Who are you, could you tell us a bit about yourself?
Sure! My name is Pieter Bas, 39 years old and I am a father of three kids. I like playing sports, I am a social person and I love to help people. I studied Information & Communication Technology in Groningen, The Netherlands. After my studies I started working as a programmer with a company in the manufacturing industry. I worked there for eight years. After this, together with a colleague, I switched to working for UNIFORM-Agri and I’ve work here now for almost ten years.

What is it exactly that you do for UNIFORM-Agri?
I am a software developer and I program in the language Delphi. If I would have to summarize my tasks, it would be that I create and optimize the backend software our customers use. This means that I take care of the right calculations and the logic of different functions of the program. For instance, in the past I worked on building the UNIFORM App. Besides this, I also worked on a software solution for inseminators, which is called Conception. During this project I was on the road regularly and every now and then I spoke to customers as well. The diversity in this project was nice.

What do you like about working for UNIFORM-Agri?
Because the software is here for so long already, it happens that functions need to be optimized. That is why I talk with Product Management on a regular basis to see how we can optimize these processes, for instance if something needs to be three or even ten times quicker, or if more consistent data needs to be shown. What I really like about my work are the conversations I have with people from different departments within the company, we talk about the things we are going to make together. It’s not that I get an assignment, I fix this and afterwards I return it, but we really work together as a team.

“What I really like about my work are the conversations I have with people from different departments within the company, we talk about the things we are going to make together.”

What really attracts me in working for UNIFORM-Agri, is that the management is very flexible in how I do my work. This is mainly about working from home, travelling and how they deal with personal situations. I really feel a lot of freedom in this, in the way I can handle this.

What is your connection to the dairy industry?
I did not grow up on a farm myself, but back in the days I had a close friend that grew up on a farm and I spent a lot of time there. I was helping them out regularly and as a 14-year-old boy, I thought it was great to drive tractors myself on their farm. During holidays, the farm was where I spent most of my time and I did all kinds of chores. That is how I learned a lot about the dairy sector.

What are you working on at the moment?
I work mainly on the development of version 6 now. The development to the cloud requires a lot of adjustments. Next to this I was also involved in developing the consultant version to the cloud, in which farmers can authorize what data he shares with which consultant, in the current version 5.4. That consultant can then view the farmer’s management package via the cloud and view specific consultant reports. I made this together with a team of programmers and designers. This development to the cloud is a completely different level than what we were used to until five years ago.

What could be a reason for someone to start working with UNIFORM-Agri?
UNIFORM-Agri really thinks along with your personal situation and will look for a way in which you feel happy in your work.

Where do you see yourself in the future?
I am in the right place. I don’t see myself being happy in a leadership position. I really want to keep programming myself. The most important thing for me is that I maintain communication with different departments within the company and that I can create and optimize software in this way.