Team
Artech Rubber, the ideal partner for your entire development
Whether it concerns the supply chain and commercial activities, design and development of products and moulds or specific rubber knowledge and compound development, you have come to the right place and our team offers you the right partner for your application or development.
Our team
Our management team has a wide variety of knowledge and experience and consists of:
Richard Groot: General Manager and Commercial Affairs
Richard has been working in the rubber industry for over 30 years. After studying mechanical engineering at the MTS, he started selling O-rings and rubber molded products. In order to further develop himself, he also studied business administration at a higher professional education level. Through positions as a field service product specialist in rubber technology, sales management and business unit management within a large trading company, he eventually took the step to take over (2017) and expand Artech Rubber BV.
In the past 30 years, production has often shifted to Asia for cost reasons, but in the meantime the market is looking at it differently and Artech Rubber has prepared itself for this in recent years. Automation and robotization ensure that Artech operates increasingly efficiently in terms of production costs. Our people have a lot of knowledge about the materials, applications and applications of many markets. This combined with years of production knowledge, means that Artech has a lot to offer you. From global trade to a local production company in Zutphen.
Since the takeover in 2017, Richard has been working on sustainability, both in the field of energy (solar panels and no more use of natural gas), as well as the reuse of “end-of-life products” or production waste. Huge leaps have been made in this area in recent years.
He has also been a board member of the Dutch Association of Rubber Manufacturers, Technical Rubber Articles department (NVR-TRA) for many years, with circular rubber in his portfolio.
Gerlof Keulen: Technical Director and R&D Engineering
Gerlof graduated in Mechanical Engineering and previously worked at Van Raam and VB-Airsuspension as a Mechanical Engineer and R&D Engineer. He started at Artech as R&D Manager at the beginning of 2021 and is involved in product and mould design and product development and is responsible for the technical installations and development of automation and robotization. He has been our Technical Director since mid-2024.
Dr. Ir. Kuno Dijkhuis: Operational Director and Rubber Technologist
Kuno has been working in the rubber industry for more than 20 years. After studying Chemical Engineering at the University of Twente, he obtained his PhD on the subject of EPDM recycling. After obtaining his Dr. title, he worked for 14 years at Elastomer Research Testing BV (ERT BV), a commercial and independent laboratory in the field of testing, analysis and compound development of rubber products and compounds. He started there as Laboratory Manager and for the last eight years he held the position of General Manager. During this period he has written and given many courses on various aspects of rubber technology. At the end of 2021 he made the switch to Artech Rubber BV, a manufacturer of all kinds of rubber molding products. First as Technical Director and later as Operational Director.
In addition to his daily work, he has been chairman of the VKRT (Association of Plastics and Rubber Technologists) since 2014.
In addition to our management, we have a team of approximately 20 colleagues on the work floor with years of experience in sales and administration, mould production, rubber and metal preparation and production of rubber moulded products. Together we ensure the quality and timely delivery of your products.