Vanwege het internationale karakter van ons bedrijf en onze medewerkers hebben we hun verhalen en ervaringen in het Engels weergegeven.

"Knowing that you contribute to the improvement of someone’s health, every day."

Luc Simons is the Director of Manufacturing and the Site Leader of the manufacturing facility in Kerkrade. He was born in the village of Nieuwstadt in the Province of Limburg in 1980 and he is a proud father of three daughters: Liz (ten years old), Nyne (six years old) and Joya (four years old).

Luc’s career at Medtronic started on 1 January, 2003, immediately after his graduation.

Luc about his position at Medtronic

In my role, I am leading the Medtronic manufacturing facility in Kerkrade where we manufacture a variety of products used for cardiac and orthopedic surgery. At Medtronic in Kerkrade, annually 275,000 customized perfusion systems are produced in a cleanroom environment in close partnership with our customers in Europe, the Middle East, Africa (EMEA), Australia/New Zealand, Canada and Malaysia. The Kerkrade organization currently consists of approximately 250 employees in supply chain, purchasing, manufacturing, engineering, quality and finance.

Luc's education and career path

Back in 2003, I started as a Quality Engineer, then moving into a variety of engineering and quality roles. After a certain period, I got the opportunity to take on the role as Manager Engineering. During this time, I learned that people management was quite exciting. After some years in this role, I became the acting Quality Manager for a period of twelve months. About three years ago, our site leader left after many years. I then decided to go for this great opportunity, and I took on this role.

Most challenging in my current role

The biggest challenge in my role is working within the global matrix organization. The communication and alignment between organizations and functions in various regions and time zones can be very complex, especially within a company of Medtronic’s size. The majority of supporting and key functions such as HR, IT, Quality, Sourcing etc., is not reporting into the manufacturing organizations and sites. Therefore, it is a continuous challenge to articulate and quantify the needs for the right support and the right priorities from these supporting functions.

What I like most in my current job

Every day, I meet a variety of people, including employees and customers who all are proud of their contributions to healthcare and health.

What I like about working for Medtronic

Knowing that you contribute to the improvement of someone’s health, every day.

What ‘Further, Together’ means to me

‘Further’ to me means creating a better future, for patients, physicians and for our employees. ‘Together’ to me means that we can only get there if we march together, a team is way more difficult to get off the right track than an individual.

My most memorable experiences at Medtronic

Basically, every interaction I have had with a patient has been an impressive one. The most memorable moment I remember, was in a pediatric hospital, where I shook the hand of a young girl before she entered the OR, holding the hands of her parents encouraging them not to worry about the outcome of the surgery and her health condition. At such vulnerable moments, you really feel that you make a difference and what you do is vital for someone else’s life.