Rob and Paul of Harsveld Apparatenbouw: "We immediately saw the added value of Techport"

Thanks to a Techport Innovation Tribe, Harsveld Apparatenbouw partnered with Symphony Wave Power more than three years ago. This start-up develops and implements technologies that convert wave energy into electricity. After helping with the budget and making various installation components, the testing phase on Harsveld's site has been underway for a few months. Director Rob de Visser: "This project is typical of what Techport does. They make sure everyone is looking in the same direction: schools, companies and governments. AND that there is cooperation."

Meeting the energy transition from one shared vision 
Rob has known Techport for more than a decade: "At that time wist we already knew that there were a shortage of technical people would arisen, because of the aging and toThat young people are less and less in favor of engineering kiezen. In order to work more efficiently and the join forces, it was important for businesses, governments and schools to work better with each other. The energy transition was not playing at the time, but the was well clear that changes were coming and that technical innovations would become very important for our regio. Based on of these principles was Techport founded."

"We immediately saw the added value of Techport."
"We then went with some people to Brainport in Eindhoven," Rob continues. "Because they had already set up something similar. After that visit, we joined Techport because we immediately saw the added value of Techport then. We also think it's important to be involved in everything that's going on and happening in this region. Techport has ensured that cooperation through sharing knowledge, doing what you are good at, knowing what others are good at, has improved a lot. Techport plays a crucial role. They are the central point where everything comes together. By learning from each other and sharing knowledge, we can work from one common vision to achieve the energy transition."

New directors
Harsveld Apparatenbouw has been a household name in the IJmond region for more than a century. In 1919 it began as Smederij Bak where Piet Harsveld was working at the time. He took over the company and gave it its own name in 1945. Gradually, the company moved towards high-quality welding work for heavy industry and petrochemicals. Harsveld manufactures tanks, heat exchangers, sheet metal structures, complete skids, piping and pressure vessels. Rob has been working at Harsveld Apparatenbouw since 1993. He previously worked as a bench fitter at Hoogovens (now Tata Steel). At Harsveld he started as a calculator and progressed to general manager. At the end of 2024, he and co-director Aart Kramers will hand over the baton to the new generation. These growth opportunities are typical of Harsveld Apparatenbouw, because new director Paul Welp also started this way at Harsveld. He started as a work planner after his technical college education, became a project manager and has been one of the four new owners of Harsveld Apparatenbouw since December 2023.

"Making sustainability central to all our projects"
Paul: "The new management team has a slightly different approach. Especially with the projects we take on. We set the requirement in everything we do that it contributes to sustainability. The corporate culture at Harsveld is good and we obviously want to retain that. In addition to Symphony Wave Power, we also work with Blue Heart Energy. They produce heat pumps without the use of fossil fuels or harmful refrigerants, significantly reducing CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions. They recently received a JTF grant for their project. We are still trying to figure out what we want to do with Techport in the future, but there is no question that we are going to do something with Techport. My 'problem' is that I find many things about sustainability interesting. The other day we participated with great pleasure and interest in the Techport event 'Dates in the Hydrogen Chain'. It is that my schedule does not allow it, but otherwise I would like to attend all Techport events. That's how interesting I find it!"