Franz van Meijel, CEO, Van Meijel
If you’ve enjoyed hearing from Juan Salazar of Quantum Data Systems and Angela Margolit of Bluebird Auto Rental Systems, you’re going to love the next Q&A in our “Meet the PAC” series featuring Frans van Meijel, CEO of Van Meijel.
Frans and his company have been partnering with Progress® for 26 years—almost since our inception! Van Meijel is an elite application Partner based in the Netherlands, which provides ERP and project management (software) solutions for the construction industry.
Q: From a technical and/or business perspective, what projects or initiatives are you looking forward to most over the next 12 months?
Last month, we launched a new product called “Metacom Apps.” This product is the flexible layer around Metacom, our ERP system for the construction industry. In Progress terminology, Metacom Apps is the “system of engagement” and Metacom is the “system of record.”
In the next 12 months, we will develop integration points for all information in Metacom. These integration points will be used by Metacom Apps. Metacom Apps is based on Progress® OpenEdge BPM, Progress® Rollbase and OpenEdge Rules.
Besides this, we have planned to give our ERP system a new user experience. For this, we are interested in taking advantage of Telerik® Kendo UI components that Progress recently acquired.
Q: What is the next “big thing” that you see happening in your market space, and what are you doing to prepare for it?
The next big thing in our market space is bringing IT to the construction site. There is a huge demand for additional functionality on top of Metacom. For us, Metacom Apps are the answer to this. This is especially true when we can offer a variety of mobile apps that support employees on the construction site.
Q: Which Progress technology enhancements are you most excited about in the coming year?
The most exciting change is the renewed focus on Partners. As a result, Progress acquired products such as Rollbase and Telerik. I think Telerik and Progress are a perfect match and give us Partners, the tools to build apps that today’s market demands.
Q: What is your advice for a new developer starting out with an amazing idea and wanting to build a business?
For a startup, my advice is to stay focused and not to get distracted by other parties. If you have an amazing idea for which there is demand, find the right technology partner and go for it. The right partner is a partner who really helps you and who does not limit you. For established companies, my advice is to forget the past and to look forward. There is a completely new world coming. This world will have new rules and new opportunities.
Q: Tell us about you: what was your most innovative career moment?
The most innovative moment of my career was when I started my company, which is focused on providing IT solutions for the construction industry. Having more than 10 years of experience in this industry, I saw the potential for innovative software for construction companies. A key characteristic of the construction industry is that everything revolves around projects, which vary in scale. These construction projects are so dynamic that they seem difficult to automate. However, our solutions support these dynamics so that they are a good fit with business processes of our clients. Using our software, our clients achieve higher quality and more efficiency.
Find Out More
To learn more about Van Meijel, visit the website. Interested in becoming a member of the Progress Partner Advisory Council? Contact Kimberly King at kiking@progress.com.
Stay tuned for our next Meet the PAC post coming in April.