Monique van Kempen Lead Quality Engineer

What education did you pursue and how long have you been working at VDL ETG Almelo?
I did my master's degree in Industrial Design Engineering. But after that I wasn't done at university. That's why I started my PDEng, a Professional Doctorate in Engineering. When I finished that, I applied for a job at VDL ETG Almelo.

What kind of work does a Quality Engineer do?
Together with the Quality team you continuously monitor the realization and delivery of a system. Here internally, but also at the customer. For example, you check daily whether and which problems are passed on and there is weekly consultation with the customer. If there is a problem we see if we can explain it. Is the problem in assembly, the design or is there something else going on? It is a real challenge then to determine how we are going to address the problem and where we are going to start to find out what is wrong. 

In addition, our team also deals with improvement processes in the organization. We organize regular meetings with colleagues to find out whether, given the quality, we need to take new steps somewhere and perhaps introduce new checks. Because you are directly involved in the problem areas, you can easily identify where things are not going well.

What are the responsibilities of a Quality Engineer?
'Unburdening' the customer is an important task. Our input must convince the customer that we deliver good products and that he can rely on our quality. At VDL ETG Almelo we go to great lengths to meet customer requirements. But when it comes to quality, we don't just act on customer problems. We also use our own strengths and knowledge to improve the quality of our products in the longer term.

What characteristic should a Quality Engineer definitely have?
A Quality Engineer must be curious and want to know why a problem arises. You must then dive deep into that: you must really make a problem your own in order to then be able to solve it. In that quest, you cannot settle for an incomplete explanation. Then you have to make sure that the problem is not only solved now, but that it does not recur in the future.

You recently became a Lead Quality Engineer. What was your own career path like at VDL ETG Almelo?
The first two months at VDL ETG Almelo I worked as a Factory & Quality Engineer. This allowed me to discover where my talent lay and also to see where my help was needed most. I really like Quality and in that area, fortunately, my help was also very welcome. Hence, I was soon able to change my job title to Quality Engineer in the Systems Department. There I was responsible for communication to the customer, but there are also Quality Engineers who work more internally. Last year I was able to move up to Lead Quality Engineer. The big difference is that I am now involved in start-up productions instead of being involved in ongoing productions. This shifted my focus from improvement processes to setting up whole new processes.

What makes a career start at VDL ETG Almelo interesting?
You see immediate results from your work. You really make something tangible and you also see what each part of a product does in the big picture. Because you also visit (foreign) suppliers, you see how the parts are made and in which process. This helps you to understand the whole process. Furthermore, you can do and learn an awful lot here. For example, you can focus on a particular area and develop as the specialist in that field.

How would you describe VDL ETG Almelo as an organization?
VDL has a very flat organization: You can talk to anyone and there is also room for you to get to know people better. If you have a problem, everyone is happy to help. In addition to everyone being creative in coming up with solutions, everyone is also very involved in the organization and that is appreciated. Working together is very important here.