Mechanic speaking with Corne

As Staad, we are working hard to make the path to a zero-emission construction site a reality. In addition to development and production, that also involves good staff. So this time we've interviewed a lovely colleague to give you an inside look at what a day as a mechanic with us looks like. Curious? Then read on quickly.

Corné de Graaij lives in Udenhout and has a wealth of experience. Corné studied automotive engineering and then began his impressive career in the electrification of machinery. Having seen several companies in quite some time, he soon felt completely at home at Staad. Here he feels like a fish in the water and together with a great team he rebuilds all electrical Doosan machines, which he does excellently.

''How my day goes here; heavy, Corné jokes. The first thing I do when I get to the office is check everything. Did everything go well yesterday and where did everyone end up. I'm always there an hour early, so I can then immediately assess what we can do today, based on where we left off yesterday. All the obstacles I help aside and then I go and help build the electrical machines myself. The problems I see throughout the day I save at home in a Word file so that when this happens more often I can see it. Then I know we have to deal with it structurally. With our team we work all day on electrifying excavators, and we are increasingly scaling up production. This way we can meet the increasing demand. My role in this is to support the team and ensure that a beautiful product rolls out.''

''The biggest challenges for us as a company right now is manpower. From assembling the batteries to building the machines. We need people for everything so that we can focus on scaling up production in the coming period. In addition, it would also be very nice if someone with as much experience as me could join, so that there are more people who can teach others things again. In terms of opportunities, I see that for us in the power boxes (the self-developed battery boxes that provide the machines with "energy"). To me, our electric machines are really the finest electric machines on the market today. The machine plus the power box we developed ourselves is really a unique product. The power boxes are heated and cooled so that the batteries always maintain the right temperature, allowing us to get the maximum capacities out of them and also to always recharge the batteries as quickly as possible. The cool thing about us is that we don't stop here. We keep looking at what can be done better and what do we need for that. That is where our strength lies, that we do not stand still and remain at the forefront of the development of sustainability. It will always be a challenge to keep up with developments and to consolidate and guarantee one of the best products, but that's what makes it interesting and fun.''

''The biggest challenge for our customers is going to be; being able to run as long as possible. Besides the product which of course has to be good, but what is good in my opinion, the operator also has to learn to run differently. Diesel or electric is really a difference. That's learning to think differently. Not using energy unnecessarily during the day, but learning to use it economically. That's in driving from A to B and using the big function on your boom. I think those are the main things you have to be as economical as possible. We can bring operators into that by giving our training on delivery, but also, for example, linking the operators who have electric machines more together. So that they can learn from each other and that it can also become a game of who can run the longest with their machine to use your energy as economically as possible.''

''By 2030, construction sites must be emission-free, so we have a very big change ahead of us in the next few years. All of that is not so long away. That's why it's also important for us to keep paying attention to how we can do better again and also make it accessible to all our customers. That's also something I really enjoy doing. I regularly speak to a lot of people in the industry to stay up to date on the latest innovations. For me it's super important because together with the team I just want to build the best machine. And we work hard at that every day!''

''Our machines operate at 800 volts. Some people who don't know what that is find that exciting. But I dare say with certainty that nothing can happen to the operator anyway if he follows the rules. The main rule here is think first and then do. For example, you are not going to throw a cigarette into a diesel's tank either. You shouldn't do simple things like that to an electrical machine either. All our plugs have locks and safety devices so that you can't just pull out a plug with power on it. When changing a power box always make sure you turn off the main switch so that all power is off. We have built this in so that you can see on the power boxes from the outside when all power is off. If there is even one light on the power box then you can't take the plugs out yet. So we have secured the machine well. When a machine is delivered, we also train the operator and go through all the safety protocols. For me, working safely is the most important thing!