13+ years
aerospace, manufacturing, programmes and transformation
Programmes · Operations · Practical tech
Bas van der Meer
Bringing calm and structure to complex operational work.
I help teams turn complexity into clear scope, visible risks, better routines and concrete progress. Data, automation and AI are practical tools here: useful when they make work clearer, smarter and easier to run.
Programmes and operations on one side; AI, programming, data and statistics on the other. Always with a practical goal.
€30-45M
Airbus A350 programme responsibility
100% DSA
delivery reliability through disruption
3 NOEs
quality escapes closed with RCA and corrective actions
How I work
First understand how the work actually runs today, then improve it. Not by arriving with a model, but by observing, asking questions, making the friction visible, prioritising together, adding structure and helping the team carry it themselves.
First understand today's work
Who does what? How does the team actually operate? Which agreements, routines and informal workarounds keep things moving? Understand the real workflow before proposing fixes.
Then ask the useful questions
Why are we doing it this way? Where is the waste, frustration or duplicated effort? Which pain points drain energy or slow the flow? That creates the gap analysis and priority list.
Improve, guide, step back
Start with low-hanging fruit, then the more structural improvements. Implement with the team, guide until it works, and step back once structure, ownership and responsibilities are clear.
Skills in plain language
The combination matters more than the tool list: able to run programmes, read data and build enough technology to improve the work.
CliftonStrengths
Working style in practice
I do not use CliftonStrengths as a label, but as simple language for recurring work behaviour: understand first, then structure, execute and help people make it stick.
Analytical
pattern finding & data reasoning
Spot patterns, test assumptions and use data to make better decisions.
Restorative
fixing what's broken under pressure
Stay calm when something is stuck and bring it back to causes, options and actions.
Individualization
bringing out the best in each person
See what people need and tune roles, conversations and expectations around that.
Responsibility
end-to-end ownership mindset
Own the path from agreement to result, even when the route changes along the way.
Arranger
orchestrating complex delivery
Organise people, dependencies and actions until there is a route that works.
Programmes & delivery
- Programme management
- Stakeholder alignment
- Risk & dependency control
- Scope and change control
- Supplier/customer cadence
Transformation & performance
- Operating rhythm
- KPI reporting
- Executive decision support
- Performance dashboards
- Audit trail and governance
Data, automation & AI
- Python
- SQL / MySQL
- VBA and advanced Excel
- PHP / HTML / CSS
- OCR, computer vision, AI tooling
Experience
Not a full career timeline. A few examples of operational complexity where structure made the work easier to run.
Airbus A350 OBF · Programme recovery
Keeping delivery reliable while the supply chain was under pressure
Situation: A €30-45M programme with a steel crisis, multiple sites, supplier pressure and high customer expectations.
Move: Weekly Airbus performance cadence, visible risks, actions and escalations across Operations, Engineering and Maintenance.
Result: Maintained 100% Delivery Schedule Adherence and strengthened confidence in programme control.
Quality escapes · NOE closure
Turning serious quality issues back into facts and actions
Situation: Three open Notices of Escape with customer impact and a need for proper root cause closure.
Move: Made RCA, corrective actions, ownership and progress visible until the issues could actually be closed.
Result: Closed all three NOEs and rebuilt Airbus confidence in the process.
Dassault Falcon 6X · Production line restart
Bringing a dormant assembly line back into production
Situation: A 7-year inactive line with supply chain, tooling, FAI readiness and customer scrutiny all in play.
Move: Aligned milestones, stakeholders, budget and suppliers into a predictable transfer-of-work path.
Result: Readiness in 4 months; first shipset delivered within 7 months.
Covid transformation PMO · Decision tooling
Turning fragmented workforce planning into one decision picture
Situation: Regional FTE planning during Covid across 12 countries, 32 sites and 16,000 employees.
Move: Built a global FTE demand model from scratch and set up weekly management reporting.
Result: Adopted by senior management as the main tool for workforce planning decisions.
Projects & experiments
Practical experiments with AI, programming, data and statistics: small tools that show how I structure information, automate repetitive work and turn outputs into something usable.
Computer vision · OCR · Data pipeline
Python OCR Pipeline — Mario Kart LAN Processor
- Input
- Hours of recorded tournament footage with scoreboards, player names, positions and results hidden in video frames.
- Useful output
- Clean CSV/Excel output with races, scores, characters and consistency checks across the session.
- Practical value
- Turning rough, error-prone input into controlled data with checks, confidence and traceable corrections.
PHP 8 · Workflow automation · Event ops
Live Tournament Operations Platform
- Input
- Live event operators need to seed groups, assign consoles, enter scores and keep progression clean under time pressure.
- Useful output
- A guided PHP workflow with readiness checks, rule enforcement, score entry, auto-import and bracket progression.
- Practical value
- Fewer ad-hoc decisions under time pressure: the workflow makes the next action clear and keeps the rules consistent.
Dashboards · Web publishing · Commentary
Analytics & Publishing Layer
- Input
- Tournament data is useful, but only if people can explore it, explain it and publish it without rebuilding reports by hand.
- Useful output
- Interactive stats, match recaps and configurable exports to static HTML or WordPress-ready blocks.
- Practical value
- Data becomes useful when people can explain it, share it and use it in decision-making.
Android · Firebase · Product experiment
MK8DX Time Trials Tracker
- Input
- Players want to track, compare and share time-trial progress without wrestling a spreadsheet.
- Useful output
- Offline-first Android app with Firebase Auth/Firestore, notifications, deep links and shareable kart-build links.
- Practical value
- Building a real tool forces attention on user flow, sync, edge cases and maintainability.
Let's talk
If you see a fitting role, introduction or challenge where operations, data and practical technology meet, feel free to send a message.
Relevant for roles such as Technical Programme Manager, Digital Transformation Lead, Operational Excellence Lead, Business Solution Analyst, Technical Business Analyst, Workflow Automation Analyst and business-focused Solution Architect.
Personal portfolio. Open to fitting senior roles, warm introductions and good conversations.