VDL Steelweld grows thanks to large orders
The future of VDL Steelweld looks bright over the coming years. The VDL company based in Breda, which develops automated production lines for automotive manufacturers for customers around the world, has won substantial orders from major companies such as Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo Cars and DAF Trucks. These new orders represent turnover of more than 200 million euros.
For Jaguar Land Rover, VDL Steelweld will develop production lines for several new models at different locations. This order will be carried out over a period of around 3 years. VDL Steelweld will develop new production lines for Volvo Cars, so that electric cars can also be built in the existing factory. For DAF Trucks, VDL Steelweld will ensure the modernisation of the production lines in the cabin factory over the next few years.
Cooperation
“We have been able to win these large orders due to the good cooperation and relationship that we have established with our customers,” says Managing Director Peter de Vos of VDL Steelweld. “You can only carry out these kinds of complex projects successfully if you engage in intensive cooperation with customers and suppliers.”
Academy
In order to strengthen the organisation, VDL Steelweld needs dozens of employees in a wide variety of fields, from project management, engineering and control technology to assembly staff. The 10 branches of VDL Steelweld (the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Slovakia, United States, China and India) employ over 800 workers. As a result of the new orders and the associated growth ambitions, VDL Steelweld is setting up its own Academy. In spring it will start training robot programmers, robot simulators and PLC engineers. Candidates who fit these jobs will be based in Breda but will work on production automation projects all over the world.
Education partners
In close cooperation with regional education partners, such as Avans University of Applied Sciences and the Radius College, VDL Steelweld will train graduates and students, as well as pupils who have dropped out of senior general secondary education (havo) or pre-university education (vwo), through a combination of theory, practice and distance learning. The BBL vocational supervision learning track and the dual HBO (Higher Professional Education), combining work and study will be the forms of education used. In addition to learning and working in Breda and abroad, our students will also be given a job.