Every year, BEMAS organises the Technical Team of the Year competition. On Wednesday 26 March 2025, during the Maintenance trade fair in Antwerp, teams will be put in the spotlight whose achievements in maintenance and technical assets really make a difference within their companies.
The Award Show for Technical Team of the Year puts a spotlight on teams that are impressively making a difference in maintenance and technical assets within their companies.
Symposium with 5 Best practices in Maintenance
Discover how the finalists for Technical Team of the Year from various industries have tackled their challenges, the results they’ve achieved, and the best practices they’ve implemented to elevate their technical teams to new heights. This is an opportunity to learn from the experiences of others and benefit from the collective wisdom of the technical community.
During this afternoon symposium, the finalists will present their cases. Each finalist will have half an hour to convince both the jury and the audience that they deserve to be named the Technical Team of 2025. In the evening award show, we will announce the winners of both the jury award and the audience award.
- 13:00 Reception with coffee
- 13:30 The Team Behind the Data: Aquafin’s Real-Time Overflow Monitoring for More Sustainable Water Management – Joris Spiessens, OT-Solutions Manager, and Sam De Prekel, Maintenance Manager, Process Measurements.
- 14:00 Innovative Replacement of the Swimming Pool Filter Installation at Center Parcs Kempense Meren – Wim Van Waes, Country Maintenance Manager Belgium, and Martijn Vanoppen, Senior Maintenance Engineer.
- 14:30 Successful Overhaul of the Lembeek Lock by De Vlaamse Waterweg – Joachim Coenen, Head of Mechanical, Civil & Logistics.
- 15:00 Break
- 15:30 Cultural Change and Efficiency Improvement in the Technical Department at Etex Building Performance – Sufian Laghzaoui, Maintenance Coordinator at Etex, and Wouter Bogaerts from I-Care, Interim Maintenance Manager at Etex.
- 16:00 The Transformation of 600 Hours of Maintenance Backlog into Production Stability and Efficiency at Lantmännen Unibake – Jasper Stegen, Maintenance Manager.
- 16:30 Free Visit to the Exhibition.
- 18:00 – 19:30 Award Show with Keynote and Announcement of the Winners.
Aquafin
Aquafin protects water supplies and ensures sustainable water management for over 6 million residents of Flanders. With an infrastructure of 325 water treatment plants, 2,000 pumping stations, and 7,000 km of sewerage, it plays a crucial role in water quality and climate adaptation. To minimize wastewater losses, Aquafin installed 1,600 overflow monitoring devices at critical locations in Flanders. This project, initiated after a 2018 study, focuses on accurately measuring untreated wastewater overflows and reducing environmental damage and financial losses.
Together with Elsklap and contractor SPC, Aquafin installed battery-powered radar sensors with 4G communication. A team of nine employees manages the project and overcame challenges such as site determination, network connectivity, and battery life. Aquafin’s digital team developed real-time data quality controls, automated alarms, and SCADA integrations, enabling faster detection and resolution of overflow events. Response time was reduced from months to days, while the collected data further optimizes asset management and maintenance.
For their contribution to this innovative project, a core team of six technical experts was nominated as “Technical Team of the Year.” Their expertise in tendering, installation, data management, and problem-solving was essential to the success of the overflow monitoring project and demonstrates Aquafin’s innovation in water management.
Center Parcs
In August 2024, Center Parcs Belgium successfully replaced the 30-year-old swimming pool filtration system at Sunparks De Kempense Meren in Mol. Thanks to an innovative bypass solution, the extensive maintenance was carried out without significant interruption to the pool activities. The Central Maintenance Organisation Belgium (CMO), based in Erperheide, Peer, led the project. This team of four maintenance engineers manages CAPEX projects at six Belgian locations, focusing on HVAC, water treatment, infrastructure, and construction. The renewal was necessary due to severe leakage and corrosion issues, which jeopardized reliability and energy efficiency.
To address these challenges, a modern biflow filter design was chosen, which takes up less space and provides more efficient water filtration. The biggest challenge was ensuring the continuity of the pool operations. This was achieved through a clever bypass approach, where part of the old filtration system remained operational during the replacement. Precise flow calculations and nighttime work were required to make the connections to the buffer tanks. Thanks to careful planning and collaboration between the CMO team, the Technical Service Kempense Meren, and external contractors, the project was completed in six weeks with only minimal downtime.
This project is part of a broader asset management initiative within Center Parcs Europe, focused on optimizing critical assets across 27 locations. It underscores the commitment to sustainable and efficient maintenance solutions that enhance both guest experience and operational reliability.
Etex Building Performance
The Etex factory in Tisselt had long struggled with a reactive maintenance approach, resulting in inefficiencies, unplanned downtime, and high maintenance costs. Over the past year and a half, the maintenance team has undergone a fundamental transformation. The focus was on a structured approach that improved processes, strengthened interdepartmental collaboration, and initiated a cultural change.
A crucial first step was restoring the baseline condition of essential machines such as the presses. At the same time, the maintenance planning was refined, and budgeting was optimized. New roles, such as lubrication technicians and a reliability engineer, brought additional expertise to the team and ensured a structured approach to maintenance. By working more closely with production, finance, and HR, maintenance was integrated as a key component of the business operations.
This approach led to tangible results. Machine uptime and operational efficiency (OEE) increased from 60% to over 80%, while budget management improved through variance analysis and realistic forecasting. Maintenance costs also decreased through optimized spare parts management, strategic outsourcing, and more efficient internal work. In addition to technical improvements, extra attention was given to safety, with concrete measures to reduce risks in the factory.
Significant investment was also made in the organizational culture. The team evolved from a reactive to a proactive approach, supported by team-building, improved communication, and closer involvement of production staff in maintenance tasks. Visual management tools, such as Kamishibai boards and KPIs, provided continuous insight into performance and areas for improvement. The success of this approach is now being evaluated to see how it can be rolled out to other Etex locations.
Lantmännen Unibake
The maintenance team at Lantmännen Unibake Londerzeel has undergone an impressive transformation in just one year, drastically reducing the backlog of preventive maintenance from over 600 hours to just 21 hours. This result was achieved without significant personnel changes, but through a targeted approach in which team roles were revised, internal communication was improved, and more efficient maintenance processes were implemented.
These improvements have not only led to greater production stability and better operational performance but also a noticeable reduction in waste. The team took the initiative for these changes, highlighting their independence and perseverance. A team-building day fostered a shared vision and clear role distribution, while the implementation of Nemoto’s maintenance management principles helped structure the work. In addition, preventive maintenance plans were optimized, and new tools, such as standardized purchase request forms, were introduced.
Despite budget constraints, the team made significant progress through collaboration and innovation. The identification of a maintenance planner role as the next step confirms their ongoing commitment to improvement. The success story of Lantmännen Unibake Londerzeel demonstrates how a cohesive and motivated technical team, with a structured approach, can achieve sustainable results.
De Vlaamse Waterweg
De Vlaamse Waterweg is responsible for the maintenance of over 320 movable hydraulic structures in Flanders. The technical department consists of a central maintenance team, an emergency intervention team, and its own workshop for manufacturing and repairs. A recent large-scale project was the repair of Lock 4 in Brecht, focusing on the operation and mechanical components of the lock gates. This involved a complete overhaul of the gate leaves and associated mechanical components such as the taatspan, quadrant, and pressure seats, which are essential for operation and stability.
The repair project faced significant challenges, including a tight schedule of only 10 days, shift work, and the complexity of working with underwater components, harsh weather conditions, and electrical hazards. Thanks to careful planning, dedication, and coordination, the project was successfully completed within the set time frame.
Evening programme
BEMAS and Easyfairs invite you to the event of the year. The award show begins with an inspiring keynote. Next, we will honor the winners of the BEMAS Innovation Awards. And last but not least, we will reveal who will be named Technical Team of the Year 2025. We’ll wrap up the evening with a casual drink at the BEMAS stand on the exhibition floor, where snacks will be served and you’ll have the opportunity to network with other professionals from the maintenance community.
Before the event: Free visit to the exhibition / Welcome drink at the BEMAS stand 13:30 – 16:30: Symposium with in-depth presentations from all candidates 17:45: Reception in the Groen and Blauw hall – 1st floor Meeting Center 18:00: Welcome speech by Dirk De Nutte, Chairman of BEMAS 18:05: Keynote presentation: Optimizing AI language models with prompt engineering for maintenance (by Thomas Winters) 18:50: Presentation of finalists and BEMAS Innovation Award presentation 19:00: Presentation of finalists and BEMAS Digital Innovation Award presentation 19:10: Presentation of the finalists and presentation of the Technical Team of the Year 19:15: Presentation of finalists and announcement of the Technical Team of the Year 19:30: Networking drink with fries at the BEMAS standKeynote-presentation
Optimizing AI Language Models with Prompt Engineering for Maintenance – Thomas Winters, Postdoctoral Researcher in Creative AI, Language Models, and Computational Humor at KU Leuven.
Everyone is talking about Generative AI and Large Language Models like ChatGPT and MS CoPilot. But how do you ensure these smart tools do exactly what you want? In this talk, we’ll take a look under the hood of these technologies to discover how to best utilize AI models, even in the practical world of maintenance and asset management. All of this served with a humorous twist…
