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Pieter Van Aelst joined ViskoTeepak in 2024 as Supply Chain Manager in Lommel, after 18 years at one of the largest European candle manufacturers. What convinced him was not only the industrial environment and global footprint, but “the fact that there was space to build and improve how things work.”
In Lommel, Supply Chain connects different realities: Procurement, Production, Finance and Sales Service. Pieter’s focus is clear: making the flow stable, clean and predictable. A good process, he believes, is not a nice-to-have, but “the foundation for everything else.” At the same time, he is clear that structure alone doesn’t move product — people do.
“My role is to make the system understandable, but they are the ones who make it run in reality.”
Pieter Van Aelst
Over the past year, one of his biggest learnings has been the value of alignment. When sites or systems work differently, transparency and efficiency disappear. After fixing fundamentals in Lommel, Pieter is now starting a harmonisation project between Lommel and Hanko, with one shared, practical way of working as the goal.
Outside of work, Pieter enjoys hands-on projects like woodworking, CNC and laser cutting, cooking and smoking meat — and even took his first steps into sausage making. “It’s great to see a physical result of your work,” he says, adding with a smile that the learning curve applies to hobbies, not to his kids.
For Pieter, ViskoTeepak’s values — Trust, Ambition and Fun — are not slogans, but daily behavior.
“The way we talk to each other determines whether we drain energy or build energy.”
Pieter Van Aelst