“Custom display cases really are the most beautiful.”
At SDB Vitrinebouw, everything revolves around craftsmanship. After all, it’s the details—visible and invisible—that make the difference. And that’s exactly what our people deliver. One of them is production planner Emiel Schoenmakers, who has been with SDB since 2008.
Emiel, tell us: fifteen years with the company, yet only one year as a production planner.
“It just evolved that way. I started here as an assistant bookkeeper. After about six years, our purchaser left and I took over his responsibilities. When our production planner left last year, the question was: do we open a vacancy or solve it internally? We went with the latter.”
How do you like it?
“I’m glad I made the move. I was doing admin and purchasing more and more on autopilot, but now I have a real challenge again. And to be honest: it’s more complex than I expected. Every display case is different.”
What exactly do you do as a production planner?
“I make sure the display case we sell actually gets produced. I draft and calculate, and ensure all the required components are available. If there are technical dilemmas or obstacles, I pop into the workshop to confer with our technicians. It would be a shame not to tap into their experience.”
“Technical insight and product knowledge are essential.”
What makes a good production planner?
“Technical insight and knowledge of the product are crucial. That’s how you find a solution for every question. Recently we worked on a large corner display where the corner had to remain open. So we needed a glass-to-glass joint. Designing the shelves and lighting was quite a puzzle, but it turned out beautifully in the end. That’s especially rewarding.”
What kind of display cases do you enjoy working on most?
“Right now I enjoy everything about the job, haha. I’ve only been doing this a little over a year. But custom display cases really are the most beautiful. Take a corner display like that—you don’t see one every week. And while it’s great to see my calculations and drawings go into production, the absolute highlight is the end result. Every time, a little work of art leaves our workshop!”
