Field technicians

A rule of thumb for any company is that there is no advertising like word of mouth. As such we shouldn’t forget the efforts of countless people operating in the frontline - the people who install and start up the machines at the client’s location: the field engineers. They formed an indispensible chain between Picañol and its clients. Their tasks included the assembly and start-up of new machines and revamping of old ones, and they were also responsible for testing test machines and instructing our clients' mechanics. At the end of 1947, Roland Desquirez, head of the field engineering division had to fly to Argentina for an inspection of Omnium weaving machines at Jules Steverlynck’s Algodonera Flandria. As installation guides were not available at the time, all that engineers had to go by was their experience. Therefore, chief installer Maurits Dufromont quickly put together a ‘Manuel de réglage’ during the annual holiday leave, for which newcomer Tony Debruyne provided the necessary illustrations. Catalan employee Romero supplied a Spanish translation to make it understandable for local users. Some assignments were short, others lasted for many months. Some of them had to be carried out under difficult circumstances and accommodation and working conditions could prove to be quite an adventure. Some people worked in their native country; others were stationed abroad for years on end, an obvious reason for some of the marriages to a local ‘belle’ that took place. Living among people with a different native language, a different culture and sometimes completely different habits wasn’t always easy. In addition, due to the many vaccines they carried against tropical diseases, field engineers ran the risk of being considered drug addicts. And taking pictures of Picañol weaving machines at an assembly mission in Yugoslavia during the communist regime was enough to be considered a spy and to be taken to the police station. The journey to faraway countries was also quite an experience. Airplanes seemed to be the best way to travel, although landing in a tropical forest would often require the help of local authorities to clear the landing strip of cows and wild animals. The field engineering division comprised just six people in 1950: Raf Versaevel, Hector Seynaeve, Jerome Leire, Georges Anseeuw, Jules Verhas and Robert Carrein. However, their number was steadily growing. (picture: Roland Desquirez with a ‘nargile’ or Arab water pipe during a visit at the Egyptian weaving mill MISR in Helouan)