You might think it was Frank (56) who introduced his son Mart Lommers (28) to Sioux Assembly. But it was the other way around: Mart encouraged his father to take a look at Sioux and drink a coffee. ‘I knew he was not comfortable with his previous employer, that’s why I wanted my father to experience the same feeling of job satisfaction’, explains Mart. ‘That he is not a youngster anymore is an advantage for Sioux: we benefit from his many years of experience.’
With two Sioux’ers in one family, Veronique Lommers regularly gets the short end of the stick: when her eldest son Mart comes home for a cup of coffee, the conversation is always about Sioux. Sometimes she stands up demonstratively to do something else. ‘I also want some Mart-time’, she says. ‘However, she is happy that we are so enthusiastic about our work’, Mart chuckles. ‘The last few years our dad was not feeling happy; he did not agree with certain developments at this previous employer. I also worked there for ten years but switched to Sioux Technologies in 2020. I started as a Project Manager and after a year I got the chance to become Operations Manager at Sioux Assembly. While our dad was getting quieter at the kitchen table, I couldn't stop talking about my job. It is so much fun to work in a small, fast-growing company and to get a lot of responsibility. I knew Sioux would also be a good fit for my father and that his experience would be very welcome here.’
Still, Frank needed some encouragement from Mart and Veronique before he decided to look around for other work. It led to a conversation at Sioux. ‘I applied for the position of New Product Introduction Engineer. René and Geert knew that Mart was my son, but that was not an issue at the time. It would not have been healthy if I had to work under Mart's direction, but that was not the case. And we can work together very well, we had already proven that. I was convinced that it wouldn't cause any problems.’
The same bolts
After the conversation with René and Geert, in May 2021, Frank took the plunge: he started working as an NPI Engineer at Sioux. ‘Mart was right: my job satisfaction is back’, he confirms. ‘The working atmosphere at Sioux is good, the products are interesting and - last but not least - Sioux Labs is fantastic. I have the feeling that I can really have an impact here. If we are going to build a new production line, the assembly must run as efficiently as possible. I get involved in the development process at an early stage, to help think about the manufacturability and reproducibility. Just by using the same bolts everywhere, you can save a lot of time. The product developers appreciate it when I point this out to them, they value my experience.’
Dad or Frank?
Although father and son each work on a different floor, they regularly bump into each other to discuss some projects. ‘The fact that I am allowed to think about his work was unusual at first. The first time he asked my permission to order something was also quite uncomfortable,' admits Mart. ‘It also feels unnatural to call my father by his first name. I try to get around it a bit: in e-mails I type Frank, but in conversations with colleagues it is sometimes 'dad'.'
Dad, for his part, is not bothered by any discomfort at all: 'As a father, I particularly enjoy following my son's development so closely. If we show a customer around together, I am proud of the way he talks about Sioux. Mart is calm and analytical, just like me, but he gets his leadership qualities from his mother. I am better at the technical stuff. Mart immediately starts laughing: 'I do indeed have two left hands. If my coffee machine breaks down, I call you straight away. I still do.'
