Interview with Asanka – Ottevanger’s people

Asanka – Ottevanger Aalten

“I make sure your spareparts are produced as efficient as possible”

Coordinator Manufacturing Engineer

19 Years

Aalten

Can you introduce yourself?
Hello everyone! My name is Asanka Huinink, I’m married and I live with my wife and three children in the ‘Achterhoek’. I like to do sports in my spare time and I try to have a healthy lifestyle. I like to go running and mountain biking, but also to watch football matches of my children at the local club. Besides sports, I also like to barbecue with family and friends.

For how long have you been working at Ottevanger?
I started working for Ottevanger in 2003. I have been working there for 19 years now. However, I did not always have the same tasks within the organisation. At the beginning I started in the workshop, where I felt really good. Quickly after that, because of the growth within Ottevanger, I also started doing warehouse work. After I did this for a while in combination with the workshop, I followed a training course by Ottevanger. When I finished this course, I started working as a purchaser / work planner at the work preparation department. 

Recently I made my latest move to the services department, where I am active as Coordinator Manufacturing Engineer. My main task lies in giving shape to the purchasing / work preparation assets within the services department. This means my focus is on the production side of our department.

What are your tasks and responsibilities?
As I mentioned, my main tasks are within the production part of the services department. One of my tasks is setting up the production part. Currently, our parts are produced at three locations, with coordination between the production locations becoming increasingly important. Shaping this is an interesting challenge.

In addition, stock management of our articles is becoming an increasing challenge. There is certainly an opportunity for improvement.

What does a working day normally look like?
My workday has fixed activities to some extent, but mainly depends on what comes in during the day. When a customer calls, we sometimes have to act quickly and handle everything as well as possible. As a result, every day looks different, where every request has a new challenge. So it’s never a dull day for me.

I am also working on fine-tuning the structure of the department and optimising our production locations. The department is still fairly new and we have grown a lot lately. This makes designing it a fun challenge. Existing departments already have more structure and often you can only optimize, where at the services department we actually start from scratch. At least, when it comes to the corporate office part.

What do you like so much about your job?
The best thing about my job are the people I work with. I am also a confidant within Ottevanger: I always enjoy helping people and making them feel good. Because of this human aspect I keep enjoying my work and I enjoy going back to the office every day. In addition, I also like the challenge that my work offers.

Do you have anything left to say to all the readers?
I have been working for Ottevanger for many years with a great deal of pleasure. There is a pleasant working atmosphere with nice colleagues. I would also like to say: be grateful for every day and colour the day as beautifully as possible!