Just over a year ago, Demcon planted its flag on High Tech Campus Eindhoven. While not its first location in Brabant, nor its largest, this new location is a strategic entry point into something bigger: inventions of the future.

“There are a lot of startups and a lot of innovative things that are going on here. We want to be part of that and it's easier when you are located here and not just a visitor,” says Barend Vermeulen, Managing Director of Demcon high-tech systems Eindhoven.

Demcon works with its clients to engineer, develop and manufacture innovative, high-end systems and products. The company has a broad reach, working in many markets, including high-tech systems, aerospace, energy and life sciences and health. It serves big-name clients, such as Cargill, LeydenJar Technologies and major players in the semiconductor industry, but it also works for startups and companies with limited R&D departments.

The company was founded in Enschede in 1993. Its design house expanded to Brabant in 2011 to be closer to its customers, primarily to have more face-to-face interactions. Its recent HTCE location is now the third office in the region. In total, the company employs 1,200 people and has nine offices spread across four countries.

The HTCE office was a strategic choice. Although small, the location continues to be a close touchpoint for its existing customers but also a starting point for new potential clients, especially local startups.

“It's about having a presence and the interaction and not about the amount of floor space someone has on Campus,” says Vermeulen.

Customers hire Demcon for multidisciplinary and complex development questions, says Vermeulen. Demcon does the work and after the project is completed, transfers all the IP and know-how to customers. “They can use it how they want by creating their own IP. The experience stays with our engineers, but the know-how is at our customers,” Vermeulen adds.

Customers often come to Demcon when they have problems reaching a solution and there are technical issues. More often than not, customers aren’t asking the right questions … and that’s where Demcon shines.

“The answer to their question is not usually the solution they're seeking. We try to create an intimate relationship and understand what they really want. Then we step back and find the solution,” says Vermeulen. “But you need to have a very trusting relationship before you can do this.”

However, Demcon is not satisfied with only providing solutions that exceed its customers’ needs. It also has the explicit goal to create meaningful innovations that solve society’s big challenges and also support small companies as they pursue these challenges.

“We want to support startups that one day will become scale-ups. We want to build a partnership and grow with them. We are constantly looking for synergy,” Vermeulen says.

Demcon has taken this mission one step further and has also branched out into the role of an incubator. By investing in startups, Demcon looks to take these partnerships even further to help solve tough problems.

“If you're a very knowledgeable entrepreneur, you often start a company because you excel in a certain expertise, but 80 or 90 percent of your time is spent looking at financing and other things,” says Vermeulen. “We try to step in to support them with our technical and entrepreneurial expertise, and partly on the financial side if this is needed.

Communications manager van Tour said the firm functions “as an ecosystem in itself: the Demcon Group. It’s a collective of Demcon companies with a broad range of competences. We work together and use each other's expertise.”

The company operates with an open innovation mentality, with the flexibility of an SME but the benefits and stability of a larger organization. This environment allows it to not only stay effective and efficient for its customers but also continue to develop strong expertise within its staff of engineers.

If a potential customer approached Demcon to redesign an existing product and make it only 10% cheaper, that’s not the work that the company seeks out.

“For us, it's about having great work for engineers,” Vermeulen says. “During Corona and since the war started in Eastern Europe, we see it's essential to retain the know-how within our own country. Demcon wants to create an environment where engineers evolve and become better and better.”

Demcon’s ideal customer is one with a highly technical dream. “It should be challenging and a little bit unknown,” Vermeulen says. “We may not be even sure if we can make it from a technical perspective.”

“Which inventions of today will change the life of tomorrow? That's what we want to be part of.”

When it comes down to it, Demcon is a highly curious organization. Its two founders are still actively involved in the business and projects. The company continually seeks out challenging projects, and its engineers are constantly evolving their skills with tough engineering problems.

“The challenge is to understand what's going on and where a large engineering challenge could crop up,” says Vermeulen. “Of course, we have a strategy, but if a customer comes to us with something too interesting to ignore, we will do that as well.”