Marc De Kerf, Global expert asset and maintenance management at BASF’s petrochemical division, has been awarded the prestigious European Maintenance Manager Award, at a very well attended award ceremony during the Euromaintenance 4.0 conference. The other finalists were Mario Cikojevic from Cemex (Croatia), Jimmy Öberg from Kopparberg (Sweden) and Antonio Ros Pau from Seat (Spain).
The European Maintenance Manager Award is a recognition of the most prestigious European award for an extraordinary accomplishment in the field of maintenance. This prestigious award is granted biennially by the European Federation of National Maintenance Societies (EFNMS) and the Salvetti Foundation. The award acknowledges outstanding performance in the field of maintenance, by applying and promoting new concepts, technologies, and best practices.
Throughout his career, Marc De Kerf worked both on developing innovative concepts in maintenance & asset management, and on applying those concepts in the day to day maintenance operations in the field at different BASF plants in Antwerp. Recently he was promoted to a position with global responsibilities in order to roll out new concepts and best-practices in maintenance & asset management throughout all BASF’s petrochemical plants in the world. His commitments also reach outside the boundaries of the company he works for: he is very active as volunteer for BEMAS, the Belgian non profit organization in the field of maintenance and asset management, he gives award winning presentations in Belgium and abroad, he gives lectures at universities, mentors students with their final projects, and exchanges his experiences and insights with other maintenance & asset managers.
Marc De Kerf started his education at a technical secondary school and initially got practical training as a technician. Subsequently he completed a Master of Science in Antwerp and an additional Master degree in Electro Mechanical Engineering at the KULeuven. A remarkable example of how a basic technical education can be the start of an exceptional professional career.