People in Lighting: Danie van der Nest
Companies are defined by the people who work for them: for over a century, Schréder has been at the forefront of lighting thanks to its employees worldwide. Life@Schréder is where we tell the stories of the people who make Schréder what it is, taking in the 70 countries where we do business, diverse career trajectories and our collective dedication to excellence in lighting.
BEKA started operations in Namibia in 1978, manufacturing corrosion-resistant poles and luminaires for use in some of the world’s toughest environments. In 1981 they moved to Olifantsfontein in South Africa, where their commitment to quality enabled them to become Africa’s largest lighting manufacturer.
In 2013, BEKA became a wholly owned Schréder company, bringing together the latest technologies in LED and lighting control, and a unique understanding of the challenges of providing lighting in challenging environments from mines to off-grid seafront lighting. They have lit the country’s longest road tunnel and won awards for lighting sports stadiums, keeping the lights on even in a time of unpredictable energy supply.
Danie van der Nest has been a key member of the management team since 2017 and previously worked on the factory floor, giving him a unique insight to the way BEKA Schréder works. As a Project Manager, he is involved in every stage of our installations, from helping customers find an approach that exactly meets their needs, to ensuring that ambitious lighting set-ups and control systems work in the field. Passionate about sport, he combines his technical skills with creative flair to help customers, including sports clubs across the continent, to go beyond lighting to complete control solution.
I grew up in a small town east of Johannesburg…
I wasn’t really exposed to the city until I went to university in Johannesburg. Sport is the love of my life, but I started working and I needed to focus on making money at the same time. My first job was in IT, including desktop publishing work. I did that for a decade, before thinking about a different career, and got a job at BEKA (Pty) Ltd when it was still a privately-owned company. I was in my twenties when I got a foreman's job in the factory, running the operations. I learnt about all our products, the importance of quality control and internal processes.
Then life took another turn, when I moved to Saudi Arabia…
My partner at the time was transferred there, so we both moved. I got a job at KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) as a construction manager; there was a lot of construction going on at the time. There’s a real emphasis on Health and Safety and I handled two of the largest projects we were working on successfully, so I did a few courses and moved on to become a H&S officer, which was really interesting, working across cultures to ensure things were done in a safe and sensible way.
That all led to my current position…
Things changed again, and I had to move back for personal reasons. Having known BEKA Schréder for so long, I got in touch, and they needed an engineer who could head up some technical support for the R&D department. It was a real privilege – an interesting position that brought together my knowledge of the luminaires and components, my H&S experience, and at an interesting time because of the switch to LED technology.
“Project management” covers quite a bit…
I work closely with Daniel Kasper, our CEO, on how to deploy our new control technologies and take things beyond lighting. I have a lot of contact with colleagues in the Schréder Group about customer demands and requirements, and future needs. I represent BEKA Schréder in meetings for large projects with several stakeholders. And I also act as a field application engineer, using our engineering knowledge to make sure our systems are effectively integrated in the field - which means climbing a ladder somewhere and working out how to install a luminaire on site. And I give a lot of feedback to my colleagues so that we can mitigate any problems at any stage!
Catching up with some of the Smart Ambassadors from other countries
I’m also our Group Smart Ambassador for Africa…
Africa is at the forefront of global urban migration and cities should become smarter as they grow. Schréder Hyperion’s Smart ambassadors meet regularly to discuss the future of systems, IoT innovations, the potential for control systems and what comes next for the lighting industry. It’s about giving customers technical knowledge so they know what their options are.
We are always looking at ways to go beyond lighting and extend our capabilities…
The creative side of my role is also to put things together and say, is this possible or isn't it? What are the new ways we can integrate non-lighting services? We have done a few things in South Africa where we were at the forefront of what is possible with the technology. It’s the nature of the continent, it’s the nature of the culture here. We push the boundaries, we try new things. Of course, we don’t do things in an unsafe way – my job is to think outside of the box and find the right way to do things with the customer.
Schréder ITERRA is a great solution for a lot of customers…
Schréder ITERRA is a very user-friendly wireless control solution for sports lighting applications, and we already have 27 projects up and running across the continent. It can be controlled through an app on a phone, so it’s ideal for recreational sports clubs with one or two pitches, and sports schools are a focus. Once you set up a network for schools they can expand it to offices, classrooms, corridors, anywhere they need to switch off lights. Saving energy is important because of load shedding – when the power is off at certain times, you need to use it efficiently when things are up and running.
Smart sports lighting for Stade des Martyrs, one of the largest stadiums in Africa
We work on some big projects…
We provided the lighting for Stade des Martyrs, the national stadium of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Kinshasa. Mainly used for football matches, it also hosts concerts and athletics competitions, with a capacity of up to 100,000 people. The Stade des Martyrs now complies with FIFA standards, which required an upgrade from the old HID floodlights to BEKA Schréder’s LED floodlights. These are controlled by a Schréder ITERRA system with 56 nodes in total.
That means a lot of travelling…
Travelling is a privilege, but also a lot of work – the hours are pretty extreme. I’m currently in Ghana working on another AFCON stadium project. I’ve been to Zambia, Botswana and Congo as well. I love seeing other countries, it does open your mind, but I’ve got a three-year-old, so I’m trying to keep the trips shorter now. I’ve been to Portugal with the smart ambassadors group, as well as Belgium several times for training and to meet colleagues.
My favourite project…
It has to be the Huguenot Tunnel. It was a large project where we installed 6,500 luminaires in a single tunnel, and I had to manage it! I lost what little hair I had left on that project. We had to overcome challenges such as working out how to do the cabling, and an incredibly tight turnaround time. We were all learning together. So successfully handing over the delivery of this project and providing ongoing maintenance was a big win.
Huguenot Tunnel was a huge smart tunnel lighting project with a very tight deadline
What I’m most proud of in this company…
Is the way people help each other. It’s really like a brotherhood. We all have each other's phone numbers - you can be on-site, hit an issue, and you can always rely on someone replying, even if they're on a different continent or in another time zone. I’ve been working in the jungle for a month on a large Schréder ITERRA project. We hit a snag, and I had guys from all over the world volunteering solutions, getting on team calls, and one-to-one conversations suggesting things to check. We solved the issue in a few days. I'm grateful for that kind of attitude and culture exists.
Sport is still my passion…
I’ve been very sporty and started playing cricket at 4 or 5 because I had an uncle who was playing professionally. When I was at university I played for the biggest club side in our region, the Wanderers. Sports is the love of my life so I studied sports management at Hoer Tegnise School. So it’s funny where life takes you, I didn’t think I would end up where I am today! I play a lot of golf these days, mainly because I don't want to run around as much. I played rugby sevens in Dubai, but I’m not sure about going back to it… We also play padel, like a lot of colleagues around the world.
Outside of work…
I'm still busy! As well as my three-year-old, I have a son at university. On the business side, some friends and I are considering opening a sports bar, just to do something we like on the side, and I recently made my own Japanese kitchen knife....
It's something I've always wanted, so I decided to try and make one myself and it turned out beautifully.
Connect with Danie on LinkedIn.