Story VanMeijel Automatisering
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VanMeijel
Smart software from Flevoland
Frans van Meijel was ahead of his time when, in 1987, he developed a software package in his attic room that made paper and calculators unnecessary for making calculations in civil engineering. Over thirty years later, Theo and Peter van Meijel are continuing their father's work. A story about innovation, daring and seeing opportunities.
Smart software - connects construction site with office
Programming in the attic
Programming in the attic room was the birth of the family business VanMeijel. Coming up with smart, innovative solutions to automate business processes in construction. Such as digitising work orders or creating a link to calculate nitrogen emissions. That is what makes the brothers' hearts beat faster.
It can be different
'Our father worked on concrete platforms at Schiphol Airport and that involved a lot of manual labour. That can be done differently, he thought.' His youngest son Theo pauses for a moment, before proudly continuing his story: 'Just when the first computer came on the market, he bought one to write software.' That very first IBM PC stands next to the coffee machine in the hall of the company, with a picture of Frans next to it. He died unexpectedly on 27 July 2019, aged just 65.
Connecting building and office
His sons, whom he had always left free to follow their hearts, were already working in the family business by then. A conscious choice. Or a logical one perhaps. The love for programming is in Peter's blood and Theo inherited the love for construction. 'I worked as an architect in Belgium for a while and there I had to do so much manually, so suddenly I understood my father.' The integrated ERP system Metacom, developed by Frans, grew into a fully digital construction platform. That connects the construction site and office, so to speak, Peter explains.
The space to do business - In Flevoland
On industrial estate De Munt Emmeloord
VanMeijel grew from a one-man business to an organisation with more than 100 employees. The attic room was traded in for premises next to a fishmonger's on an industrial estate. 'I can still remember the stories about the fish smell,' Peter laughs. Then followed the location on Europalaan and now the company has been located on the Duit in industrial estate De Munt in Emmeloord for many years. We started carefully with two floors, but the third floor proved necessary. Peter: 'That's what I like about Flevoland: here you have the space to do business. Literally. It had really become much more difficult for us to build premises of this size in, say, the Randstad.'
Sober polder mentality
The brothers know the new land well. They grew up among those straight lines, the villages and that endless horizon. On the former seabed, the pioneering spirit is still very much alive almost eighty years after the reclamation of the Northeast Polder. Seeing and seizing opportunities. Moving forward. Just like their father. Theo and Peter share his passion, drive and guts. But also: that down-to-earth polder mentality. Not living with the delusion of the day. Investing. In customers and in employees. Our company stands or falls with the knowledge of our employees. So we make sure they do what they are good at and make them happy.' The secret of VanMeijel's success? Twinkling eyes!