A reliable IT partner to support the digitization of the company. That is what Yontec nv was looking for and found with the neighbors. According to Bart Jaeken, Operations Manager at Yontec, it is mainly the transparency and clarity of Tricore that form the basis of the smooth collaboration.
We are located about 20 meters from Tricore. At the large round table of Yontec sit Davy Jonckers, Bart Jaeken, Stijn Derison, Robin Wauters and myself, Senne Snellings from Smeltpunt, for a conversation about digitization, collaboration, and ambition.
Good afternoon everyone! Tell me, what does Yontec do?
Davy: “Yontec is an industrial service company, active in the industry and logistics. Founded in 2006 and now, 17 years later, we have 150 employees who perform electromechanical maintenance work. 80% of them staff technical services in a supportive role. Our 24/7 standby service currently has about 15 people who can respond within 60 minutes after a call to resolve a technical issue. Additionally, there is a small group of refrigeration technicians, and we are taking the first steps in industrial maintenance management support where we will help set up complete maintenance services.”
What is your role within Yontec?
Davy: “I am a farrier by training, so everything but a technician. As a manager, I do everything I can to ensure that our people are paid on time and find themselves in a pleasant working atmosphere. Our people have been a priority at Yontec since day one; for example, we were pioneers in the area of company cars with private use. Meanwhile, that has become somewhat outdated and almost taken for granted in many sectors. That’s why we are constantly looking for new ways to remain attractive as an employer. Paying your people on time is actually a given, but there is so much more that a company can do. For instance, we started our Y-lab some time ago, where we offer about 15 training courses to give our employees the chance to further develop their soft and hard skills. The goal is to keep people on board for life to grow both horizontally and vertically.”
Bart: “As Operations Manager, I am involved in the daily operations within Yontec, including IT. We started from scratch with digitization, first with a basic accounting package, but that was used quite limitedly. Then time registration was added, and we equipped our people with tablets, allowing me to manage things remotely via MDM.”
Davy: “That has all quickly evolved into digitization in terms of invoicing, payroll administration, planning, and business intelligence. Hence, the need for a secure and efficient IT environment arose.”
How did you end up with Tricore?
Davy: “Based on references. Of course, we looked at several parties to take over our IT, but we also focus on the human aspect. Robin and Stijn are just two very pleasant people to deal with.
Bart: “That human aspect is indeed nice, but it is mainly about understanding the IT partner. For example, we also sat down with another party, and they managed to get everything done behind the scenes, but they couldn't explain it to us. If you can't explain the solution in layman's terms to the client, then the trust is already less significant.”
Robin: “The collaboration has also just grown very organically. We have been here for about four years now; at a certain point, there was a need for Yontec, and then we came to the table. In the SME world, being able to switch quickly and being accessible is of great importance. Not just a ticket logged and waiting in line.”
“In the SME world, being able to switch quickly and being accessible is of great importance. Not just logging a ticket and waiting in line."
Davy: “That's absolutely right. At one point my laptop broke down, half a day later it was sorted and a new device was ready. Then you know you're in good hands.”
What has Tricore already achieved here?
Bart: “We first had an audit conducted to expose all pain points, then we had the entire IT infrastructure of the building rebuilt and provided all administrative staff with a new laptop.”
Stijn: “We prepared those laptops as always at our office according to our best-practices and then systematically rolled them out using a sliding system.”
How did the transition from your previous IT partner to Tricore go?
Bart: “That was a very smooth transition, I think the entire process was completed in a month.”
Stijn: “Indeed, that must have been about right.”
Does onboarding a new client always start with an audit?
Stijn: “That depends on the client's situation, we always find an audit very important to form a good picture of the current situation and to see if data needs to go to the cloud or if new hardware is needed. Additionally, we also look at past investments that may remain and only need to be replaced at a later stage. In the case of Yontec, it was mainly about restructuring their IT infrastructure and reviewing the usage rights within the new architecture.”
Davy: “How does that work GDPR-wise with that data?”
Stijn: “The data is already with Microsoft, they obviously follow the European regulations regarding GDPR. We act as a data processor since we are the administrator. Moreover, we also have experts assist us in that area to maintain full focus on our core business.”
Is there also a part of customer training in such an onboarding?
Robin: “In some cases, a number of key users are trained who then explain the process internally. In smaller teams, it sometimes happens that we schedule a moment together with one of our guys to clarify things. This was not applicable at Yontec because we did not change solutions; SharePoint and such were already in use.”
Davy: “Yes, such training on ‘How to handle a mailbox’ can certainly be useful, maybe even for the entire team.”
Robin: “Those are definitely things we can provide if there is a need for it, on all fronts.”
What is Tricore's biggest asset?
Davy: “For me, it’s the expertise, without a doubt.”
Bart: “A team that works together extremely well. The reporting of tickets is clearly projected on screens on the wall so that everyone knows what is going on. This ensures that it doesn’t matter who or when I call, everyone I get on the line knows what it’s about. That is not a given everywhere. I really find that classy, that continuity.”
“Everyone I get on the line knows what it’s about. That is not a given everywhere. I really find that classy, that continuity.”
Stijn: “That is also what we strive for very hard, we are very happy to hear that. The day that is no longer the case, you should definitely call us.”
Robin: “Davy's idea of how you should deal with your own people is also something that resonates strongly with us. We do not necessarily want to be the biggest, but we do want to be the best. When looking for new people, we first look at the person, the rest will follow. The first question we always ask ourselves is: “Do you have the mentality to work at Tricore?”
So all the ingredients are present for a long-term collaboration?
Bart: “Exactly. We look forward to working with Tricore for a long time.”
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