Keeping the industry running

With the arrival of Johan Duysters as the new owner, a different wind is blowing through the company. The ambition to fulfill that mission has only grown as a result. MGH is looking at how it can further internationalize and professionalize to serve customers in the short term with the best technical (total) solution in the long term.

Maintenance & Gears Heyvaert (MGH) of Machelen has built itself a particularly strong reputation in heavy electromechanical drive groups in recent years. Harald Heyvaert: "By always putting technology first. Our employees are seasoned in electromechanics so that we can really offer customers a solution to their specific problem. 60% of our business revolves around the overhaul of gearboxes. We do an average of about 1,200 a year. Expertise in this is critical for customers.

Re-engineering of existing drive groups is also a frequent request that we are very happy to sink our teeth into. Because we are brand-independent, we can always propose the best possible technical and commercial solution. Not only the drive group itself, but also the associated couplings, in short everything that is needed to provide a plug-and-play answer. Thanks to the team's enthusiasm and stock of critical parts, we also manage to get our customers out of trouble in no time. And that 24/7. That is the service with which we want to distinguish ourselves." 

Internationalizing

The headquarters is located in Machelen. In addition, MGH has had a second service center in the middle of the port of Antwerp since 2011 (where there is also a nice stock on hand). Close to customers, but at the same time, this site acts as a gateway to the Dutch market. After all, here too MGH's formula for success is clearly catching on. Owner Johan Duysters: "It is the intention to further focus on internationalization and professionalization in the coming years. The scarcity of technical personnel is the biggest brake on growth for many companies. This means that the expertise we have in-house to keep the industry running can be of added value in many sectors. Steel industry, container handling, bulk handling, water treatment, cooling towers, industrial cranes ... to name but a few. This scarcity does not stop at the border. That's why a third service center will probably be established in the Netherlands in the near future. In addition, we are exploring opportunities in northern France and the German Ruhr region."

Sharing knowledge

There is clearly a fresh, new wind blowing through the company. Plans to grow further are in full swing, the team has already been expanded and MGH's logo and corporate identity have also been revamped. A little sharper, a little more modern. But what the company remains absolutely true to is its technical knowledge and offering solutions. Knowledge that it also likes to share with its customers. "Our employees together have more than 200 years of drive experience. Using Root Cause Failure Analysis (RFCA), we have a good view of where things can go wrong with gearboxes," Heyvaert clarifies. "We have combined this knowledge into specialized training courses for our customers where they learn how gearboxes break down and especially what they need to do to avoid this in the future. Maintenance is crucial in that. We see that corona did save on maintenance. With us, this manifests itself in more emergency repairs, usually due to insufficient or incorrect lubrication. By taking our training, they can take their own team to a higher level resulting in higher uptime and better TCO." 

Condition monitoring and proactive maintenance 

And what about Industry 4.0? How is that integrated into MGH's overall service? "The knowledge and experience of our team are also decisive in this story. Thanks to MGH's accumulated experience (through RCFA on gearboxes), we know the weak points and can do a good follow-up with a limited number of measuring points/measurements. This is done either when a problem is suspected or at critical installations. Online condition monitoring can be an added value. Through our in-depth knowledge, we can thus offer our customers a growth trajectory to evolve from curative and preventive maintenance to predictive maintenance But the main thing is to distill what is important for a customer: do I have a problem? When will it be there? How can I solve it?" concludes Duysters.