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Damen Naval recently had the winners of the Leon’s Cup visit Vlissingen. Their prize was an all-inclusive two-week training course in which they received a lot of important information on the maintenance of their ships as well as getting acquainted with Dutch and Zeeland culture.
The Leon’s Cup was created in 2020 as a posthumous tribute to Leon Goossens, the creator of the SIGMA construction method for Damen Naval frigates and corvettes. The idea was that an award would be presented every year to SIGMA crew members with the best idea for further product improvement of this type of ships. After a delay resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, the winners were welcomed recently in Vlissingen. From Indonesia, the winners were two crew members of the SIGMA 10514 PKR KRI Gusti Ngurah Rai (GNR): Commander Musyahida Septiana and Commander Tri Wahyuhadi. Mexico’s SIGMA 10514 ARM Benito Juárez was represented by winners Jorge Sanchez Sosme and Jose Maldonado Melendez. From Damen Naval Indonesia, Yohanes Andrian also joined the training.
The Leon's Cup winners were given a tour of the headquarters by Managing Director Roland Briene.
“The prize for receiving the Leon’s Cup was a two-week training course in Vlissingen with a focus on ILS/maintenance,” says Commercial Manager Patrick van der Heiden who acted as one of the hosts during the visit. “The Indonesian and Mexican navies received the Leon’s Cup because of the outstanding performance of the crews and ships, GNR and Benito Juárez respectively, during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) naval exercise in the Pacific.”
The aim of the Leon’s Cup is to create a SIGMA community where users from different countries can get to know each other and exchange experiences and knowledge. SIGMAs are currently sailing in Indonesia, Mexico and Morocco, but that list is expected to grow in the future.
Proudly, the visitors show their Leon's Cup winner's certificate.
During their visit to Vlissingen, the four officers received training from various Damen Naval departments such as Integrated Logistic Support (ILS), Service, and Products & Proposals (P&P). Presentations were given by internal and external guest speakers and the officers also received external training, including a visit to Den Helder. “The programme highlighted all kinds of facets of Product Lifecycle Support,” explains Product Manager ILS & Support Services Niek Marsé. “That ranged from advice on how to include support topics in the operational planning of a warship, how to make a maintenance plan, how to prepare a Midlife Update, and how to coordinate training and spare parts. They also received training on the Integrated Platform Management system and we gave them a future perspective on SMART Maintenance and, of course, the developments and research Damen Naval is doing in this area.”
“The officers had a great time in the Netherlands and learned a lot, especially from each other. And we gained four great Indonesian and Mexican ambassadors for Damen Naval and our ships.” Patrick van der Heiden
According to Niek, such a training session has three main purposes: staying in touch with the customer, listening to the officers’ challenges and learning from the experiences of the crews of Damen Naval-built ships. “We hope we were able to give them the insight that our ships continue to work best with proper preventive maintenance. That Damen Naval is more than just a shipbuilder and that in the future we may be able to establish a more extensive partnership for keeping their ships operational.”
Patrick adds: “It was impressive to see how the colleagues involved, despite their busy schedules, worked tirelessly to make the training a success. From the guiding principle of customer intimacy, this was a great example of how such training can contribute to deepening the relationship with our customers. For us as a company, the information and feedback coming from the SIGMA users are very important to be able to respond even more adequately to customer demand.”
In addition to the training, there was also an extensive cultural programme, including a visit to Volendam and the Zaanse Schans.
The programme not only consisted of training sessions, there was also room for relaxation in the form of a cultural and social programme that included several trips in the area but also to Amsterdam and Volendam. “It was simply fantastic,” concludes Patrick. “The officers had a great time in the Netherlands and learned a lot, especially from each other. It was good to see how a camaraderie quickly developed between the Indonesian and Mexican officers. And we gained four great Indonesian and Mexican ambassadors for Damen Naval and our ships.”