Stuck in reactive mode?

You've tried best practices that didn't stick. You're firefighting every Monday morning. You don't know where to start. The problem is the gap between reliability theory and your plant floor. I work in that gap.

Experience across energy, infrastructure, transport, and heavy industry.

Simon van Benten

Simon van Benten

In 16 years, I've seen the same pattern everywhere.

Organizations adopt best practices, build impressive documentation, and watch it gather dust while Monday morning is still about fighting fires.

The problem isn't the frameworks. It's that maintenance is often treated as a costly nuisance, disconnected from the rest of the organization.

My background is in aerospace engineering, where failures aren't an option. Now I teach reliability engineering at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences and bring that same rigor to industrial operations.

I close the gap between theory and plant floor. I bring the right people in the room. I use data that already exists. I set up processes that survive contact with reality. I don't write reports that sit on shelves. I work alongside your team until improvement actually happens.

This is for you if:

This is probably not for you if:

Results from closing the gap

This is what changes when theory starts working on the plant floor.

FSRU Conversion / Energy

Years of maintenance and failure data sat unused. The program wasn't tied to operations in a way that optimized both risk and revenue. Meanwhile, new regasification equipment needed risk analysis from scratch.

I connected the existing data to decision-making and built a risk-based approach for the new equipment.

Result: €2.4 million per year in additional revenue potential identified.

Compressor Reliability / Industrial

Known failures lived in people's heads but nowhere else. No system to identify causes, no process to implement improvements, no way to monitor results. The organization knew something was wrong but didn't know where to start.

I built the process from diagnosis to implementation to monitoring. The team now runs it themselves.

Result: 90% reduction in recurring seasonal failures within 6 months.

How I work

The Reliability Reality Check

A focused 2-week diagnostic. I map where your improvement cycle is actually breaking down. Not what should be happening according to your documentation, but what's really going on at the plant floor.

What you get:

  • A clear picture of what's stuck
  • A prioritized action plan for what to fix first
  • No 50-page report, just clarity and a path forward

Best for: Teams stuck in reactive mode who need to know where to start.

Embedded Advisory

For teams ready to make real changes, I work alongside you for 6 months or longer. Not advising from the sidelines, but implementing together.

What you get:

  • Processes that stick
  • Training for your team to keep it running after I leave
  • Hands-on implementation, not just recommendations

Best for: Organizations who know what's broken and are ready to fix it.

Where I think out loud

Reliability Engineering Musings

Practical thoughts on maintenance management and reliability engineering.

Read on Substack

Reliability Community NL

Voor de Nederlandse reliability engineering community.

Lees op Substack

Let's talk

Send me an email. No forms, no scheduling tools. Just a conversation.