Interview with Patrick Noppen
Probably everyone in the IPCOM group knows Insulcon as the specialist in high temperature solutions. What else should we know about the company and your journey at Insulcon?
May 1st, 1980, my parents started Insulcon BV in Steenbergen. In 43 years, we have grown the company to what it is today. When our family sold the companies in 2015, I personally had the ambition to work in a bigger group and to explore myself. Now the Insulcon business unit is present in 6 countries and is growing fast under IPCOM ownership.
Besides offering solutions that contribute to energy savings and CO2 emissions reductions, Insulcon is also pioneering and involved in new developments and technology improvements. Can you tell us a bit more about the role Insulcon is playing here?
Our industry and customers are very conservative, so we work with relatively old specifications. Now that we all must work and look for alternative energy sources, we see that the industries where we are present must change as well. Today we are involved in new technologies like: Hydrogen production, battery building and storage, electrification of petrochemical furnaces, insulation for LNG operated cruise ships, and better insulation like our AeroLite removable insulation.
We truly believe in sustainability and the role companies play in reducing the impact of their operations on the environment. Which initiatives is Insulcon taking in this field?
Insulcon is using a lot of energy for the machines and furnaces, this is why we will install 1182 solar panels at the Steenbergen location. Being an ISO 14001 certified company, we have the obligation to reduce waste, and this is what we try to do at our 4 production locations. To give you an example: we reuse our Insulfrax waste materials to make vacuum-formed products. But also on corporate governance we are improving, Insulcon BV will be certified as an ISO 45001 company and follow our companies in Italy and Newcastle.
With ICL, IPCOM recently did another acquisition in high temperature. How do you look at this development of the high temperature business unit in the IPCOM group? Which opportunities do you see here?
In the last 9 years the Insulcon group has grown to a substantial global player in providing high temperature solutions. With the help from our owners, we will grow in the coming 3 years to almost 200 million turnover and will be present in more than 10 countries. This will bring a lot of opportunities for our clients but also to all the Insulcon employees, we can offer our people career opportunities in our own group.
You have a solid career behind you. When you look back on your career, what do you consider as your biggest accomplishment/proudest achievement?
When I look back om my career my father was my role model, and he has made me to be the businessperson that I am today. I am a person thinking “outside the box” and I am good at surrounding myself with good people. Especially when your organization is growing you need people that are loyal and that you can rely on. When I look at our young managers then I am very proud, a few of them are under 30 years old and they want to carry the day-to-day load. When I sold the company almost 10 years ago most of the people thought that I would leave soon, but although I am not the owner anymore the Insulcon people are still my FAMILY, and I will do anything for them.
If you were able to go back in time 20 years, what would you tell yourself about leadership that you didn’t know then?
To run a company now and 20 years ago is completely different!! When I started, the “work/life balance“ was completely different and this is difficult for the older generation who put in a lot of extra time; 2-3 evenings until 21.00 hours was normal. When I was young and you wanted to run a company, you needed a diploma in economics or business, nowadays you need to be a psychologist.
We are at the beginning of the year. Typically, many people start a new year with good intentions. Do you have any good resolutions for the year?
We will continue building on the next generation for the Insulcon 4.0. We want to be the dominate player in the market and the team is ready to take back market share.
What is your life quote?
If you got a DREAM chase it, cause a DREAM won’t chase your back.
