Juliaan de Graaf is a maintenance technician and ensures that STYLE machines are serviced on site. He also gives courses and helps with giving demos at the trade fairs where STYLE is present.

Who is Juliaan?

I am Juliaan de Graaf, I live with my family in Bunschoten-Spakenburg. I was born here and am now 34 years old. In my spare time I like to be with the family, kick a ball around with the kids or play with them.

Even though I can’t smell very well, I also like to be in the kitchen to make the most delicious meals or delicious cakes. I became quite famous about two years ago through my participation in Heel Holland Bakt. I still regularly take baked goods to STYLE to spoil my colleagues with a delicious baked good for their break. I simply enjoy baking, and I often make way too much and then they can eat it.

Another thing that keeps me busy in my spare time is that I like to find out how something is made, both with food (e.g. which ingredients and techniques are used) and in other things that I use and can repair. Is something broken? Then I like to find out how it can be repaired.

What is the most beautiful moment you have ever experienced?

Choosing the most beautiful moment is very difficult for me, there are so many beautiful things that are not inferior to each other. Meeting my wife Angela or the birth of my children are of course the most wonderful moments in life, but the many moments that you spend together as a family make it special for me.

What do you like about your job at STYLE?

First of all, I have to say that I have not always worked at STYLE, which many boys from the village do. It is not so normal to change jobs here. I had worked for STYLE before and in 2017 I came back. So I have been here for 7 years now because I really like the versatility of my job.

At STYLE I am not just a mechanic who tinkers with machines, I also get to give courses on how the machine works and at trade fairs I get to promote the machine and give demonstrations. Helping customers is of course nice, because after a visit from me a machine works optimally again and the customer can then continue producing. This makes you feel appreciated and customers are usually happy that you are there.

What does your day as a service technician look like?

In the morning I always drive to STYLE first to load the items for that day into the car. Then we drive to the customer to service a machine there or to give a course, for example.

Upon arrival, I will first report to the reception of the company (if there is one), then I will go to the machine in question and talk to the operators there about service on the machine or to find out how a certain problem arose. Usually the feeling of the operator about what is wrong with the machine is quite good and this will also be one of the first things I check on the machine.

Once the problem has been identified, I can work on a solution, for example replacing a part or adjusting a setting. Then I often also indicate where it went wrong, so that the user of the machine does not make the same mistake again.

After repairing the machine, a piece of documentation follows, what has been done to the machine and which parts have been used. Once all this has been described, I can go back to STYLE or go to the next customer.