The Moment Everything Changed
How a simple observation at a client site turned into a mission to transform industrial automation.
The Origin Story
At a client site, I watched an operator carefully copy preventive maintenance values from a SCADA screen into an Excel spreadsheet. Every single day. The same numbers, the same cells, the same wasted hour.
"This can't be right," I thought. €50K in SCADA licenses, and the most important data still ends up in Excel?
That was 15 years ago. Since then, I've worked with ABB 800xA, Siemens PCS7, Aspentech IP.21, Wonderware, and OSIsoft PI at companies like Danone and FrieslandCampina. And everywhere — the same pattern: expensive systems, manual workarounds, knowledge in people's heads.
The breakthrough came when I realized that modern IT technology — Python, APIs, open source databases — combined with AI tools like Claude Code, could replace €50K+ vendor solutions in weeks instead of months. And anyone could learn it.
That's why I created "Van Excel naar Grip" — to put 15 years of multi-vendor OT experience into one program that transforms plant engineers into self-sufficient builders.
Our Mission
Democratize industrial automation knowledge. Make every plant engineer capable of building their own monitoring platform — without vendor lock-in, without expensive licenses, without being dependent on external integrators.
By The Numbers
15+
Years OT Experience
5+
Vendor Platforms Mastered
50+
Factory Implementations
€2M+
Client License Savings
What We Stand For
Principles that guide everything we build and teach.
Open Over Proprietary
Open source, open standards, open knowledge. Vendor lock-in is a choice, not a necessity.
Pragmatic Over Perfect
A working solution today beats a perfect plan next year. Build, test, iterate.
Empower Over Depend
We teach you to fish. The goal is self-sufficiency, not recurring consulting fees.
Real Over Theoretical
Every module is based on actual factory implementations, not textbook scenarios.
Honest Over Hype
AI won't replace your job. But an engineer who uses AI will outperform one who doesn't.
Community Over Competition
OT engineers helping OT engineers. The industry moves forward together.
Join the Movement
15 years of experience, distilled into one program. Your factory is waiting.