Brilliant Brains: expert interview

The success of Brilliant doesn't rest solely on its unique and very comprehensive range of products. Customers also have the opportunity to benefit from the knowledge and expertise in the fields of protection and food safety.

This extensive know-how is consolidated in the Brilliant Brains program, for which Dirk van Loon and the management within the organization are jointly responsible.

Brains as part of the DNA

Dirk: “Establishing the Brilliant Brains division, that is really my role within Brilliant. Ellis and Marc wanted to bring the DNA of the organization more to the forefront. By this, they meant helping companies in the food industry with a total solution for the challenges they face.

Companies that produce food products have to adhere to many rules and regulations, which are constantly becoming more complex and stringent. It is our task to provide support and help to meet all current requirements in the best possible way.

When it comes to quality systems in the area of food safety, you could say that Marc and I can collectively offer about 60 years of expertise.”

Knowledge and innovation center for the entire sector

With the task of bringing DNA to the surface, Dirk began working to establish Brilliant Brains as a knowledge and innovation center for the entire field. “This also extended to our own organization,” says Dirk. “Of course you want your own people to know how things work here. But you also want to increase the knowledge and expertise within the entire sector.”

Clients often ask us to help think about problems or challenges they experience internally, which can have external consequences for their products and image. We then ascertain what is happening and what areas for improvement we can suggest. We visit companies on the shop floor and talk with the people to uncover all the details. Our advice is therefore based on practical experience.

We document this in a report, and for many consultancy firms, it often ends there. Not with us. We can also support and help with the implementation of our reports and advice. For example, by seconding specialists or providing classroom and online training.

We also have an online platform where you can find everything about food safety, disinfection, HCCP cleaning, and much more. We even easily prepare cleaning or sanitation plans.

Of course, the client can also undertake it themselves and only obtain appropriate products and training from us if they wish. One way or another, the added value of Brilliant Brains is that the client is helped as well as possible.”

Learnings that make you wiser

One of the most successful ways to stay up-to-date in the fields of hygiene and (food) safety is by following learnings. “Learnings are truly the future,” says Dirk, “because they are innovative and accessible. We currently have about ten standard trainings, but if a customer requests customization, we can provide that.

We have named our online learning environment the Brilliant Brains Bootcamp. Because when you tell people they need to learn, their heels often dig in. Learn? No way, we’re not doing that, it costs energy and time. 

But a bootcamp is a different story. It's demonstrably lowering barriers. Large companies suffer a lot from staff turnover. That's a problem because then your investment in knowledge leaks away. With simple standard learnings, you keep that knowledge on board. And your employees too.”

Synthesis between people, products, and processes

Brilliant Brains consists of a whole team of employees who have the right level of knowledge in various areas. Marc Rosendahl: “We have an expert in efficient workplace organization, food safety, hygienic design, safety, and Risk Inventory & Evaluation (RI&E). In all cases, we write a plan: this is the risk or challenge, this is how you're going to tackle it, and these products you need for it. 

Dirk: “A project often starts with me as a business development manager. As soon as I need specific knowledge, I involve experts. These can be internal experts or external experts whom we bring in when we really need to go in-depth on certain subjects.

Brilliant Brains is thus a product-transcending discipline that offers an added value that others often cannot provide. We don’t just sell products in the scope of hygiene and quality assurance, but also provide the ‘know-how’ to handle them efficiently. Only when these two things work together, do you get the most out of it. That is what Brilliant Brains is all about.”