This year we celebrate ten years of MeeMaken. How? By putting one of the 13 companies in the spotlight each month. This month we speak with President Koen van Klooster, Sales Manager Bo Eaton and Director of Equipment Solutions Corbin Postell, of the American company Alltec Lifting Systems, about the term: Speed.
If you’re big and fast, you’re unstoppable
Alltec Lifting Systems and speed. Is that a logical combination?
“At Alltec, our main goal is to help our customers move forward as quickly as possible. So speed is a term that fits us perfectly,” says Koen. “In our market, speed distinguishes us from our competition. Being able to assemble, develop and deliver rigging and lifting systems quickly, is our Unique Selling Point.” Corbin adds: “We are not only fast in assembly and delivery. Also preparing quotations and developing drawings or customization are up to speed. We know exactly what products we’ve got, we know what we can do and know all that is possible.”
Koen: “To keep up our speed, we work with an experienced team in which everyone helps each other, knows what is going on and always has the same goal: answering the customer’s question as quickly as possible. Even on weekends, since you never know when the question comes in. But our main goal is to do everything in a safe way. In the pursuit of speed, safety will never be compromised. We will do everything we can to resolve any safety issue that might arise at our location or on the job site, as fast as we can.” Bo: “We’ve always got each other’s back. Our company is a well-oiled machine where everyone is a link that reinforces each other.”
How does collaborating with MeeMaken enhance your speed?
Corbin: “I’ve been working here for just over ten years, even before Alltec became part of MeeMaken in 2014. And the change the collaboration has brought us is beautiful to see. After all, each part of MeeMaken has its own expertise and way of working in which we can help each other. For example, Selmers’ IT department helped us create a database and templates for quotations, among other things. This allowed us to work even faster and easily maintain the same high quality.”
Koen: “It helps that many participants in the MeeMaken group want to work quickly. And it is because of these collaborations that we can work faster. Eager.one’s engineers help with our engineering jobs when we lack capacity. They also provide feedback. And when drawing up contracts, LiftWerx advises us on the legal side. It all helps tremendously: everything is sorted out faster and we can keep going. It’s nice to know that you can fall back on each other if necessary.”
“It’s not just the company that has benefited from working together.”
What else has MeeMaken brought you?
“It’s not just the company that has benefited from working together,” says Bo, “I’ve also improved enormously on a personal level. Previously, I worked in the field as a crane operator, working with the rigging and lifting systems. The team behind MeeMaken gave me the opportunity to take on this sales role. A great step for me and for the company. Because I know the market, our products and can market them well. So I am growing personally, together with the company.”
“The international aspect of MeeMaken has also brought us some good business opportunities,” says Corbin. “Alltec participated in a tender that included projects with components outside our expertise. Offshore knowledge, for example. Luckily, we can enlist the help and expertise of our sister companies.” Koen: “The time difference is not a problem for us. We have brief contact with our colleagues on the other side of the world at the beginning of our day. That works very pleasantly.”
Looking forward to the next 10 years: everything up to speed?
‘Definitely!’ says Koen. ‘Speed remains our Unique Selling Point. We literally leave our competition behind by reacting and acting faster. This year we are focusing on expansions within the Gulf of Mexico, but also have plans to continue our growth and expand our area of operation.’ Corbin sees MeeMaken as a big help with their planned growth: We already were a stable business, but because of the collaborations we have more room for growth. There is a world of difference between the Alltec now and the Alltec of ten years ago. We deliver more, faster and of higher quality. If we want to remain market leaders, we have to keep developing. And not only our products, but also our operations.’ Bo: ‘I like to compare our process to an American football player: If you’re fast, you can win. But if you’re big AND fast, you’re unstoppable. And that’s where we’re going with Alltec. We have the people, good connections and we’re growing. But the beauty of this is that we are, just as fast, still serving our small clients.’
Corbin concludes: ‘We’ve got great times to look forward to. And with the backup, knowledge, skills and drive of the people and companies in MeeMaken, we can continue to do our work quickly around the world.’
