A perfect mix of technology, management and teamwork with a distinct international flavor. Bart Peetermans and Jan Nickmans, two Electromechanics engineers, were awarded for their pioneering thesis at Continental Temic Electronics in Calamba City in the Philippines.
/jaargang-20-1/images/20_01_04b.jpg "Group T-promotors Geert Waeyenbergh and An Molenaers, students Jan Nickmans and Bart Peetermans, and Mrs Els De Keukelaere (KPMG).")
Group T-promotors Geert Waeyenbergh and An Molenaers, students Jan Nickmans and Bart Peetermans, and Mrs Els De Keukelaere (KPMG).
Six master’s theses were submitted for the 20th edition of the Management Award from the auditing company KPMG. Bart and Jan’s project was not only awarded the highest score but it stood out in other ways as well.
Continental Temic Electronics is part of the Continental Corporation Automotive Group. The plant in Calamba manufactures pressure sensors for the car industry. Establishing and managing the optimal stock of spare parts, that was the challenge Bart and Jan faced. “We started with drawing up an inventory of the company’s stocks”, Jan says. “Via the data in the SAP system we soon found out that there were clearly too many machine parts in stock. This was also revealed in the many conversations we had with the managers who were responsible for logistics and maintenance. In the next phase of our research we carried out a so-called Failure Mode and Effect Analysis.”
Subsequently, Bart and Jan had a look at the financial picture. “Based on the available financial data, the before-mentioned risk analysis and the expected usage pattern, we mapped the annual cost of every part”, explains Bart. “We developed a model that accurately assesses the annual cost for various stock levels. Our model allowed Continental to increase production reliability.”
Meanwhile, Jan has started at an IT company in South Africa, and Bart has registered in the Applied Economic Sciences master’s program at the K.U.Leuven. After that, he hopes to get a challenging job in logistics or production planning, preferably with a large international company.
