Top Daikin award for Danny Velle from Ostend, Belgium

Stefaan Simpelaere, General Manager of Manufacturing Daikin Europe said:

“Danny's brazing skills, as well as his leadership qualities, make him a valuable advisor who can teach anyone in a bright and compelling way. Most recently, Danny has been training personnel of external pipe manufacturers and colleagues at our production sites in the cold chain business in Austria and Spain, who joined the Daikin Group through acquisitions in the past. His work has been spectacular and we believe this recognition is well deserved."

Danny’s Daikin story in his own words

Over 32 years ago, Danny joined Daikin in Ostend. Read on below as Danny shares his Daikin story in his own words, from the very beginning to what lies next in his future at Daikin:

“I applied to Daikin because I had read that a major expansion was underway at Daikin Europe in Ostend. At the time, I was working a second job at a garage to earn an extra penny. During my Daikin job interview, I suddenly realised that I had forgotten to wash my hands in the garage. I hid my dirty hands until one of my interviewers asked me why. I replied truthfully that after my regular work, I also worked in a garage and had forgotten to wash my hands. I remember his reply: “Don’t be ashamed of your working hands, because this is what we need – good, hard workers.” And so, I was recruited and started my career at Daikin Europe in Ostend, which only had 167 workers at the time. That shows the exponential growth we’ve experienced over the past few decades, where we currently have 13,700 employees across the entire Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

My first working day at DENV, 1 December 1992, felt like every first day of school or work. I was very nervous, but at the same time felt very excited. I was given a worktable with a few boxes of copper tubes, a cart with bottles of gas and oxygen and a burner. I was allowed to train independently all day long to learn how to braze, a special welding technique. After a few weeks, Daikin’s first ‘Indoor Wall-Mounted Unit’ assembly line in Europe officially opened and many prominent people were present, including Belgium’s Prime Minister at the time, the late Jean-Luc Dehaene. I was so impressed by how everyone, also people in technical roles were welcome to enjoy the company parties. When I was called to the production manager’s desk, I thought I had done something wrong. But he said: “We have seen that as a 23-year-old, you have a sense of responsibility and are not afraid to work hard. We are going to start up Piping 2 and we need a chief. Would you like to do that?” I said yes, and that’s how I became line chief, helping build the new brazing shop for the new lines that were to come – I was very proud of it. Daikin Europe was growing enormously at the time, and when it became necessary to switch to a shift system, I became a foreman. We worked very hard on a two-shift system, and you immediately felt the great Daikin vibe among everyone to grow and improve. Many parties and events were organised by the management to thank us for our hard work.

In the autumn of 1998, it was time to immerse ourselves in Japanese culture and the kaizen concept. In May 1999, I went to Japan with three other line chiefs. We were impressed with what we learned first-hand about Japanese culture. The first Monday we went to the Kanaoka factory by bus, we were immediately impressed by the punctuality, structure and loyalty of the Japanese people. We completed a three-week programme, spending two weeks in the Kanaoka factory to learn the Production of Daikin System and one week at a subcontractor, to learn how to make improvements to our brazing technique. The days were long, but during the weekend we were able to do some sightseeing and enjoy Japanese culture.

My third promotion came soon after we went the nearby city of Ghent (Belgium) for the day to take some tests at a company that specialised in analysing your capabilities as a manager, as a person and as a leader between your operators, which is very important at a Japanese company. A few weeks later, I was promoted to supervisor of Piping 1 and 2. Together with two foremen, four line chiefs and 100 operators, I was responsible for delivering piping sets to the factory, supplying numerous product lines. It was a very difficult period, as we had become white-collar workers, but at the time I had hardly ever seen or used a computer. Fortunately, there is always the mentality of education and growth at Daikin.

A turning point in my career came in 2015 when I was having a coffee with my colleague and friend Marc Bertens. At the time, I was supervisor of the R2X and Marc had been promoted in Japan to Brazing Meister. He told me that he was looking for a successor to take over his job when he retired. I told him that could be something for me and we started laughing because I had been a production supervisor for so long and he told me: “They will never let you go from production.”

In the spring of 2016, Marc got the bad news that he had cancer. Only six months later, I was alone with him at the intensive care. I took his hand and with tears in my eyes, I told him, “Marc, I will take over your work and I will continue and expand all the beautiful work you have done at Daikin Europe.” He squeezed my hands gently as a sign of reassurance that he would have a successor.

After Marc passed away, a new era as brazing trainer started for me. I was sent to the training centre in Japan to follow a 10-week programme and I graduated as a Regional Brazing Trainer, the second level of trainer. After being a Regional Trainer for five years, I was able to complete more training to become a Global Trainer, graduating in June 2022. The last couple of years I’ve been busy building a trainer structure in Europe, because I also have to make sure that there are brazing trainers at all Daikin’s European factories.

I set my ultimate career goal to reach the last and highest level as a brazing trainer, and this was to become Meister – as I promised Marc. I intended to have a chance to achieve this within two years.

And look where I’m now? I finished all the required tests in Europe and globally, and after eight years of hard work and training as trainer, I received an invitation to the global Meister certification ceremony in Japan. I couldn’t feel more honoured than today.

Special thanks to my team of local and regional brazing trainers for their help and support.

Without their efforts and support, I would never have been able to reach this level.

As a next step, I want to ensure that there are well-trained brazing trainers everywhere in Europe, and that the next generation is ready to support Daikin‘s continued growth in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

I still give the same training and education as I once received when I started at Daikin in Ostend, with not much talking but with hard work, using common sense and never forgetting that Daikin gave me the opportunities that made me who I am now – a member of the Daikin family. And every day I go to work at our company with great enthusiasm and motivation.

Thank you, Daikin!