What is Flanders Engineers (FLE) cvba?
An interface between supply and demand for consultancy assignments.
Flanders Engineers (FLE in short) is a company under Belgian law founded in 2007 and is aimed as an interface between supply and demand for temporary consultancy assignments for engineers.
Flanders Engineers is a spin-off from the KVIV (www.kviv.be ), the Royal Flemish Society of Engineers, the only professional organization in Flanders uniting the university trained engineers (masters).
The idea to establish an interface for temporary jobs for engineers originated by a KVIV think-tank considering career related challenges of its members.
That think- tank concluded that a significant number of the KVIV members and especially senior engineers - some of them even retired - try to offer their services as consultants for temporary jobs. They all encounter the same problems: “how to find temporary assignments, how to offer their services, how to cope with legal, fiscal and payment problems?”
The underlying business idea of Flanders Engineers was to become a facilitator or a broker, in temporary jobs for engineers. Flanders Engineers consists for the moment of a network of more than 100 independent engineers. Their average age is 54 years, they are immediately deployable for short as well as for long term commitments.
Where can self-employed, senior engineers add value to your business?
- All of our engineer members have an outstanding track record and are screened by Flanders Engineers on their professional experience.
- Within 48 hours after your request to us, you will receive feedback concerning possible candidates, their interest for the job and their availability.
- Depending on their short term availability, they are immediately employable without any training or education costs.
- As they are qualified as “self-employed “ for the Belgian Social Security System, they do not come directly on your payroll. As independent consultants they are at your service for a limited period of your choice. There are no severance costs to provide. Our members work on an “easy in ,easy out system.”
- As Seniors who have served already in many other companies or businesses they may bring fresh ideas, maturity and stability to your business.
How do we work?
- Flanders Engineers acts as an interface between supply and demand for temporary jobs for engineers.
- A candidate member of the network has to submit his curriculum vitae and may become a member of Flanders Engineers after assessment and successful evaluation of his/her skills and experiences by at least 2 partners of FLE.
- Membership of FLE is free of charge and FLE claims no exclusivity for the employment of its members. FLE is simply an additional but important vehicle to the own network of its members (to find temporary jobs).
- For the moment the FLE-database has more than 100 members, all experienced senior engineers: university graduated (ir) as well as industrial engineers (ing.).
- A wide range of skills and profiles are available: project and change managers, interim managers or engineers with very specific experiences: HVAC, water cleaning, ICT, logistics, safety, cost calculation, building…
- FLE is continuously scouting the market in Belgium and abroad in order to find clients wishing to hire engineers for a temporary consultancy job.
- For each client and job opportunity FLE always tries to present at least 2 candidates who have the required experience and skills. The client and the candidate will agree upon the daily/hourly wages to be paid. FLE will advice both parties, but finally the client and the candidate will have to agree upon the fees to apply, without interference of FLE.
- As a commercial initiative FLE asks a reasonable commission for its services.
- Contracts are signed between FLE and the client and between FLE and the candidate.
Partners
For the moment there are four partners, each of them shareholders of Flanders Engineers, all university graduated engineers and have at least 35 years of professional experience. From left to right on the picture) Paul Luycx, Roger Meulemans, Alex Smeyers and Luk Kennis.
Paul Luycx is a Mining Engineer ( University of Louvain Belgium,1974).
He started his career in Morocco at Compagnie Minière de Toissit. After that he has worked for the Belgian coal mines (Kempense Steenkolenmijnen) and Belgoprocess, a subsidiary of the Belgian National Agency for Radioactive Waste and Irradiated Fissile Materials. Since his retirement works as an independent consultant.
Roger Meulemans is a Chemical Engineer (Louvain University, 1974).
As a junior engineer he was involved in the road construction business. He then moved toward the engineering company Extraction De Smet, where he held positions in project management, IT en finance. From 1994 until 2008, he took management positions at Belgacom in different domains such as finance, customer care, billing operations and program management.
From 2007 until 2009 he was managing director a.i. of the KVIV, the Flemish association of Engineers. Since his retirement, he works as an independent consultant. He also is board member at the KVIV.
Alex Smeyers is a Master in Engineering from the 123 th promotion of the Belgian Royal Military Academy poly-technical division. He ended his career in the Military as a full Colonel in 2005.
Alex Smeyers is a member of the board of Mars&Mercurius Antwerp and a member of Economeet.
Luk Kennis is a Mining Engineer (Louvain 1969).
He started his career in the Belgian coal mines ( Kempense Steenkolenmijnen), was involved in the reconversion of the Belgian coal mining area as an investment manager of the Limburg Investment Company.
Luk Kennis also worked for SD-Worx, the University of Ghent, initially as head of service Technology Transfer and finally as Park Manager of the Technology Park of Ghent University.
Luk Kennis is chairman of Flanders Engineers. |
