Beer Holthuis

‘Developing new products with unique bio-resin’

Together with his team, designer Beer Holthuis (28) develops specific 3D applications for the Plantics materials. Concrete examples from his work include the chairs Hemp High and Hemp Fine, developed in cooperation with partner Vepa, and traffic signs with matching poles.

‘My introduction to Plantics was quite special. I met the CEO at a conference, where I attended with my 3D printer that prints recycled paper pulp. I had developed that 3D printer as a graduation project for the Design Academy in Eindhoven. The CEO asked me if I could also 3D print with Plantics material. I succeeded and that was the start for my job here.’ At that time Beer was already working on sustainable products and improving the world. ‘The fact that Plantics works with unique products based entirely on waste materials from plants was certainly a reason for me to choose this company.’

Product development

‘When we get in touch with a potential partner for a new idea for a 3D Plantics application, my team and I get to work! We first look at the customer’s specific requirements and see where we can match them with the unique properties of the materials we develop.’ Developing such a new product is a long-term process, though. ‘It usually takes about three years from the very first idea until the product is fully in production. Besides developing the product itself, we are also involved in developing and optimising the production process.’

Room for entrepreneurship

Beer joined the Plantics team when there were only seven employees, in 2019. ‘Since then, Plantics employs more than 40 people and many things have changed. We have passed the start-up phase, but we are also not part of the established order yet. That means not everything has fully developed yet, which I find interesting,’ he says enthusiastically. ‘Within Plantics you really get room to be an entrepreneur, that certainly hasn’t changed in recent years. If you have a good idea, you get a lot of freedom to develop and shape it. For example, I developed the first prototype of a new table, which will go into production at our partner Vepa. The model is based on filament winding, a technique for making pressure vessels, for example.’

Lots of variety

‘Of course I am not just crafting and building, even though I like that part of my job. I also have many meetings with colleagues and partners, and of course I also do the necessary computer work and administration,’ Beer paints a picture of his work. ‘But on the other hand, sometimes I am also busy looking for a space where we can place a setup for production or buy machines to enable the production process.’ Because Plantics is relatively small, all colleagues deal with many different facets of the entire production process. ‘And together we learn an awful lot from that. So I have a job with a lot of variety in tasks and various contacts, both inside and outside Plantics.’

Learning together, playing sports together

The Plantics team consists mostly of young people, who also see each other outside work, for instance playing sports, eating together or playing games. ‘But we also have a good time during work, we often eat cake!’ says Beer, smiling. ‘It’s nice to work here, you can learn a lot and you work on sustainable applications that make the world a better place.’ Beer also has a tip for new colleagues: ‘When you get a job here, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. That’s just part of developing new applications and you only learn from that.’