Heritage

PDM was founded in 1971 by my father Piet Mesterom, as ‘Project Development & Management’. And PDM has always been a solid family business. Operating in the process and manufacturing sectors, constantly adapting to market developments. My brother and I led the company for years until we decided to part ways. A few years ago, I took over all shares and became the sole owner.

The time had come for transformation. To stop limiting ourselves. Based on my firm belief in our far greater potential for our human capital and for our customers. We began working on the building blocks of the company, ourselves, and our culture. Together with those who chose to stay and join the journey. It was fearsome at times -and still is sometimes-, but we have faith, we are a bunch of believers, doing it together, constantly developing, improving and innovating. And it works!

We were deeply aware and developed a firm belief that our future i.e. our potential for customers was not in trying to fit in with how a typical engineering company, consultant or agent is perceived. Since that would be developing a self-limiting Identity towards our customers. Instead, we decided to rebuild the company on results and impact for our customers, within a clear scope, and incorporating the necessary expertise to assure results and impact.

What distinguished us, was our ability to work on all operational levels: shopfloor, getting results done. And your -and our- people were always the pivot, enabling this. That is how the concept of “People create Excellence” developed. It’s what we came to believe, still believe, and what drives us.

We ditched hierarchy and introduced the inverted pyramid. “We help, but do not hold hands” as our mantra. A whole different ballgame. Intense, complex, big scopes. Working through the abilities and potential of colleagues. Trial & error. But gratifying and satisfying.

We successfully ended a part of our business, i.e. acting as an agent. It’s real business, in demand by customers as we are fully aware of. But we cannot bear not being able to keep adding value during the project. So instead, we started deploying experts. Enabling that we can focus on high efficiency and high impact (of these experts). Convinced -and since then proven- that our customers gain so much more benefits from this deployment of experts.

Since then, we have been fully project-based, continuously developing our expertise in project and program management, engagement, and outside-in thinking and acting.

We gradually developed our competencies in design. Which used to be solely electro-mechanical, expanded towards mechanical, electrical, electronics, software and system engineering.

Three years ago one of my colleagues asked me whether making prototypes shouldn’t be our ambition. Of course. And he did it. The kick start of the next journey.

While nearly losing all business in change management up to 2020, we successfully picked up on transitions, improvements, and changes in recent years. We shifted from ‘being change management’ to using change management for the benefit of our customers.

We are once again a solid family business, probably still strongly attached to me, but for sure developing towards a close family: doing it together, being there for each other. Financially we are solid and run conservatively. I am not interested in selling the company; to me, it is about given trust. I am committed. And most importantly, immensely proud of my colleagues who actually do it.