Furniture maker 'Long Jan' tells his story
What's life like for a furniture maker at Zwartwoud? Our 'Long Jan' tells us all about it. 'I'm just enthusiastic!'
Jan van der Werf, better known on the shop floor as Long Jan
'I'm an all-round furniture maker: I do a bit of everything. From warehouse duties, to operating machinery, to making furniture. I started here as an apprentice in 1985 and I've been here ever since. Time flies. People sometimes say: 'you're stuck in a rut!', but I genuinely enjoy my work. Then there's no need to leave, if you ask me! I'm perfectly happy here.
I've been an installer, operated the machinery, and now I'm mainly a furniture maker. When the children were born, I stopped installation work and moved to the factory. I'm happy there: I have a lot of variety here. It's certainly not the same kitchen cabinet every day.
'Tools for rent, not too expensive!'
I cycle here at a quarter to seven in the morning. Then I'm busy assembling furniture, doing a bit of installation work, sometimes even sawing myself. I prepare the furniture for transport. Bolts, glue, lamellos, brackets, that kind of thing. Everything gets covered.
I work closely with the work preparation department and with the project managers. If things are still unclear, I just walk over to them. I like short lines of communication. Just walk upstairs and you immediately know what's going on.
As a furniture maker, you create something visible, which you can later see again somewhere. You assemble something from A to Z and then you have a finished product. I find that satisfying. The variety in my work makes it so enjoyable: from machinery, to building furniture. From warehouse work, to internal odd jobs. I've been through many departments, I just haven't been a director yet, haha!
We work for many different clients. I thought the UCP for the UMCG was a great project, and for example, also the Van der Velde bookstores a few years ago. A special job was the crematorium in Groningen. I was at a cremation a while ago and then I saw the furniture I had made myself. Of course, you don't want to have to visit such a place too often, but that was quite special!
I enjoy my work. That's due to a combination of great colleagues and interesting assignments. I always have a good time, there's room for a bit of fun. I like that you can say anything to each other here, through thick and thin. When you work here for so long, it's really just like a family.
Colleagues often come by asking: 'Jan, do you have this I can borrow? Do you have that I can borrow?' They always know where to find my toolbox. Recently I stuck a note on it: 'Tools for rent, not too expensive!' We can make jokes like that here, and that's fun too.
'Circularity also means new challenges for the furniture maker.'
Besides my work as a furniture maker, I'm also part of the staff association (PV) and I'm a first aid responder (BHV). I think it's great to be able to help people if something is wrong. Preferably not, of course, but needs must! I've been doing that for about 10 years now, and I've been in the staff association for about 2 to 3 years. Zwartwoud's parties are a lot of fun, and I like being part of such an active club.
I'm just enthusiastic!
I think it's great that we at Zwartwoud are working on circularity. I'm also involved with that at home. When you see what sometimes gets thrown away…!
Circularity also means new challenges for the furniture maker. Sometimes you don't know what nails and screws you'll encounter in a piece of wood, so you have to be careful. Or if something is completely glued together. But I enjoy the work. Otherwise, you have a manufactured or pre-processed material from the machinery that you assemble, but now sometimes you get a product and a drawing and then it's: 'Just cut it into pieces and make that out of it!'
But generally speaking: I think it's good for the future. It's a new trend. I like that.”
Gerelateerde vacatures
Mechanic
- You ensure the placement of sustainable and circular interior elements
- You see the preconceived product coming to life so slowly
- You are a face for the customer who is happy with the end result
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