Jaco De Pooter

Experience

• 

  KSB Company

  Jun 2011 - Mar 2012

  Field Service Engineer

  As part of a very active and very dynamic field service team, my duties included on site repairs of various pumps, valves and systems; laser alignment as well as cold and hot commissioning. Site repairs included:• First line maintenance aspects (bearing inspections, interventions and exchanges, shaft seal arrangements (glands and mechanical seals) etc.) and precision fitting and measuring.• New installations to pump stations (baseplates etc.)• Precision fitting and precision measuring• Valve lapping and spindle seal inspections and exchanges Show less

• 

  Sulzer

  Apr 2012 - Oct 2020

  As a result of good work performance and ever-increasing customer focus and demand, I was reassigned and promoted to Service Manager, managed the Durban, Lephalale and George Service Islands (workshops) as well as extended responsibilities to include the field service team. Duties included:• Managing Field Service Technicians in line with day to day activities. • Full P&L responsibilities for both FS team and remote workshops across SA with respect to the above. • Order intake and Sales responsibilities with the relevant reporting to Senior Management.• Setting of standards and coaching supervisors and staff where required• Take responsibility for interviewing, hiring and training employees, appraising performance and managing and motivating staff with all areas addressed• Maintaining schedules and records for KPI purpose Show less With the extended service capabilities of the company, and their widespread service delivery, I was granted an opportunity to work abroad in the United Kingdom at the Aberdeen Service Center. This facility was predominantly an electro-mechanical facility, servicing both on-and-offshore electrical work ranging from site services as well as workshop repairs. The position was a senior managerial position looking after the entire facility including non-technical departments. This allowed me to gain incredible experience on senior managerial activities as well as electric machines. Other duties included:• Operating an autonomous unit in line with service, operational and financial targets• Ensuring health and safety standards are maintained according to local legislation• Managing of order input and acting to ensure stated lead times are achieved• Utilizing staff appropriately• Ensuring admin and reporting procedures are carried out diligently in line with business targets and P&L, including setting annual budgets• Setting of standards and coaching middle management and supervisor levels where required• Take responsibility for interviewing, hiring and training employees, appraising performance and managing and motivating staff with all areas addressed• Maintaining schedules and records for KPI purpose• Strategizing to ensure growth and sustainability of service center. Show less In line with the requirements of a long withstanding partnership contract. Managed team to ensure contractual deliverables and KPIs were met. Ensuring team compliance to SHEQ. Contributed to ensuring the availability and reliability of the feed water pump system and its auxiliaries. This required for the team to be very dynamic and highly skilled to ensure that the level 1 plant functioned to its maximum. I also ensured that the following are executed in line with the requirements of the contract:• Customer satisfaction, • Ensured that relevant RFQ are answered and ensured that the projects are expedited in line with plant requirements/breakdown,• Monthly status reporting• Management of staff members on site on all aspects,• Acted as project manager during large shut downs (outages), compiling budgets and keeping track of costs ensuring outage success Show less During this time, I managed both the workshop and test bed ensuring that the functionality thereof is maintained to the highest degree of quality. This meant ensuring that all aspects are taken in to account as far as SHEQ, project execution and human resource management. In addition to this, I was also responsible ensuring that admin and financial reporting procedures are carried diligently in line with business targets and P&L. further duties included:• Management of staff members on site on all aspects, including interviewing, hiring and training employees, appraising, managing and motivating• Ensuring the application of quality and product standards are met to SOPs• Overseeing the execution of manufacturing schedules and work to achieving milestones• Utilizing staff appropriately• Strategizing to ensure growth and sustainability of service center. Show less In line with the requirements of a long withstanding partnership contract. Managed team to ensure contractual deliverables and KPIs were met. Ensuring team compliance to SHEQ. Contributed to ensuring the availability and reliability of the feed water pump system and its auxiliaries. This required for the team to be very dynamic and highly skilled to ensure that the level 1 plant functioned to its maximum. I also ensured that the following are executed in line with the requirements of the contract:• Customer satisfaction, • Ensured that relevant RFQ are answered and ensured that the projects are expedited in line with plant requirements/breakdown,• Monthly status reporting• Management of staff members on site on all aspects,• Acted as project manager during large shut downs (outages), compiling budgets and keeping track of costs ensuring outage success Show less As part of a long standing maintenance contract, I had been part of the service team based permanently on site. Duties of position held, was the on-site service support on a 24/7 basis, responsible for the Sulzer Boiler Feed Pump, Condensate Extraction Pump and Cooling Water Pumps systems; equipment and auxiliaries. Other smaller pumps also formed part of this scope on other systems as well as major boiler pressure part valves, heaters and condensers. Duties also included:• First line maintenance on all aspects of the plant such as the pumps and valves included in the scope of supply• Removal and installations of equipment (pumps, valves, gearboxes, filters etc.) as and when required• Attendance to breakdowns on call out basis• Fault finding with respect to breakdowns• RCA and report compilations• Safety file administration• Quality control administration• Stock control and quality thereof• General monthly reports absed on plant condition and planned work• Execution of outage work in line with maintenance philosophies• Ensuring that plant is returned to service by assisting operating on plant de-isolations and commissioning Show less

  • Service Island Manager

    Aug 2019 - Oct 2020

  • Senior Project Engineer

    May 2019 - Aug 2019

  • Service Center Manager

    Jun 2018 - Apr 2019

  • Area Service Manager

    Jun 2017 - May 2018

  • Service Center Manager

    Sept 2016 - May 2017

  • Area Service Manager

    Sept 2013 - Aug 2016

  • Site Technician

    Apr 2012 - Aug 2013
• 

  KSB Company

  Nov 2020 - Feb 2025

  Operations Manager

  Managing all operation functions within the workshop as well as field service teams. This extends to all service facilities across South Africa and Sub-Sahara. Duties includes but not limited to:• Lead from the front, both during workshop interventions as well as respective field service activities, ranging from a variety of process, analytics and technical support. • With Engineering, conduct technical evaluations on the best engineering practice and repair methods, and final review thereof• Fault finding and identification through thorough investigations by utilizing a range of analytical tools, such as vibration data collectors, motion amplification and laser alignment tools.• New installations and support thereof, conducting and overseeing precision installation methods• Technical report writing in both workshop and field service interventions• Compiling quotes and monitoring order intake as well as profit and loss control• Utilizing staff to perform at maximum at the respective levels required honing in on specific skill sets• High level commercial and contractual involvement to ensure project success• High level project costing and management to ensure maximum efficiency, project execution and success• Interviewing, hiring and training of staff to ensure operational requirements met• Management of staff in line with company and legislative requirements, time keeping, appraising performance etc.• Constantly reviewing quality standards and process to ensure maximum efficiency and high level of quality maintained.• Responsible for overall high performance of the workshop ensuring the scheduled projects are executed in a timeous manner whilst ensuring that breakdowns are also attended to in the shortest amount of time required Show less

• 

  KSB South Africa

  Feb 2025 - now

  System Efficiency and Digital Services Manager

  Improve pump and pump system efficiency and reliabilityReduce energy consumption and costsImplement predictive maintenance and IoT solutionsOptimize pump performance and extend lifespan