in operation while the other was converted. Since the logistics centre could not operate when both machines were down, the various shutdowns had to be well planned and kept as short as possible.

This project was a great learning experience and further fuelled my interest in challenging engineering projects.

What projects can they wake you up for?

Koen: I like it when projects are complex, with challenges to overcome before it works. If everything is too straightforward, it gets boring. A good balance between complexity and progress is important to me.  As a civil engineer, I enjoy the combination between thinking and practicality. Engineering has always interested me. Even as a child, I was busy with Lego and tried to take apart everything that was broken and put it back together again. Here at ACE, everything is taken apart, but in a professional way. So I like the projects that combine thinking and doing.

My background is in the process industry, with experience in water treatment, filtration plants and environmental installations. Sustainability is an aspect that fascinates me enormously and for such a project they can certainly wake me up in the future. Today, companies are not only trying to make existing installations faster and more accurate, but also more sustainable. That is something I would like to contribute to.

How do you see yourself evolving within ACE in the future?

Koen: ACE is a great employer. The organisation is stable and offers us opportunities for training. The work-life balance is good, and I feel at home here. I would like to delve into new developments.

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