With over twenty years of expertise under their belts, Annelies Oosterlynck and her brother Michael run the Alken-based AMR. As a dynamic family business, AMR has a clear mission: to strive for maximum machine efficiency for every industrial organization. AMR and IMPACT have been working closely together for fourteen years to find the often very specific profiles on the foreign candidate market.

The duo Annelies and Michael Oosterlynck have turned the Alken company AMR into a true drive specialist. Since 2013, AMR has been carrying out its mission not only from Limburg, but also from a second branch in Zandhoven. In that branch, the offer was also expanded a few years ago to include welding, turning and milling.

A drive specialist that guarantees a personal one-stop shop service tailored to your needs is the best way to describe AMR. “For us, striving for maximum machine efficiency starts with investing in long-term cooperation and mutual trust,” Annelies emphasizes. “That way, we really get to know our customers and their needs and can help them put the focus fully on the core business.”

That well thought-out total service, tailored to and in cooperation with the customer, rests on two important pillars. “Flexibility and quality are the building blocks of our company. Customers can count on us 24/7 in many areas. Our team of more than thirty skilled employees handles both new sales and specific projects. Quality repairs on engines, among other things, take place in our fully equipped workshops.”

To provide this total service, AMR needs very scarce profiles who must master a specific technique: the manual winding of motors. Annelies explains: “Finding winders is difficult, because these winding techniques are no longer taught at school. Moreover, they must be immediately employable and have the necessary experience. That is difficult, because standard motors are being replaced more and more quickly, so that one has to start working with a two-speed motor, for example. But you need experience with ‘easier’ standard engines to master the craft.”

In 2018, AMR’s original activities were expanded to offer a wider range of services. Since then, the Zandhoven branch has also had a strong focus on welding, turning and milling work, creating a need for punishing CNC programmers. “Finding the right CNC specialists is not obvious because every machine has its own control program. And it’s not because you have knowledge of one control program that you can just start working with another. So we are looking very specifically and preferably for specialists who have knowledge of more than one program.”

The cooperation between AMR and IMPACT has been going on for some time: in 2007 the two companies joined forces. “Our cooperation started with the selection of a good technician. Then, when we raised the issue of and need for immediately employable winders, IMPACT suggested scouring the foreign labor market through its International Distance Matching concept. We opted for the route together and it turned out to be a hit.”

A great example is the story of a Polish wrapper who has been working at AMR for quite some time. “He started at our Alken site through IMPACT fourteen years ago and in the meantime has really become an extension for us. He has seized the opportunity to broaden his knowledge and as a winder has also become an expert in DC and servo motors, among other things. And what is also nice: his son has followed in his footsteps and now works for our branch in Zandhoven.”

In twenty years, AMR expanded its expertise and more than doubled its sales. IMPACT co-wrote most of that success story. “We find a lot of ourselves in IMPACT: the family approach, the long-term thinking, the steady contact. Whereas AMR completely unburdens its customers in the field of drives, IMPACT does the same for AMR in terms of personnel and administration. When a foreign colleague arrives, the domicile and other administrative obligations, for example, are immediately taken care of. I have nothing to worry about.”

Moreover, after fourteen years, you understand each other completely. “IMPACT is now very good at assessing whether a candidate will fit in at AMR or not. They also realize that we need to be able to act quickly: as for our colleagues, flexibility is an important factor. IMPACT fulfills that perfectly. In short: when I look at our collaboration, I have learned that a small investment in time to explain well what your values and needs are, pays off very much in the long run to find the right profiles.”