Fun matters

Artidor was established in 1986 by Willem, a rightful authority in the field of explosion safety. Over the years, Willem has established a number of very successful businesses and chose to keep Artidor small. I was in charge of the R&D department at Bosch Rexroth at the time. Willem did several projects for us, which is how I got to know him.

And as you do when you enjoy working together, we went out for some Chinese food one day. One of our conversations was about our long-term plans. Willem is fifteen years older than me, so I didn’t think it was a strange question. Willem mostly wanted to keep designing, which is why he said his successful company couldn’t be allowed to get too big. A seed was planted, because I had been making plans to start my own business for a while.I wanted to establish a high-end engineering firm, and the plans were pretty much fleshed out already. Meanwhile, the economic tide had been turning and I noticed how companies were becoming increasingly reluctant to outsource. This posed a risk. Besides, making actual products had always appealed to me.?

Long and careful process

I kept my eyes and ears wide open. Meanwhile, the seed continued to germinate in subsequent talks with Willem. We took our time to discuss everything in detail and carefully planned the transition. Come November 2011, I officially took the helm at Artidor. I developed a passion for explosion-safe equipment and took it as an opportunity to improve the safety of work environments everywhere and to give everyone at Artidor an enjoyable place to work.?

Safe and enjoyable

It was, and still is, genuinely important to me that everyone feels at home here. We make great products, but I also want us to enjoy making them. Honestly, that’s my biggest motivation as an entrepreneur. I don’t just want to do right by our customers, but by the people who make sure our customers are happy as well.