In 2020, it will be exactly 50 years ago that Stanwick (then called Bekaert-Stanwick) started as a consultancy firm. We are so grateful for the last 50 years of Stanwick, and we would like to thank our customers for their trust, the positive power they have given us and the warm relationships that have resulted. Our greatest recognition goes out to our employees, however: it is a privilege to be able to experience these 50 years with such fantastic and passionate colleagues.
Puerto Rico
In 1968, Antoon Bekaert (then CEO of the Bekaert Group) met Tad Stanwick, the founder and owner of The Stanwick Corporation (Washington DC). Stanwick's approach to Problem Solving was so effective that, on 6 May 1970, the two organisations merged with regard to consulting. It soon became clear that the consulting approach could also be applied to any other activity and it was therefore decided that Bekaert's "in-house consultants" should also work for third parties, following the example of other large companies, such as IBM and Nestlé. This formula offered the advantage that both Bekaert and its external customers could benefit from an increasingly expanding experience base. The consultancy experienced strong growth in the 1980s, mainly due to the increasing importance of Total Quality Management (TQM) and the philosophy of Continuous Improvement in the Western business world. In addition to a branch office in Belgium, the company set up its own office in France, and later also in the Netherlands. Following a management buyout in 2003, Stanwick Management Consulting becomes a 100% autonomous organization, separate from Bekaert.
The Stanwick DNA
With their dedication, creativity and dynamism, our employees have together written a unique story over the past fifty years. As a result of their efforts, we have developed a profile of our own that cannot be compared to any other consultancy firm, and that is passed on from generation to generation: our Stanwick DNA.
- quality above all
- satisfied customers over high profits
- focused on results
- use pragmatism, common sense, but always substantiated
- a systematic problem-solving approach
- not "striped suit consultants", but at the workplace with the people
- preferring to go for a solution that is 80% good and can be implemented, rather than a 100% perfect one that will not be accepted by the user(s)
- grow our own employees
Present and future
Today more than ever, Stanwick is a thriving, decisive and young organisation that surfs the waves of digital transformation. An organisation that is also ready for the next 25 years through the gradual integration of young partners. An organisation that continues to gauge what our customers need in order to be and remain competitive.
We are at the forefront of data analysis as a lever to strengthen competitiveness, whereby we efficiently process large amounts of data in order to draw strategic conclusions (dashboarding, modelling, simulations, D.O.E. (design of experiments)). We have the in-house knowledge and experience needed to create resilient, innovative organisations in which people are central and in which autonomy and involvement take shape (holacracy, self-management, sociocracy).
We have a team that consists of a mix of diverse and complementary experiences, backgrounds and skills, resulting in a strong integration of management techniques, industrial optimisation methods, team dynamics and behavioural aspects.
We therefore look to the past with great gratitude while, at the same time, looking forward with great eagerness and enthusiasm to the future, "50 is the new 20!”.
Jean-Paul Nauwelaers
