Automation & Services transfered to Arvest Group

Automation & Services was founded just over 15 years ago, spurred by Alain Nyssen.

As an automation engineer in the steel industry in Liège, Alain quickly realized that industrial automation was not only a fascinating field but also essential for the development of companies and even for the reindustrialization of Europe.

He started in 2006 and specialized to the point of becoming indispensable for many Belgian companies, who sent him to their factories around the world. More than specific skills, clients needed services, availability, and flexibility. While automation might mean less human contact for some; Automation & Services offered the opposite, and that became its strength.

In just a few years, the small company - which had started in Alain’s basement - grew rapidly. Automation & Services attracted large companies like AB InBev, which entrusted it with the automation management of its Jupiler plant, and other bottling plants in the Liège region.

What makes Automation & Services unique? Rare skills within industrial companies, a multi-sector approach enriched by various projects and experiences, and a particular emphasis on the human aspect: expertise, impeccable service, responsiveness, proximity, trust.

In the spring of 2022, for health reasons, Alain Nyssen wanted to pass his company on to someone who shared the same values; someone with the network, skills, and entrepreneurial spirit to ensure the future of Automation & Services and its team. He passed the torch in August to Yves Warnant, a serial entrepreneur from Liège, specialized in business transmission.

Alain Nyssen, unfortunately, passed away afterwards, but not without having trained a new generation of automation engineers who will proudly uphold the company's standards every day in his memory.

With his network of young talents, Yves Warnant appointed Brice Ortmans (a mechanical engineer with an additional degree in entrepreneurship) as CEO and Harisson Reale (an industrial engineer specialized in automation) as operational director. Together, they lead a team of 14 automation engineers, electrical designers, and industrial electricians, while awaiting the arrival of new colleagues to meet high demand.

The new leadership team's mission is to:

• Take over the day-to-day management of the company,
• Hire additional staff to strengthen the team and meet numerous requests,
• Ensure a smooth transition over about 2 years before expanding the services and sectors that could prove promising, while preserving the trades and DNA of the company.

Automation is a passion; it’s a bit like big kids marveling as their Meccano set comes to life. This passion, transmitted by Alain Nyssen to his team, to Yves Warnant, and to the new leadership, will be preserved. This impeccable service, this precise expertise, and this deeply human DNA will endure.