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Natalie Sinke is Project Assistant and QA Coordinator at Damen Shiprepair Vlissingen. She works both functions, switching between the two of them depending on how busy the yard is. Natalie feels at home at DSV. “I am naturally quite strong in terms of organisational skills and this is where that quality shines.”
Just over three years ago, Natalie started working at DSV on a temporary basis. This was as a Project Secretary during a yacht refit. “I remember that I started on November 4th. The customer was happy with the outcome of the refit and would return the following winter. He wanted to keep working with the same project team – the team that I was on. To bridge that time gap, I started working with Quality Assurance. I started by translating and updating our company manual. My work is now a combination of assisting with projects and optimising our business processes together with the managers.”
When DSV kicks off a new project, there is a lot of hustle and bustle at the yard, as Natalie explains. “As a Project Assistant, you have to constantly switch between the different teams. As well as the project team, you have a lot of contact with the subcontractors and of course with the customer and crew, who are often on site during such a project.”
"As a Vlissingen native, the company played a big part in our lives".
Keeping the DSV company manual up to date is an ongoing process, she says. “It describes our most important business processes and is also a guideline for ISO audits. External parties can use it to find out how we guarantee optimal business operations.”
As QA Coordinator, she was closely involved in drafting DSV’s Covid-19 protocol. She is part of the company’s Covid-19 crisis team that monitors the current situation constantly.
Natalie is not surprised by the fact that she started working at what was known as Scheldepoort. “Some of my family members used to work at De Schelde and, as a Vlissingen native, the company played a big part in our lives. As a child, I heard the factory whistle go off every morning, signalling the start of the working day.”
She often goes on board with the Project Manager “because I want to know exactly what needs to be done during a repair or refit”.
“At a certain point you also start helping with the thought process; that comes from my curiosity and the need to think ahead and anticipate. How can we do the job more efficiently? In this way, you add depth to your function and unburden the project management.” Her work is diverse. “There hasn’t been a day that I regret being here.”