From firmware and a new portal to testing sensors on a compactor in Amsterdam. Lead Software Engineer Stijn takes us through a typical working day at Sidcon.
“My day usually starts around 6:30 when our one-year-old son Loek wakes us up. Then the usual routine begins: giving Loek his bottle, getting myself ready and having breakfast. After that, I cycle to Sidcon. I really like being able to simply cycle to work, especially when the weather is nice.
When I arrive, the first thing I do is grab a coffee. I don’t work on Fridays, so on Mondays my inbox is usually pretty full. At 9:00 we have our stand-up. On Mondays, we look ahead at the entire week. Are there any production deadlines? Are there any compactors that need IT attention? Does anything need to be tested? And what are we going to work on in terms of firmware and the portal?
We use Notion for requests, bugs, returns and ideas from across the organisation. A lot of information comes from the Service department in particular. My colleague Sjoerd mainly focuses on firmware, while I spend a lot of my time developing and supporting the portals. ‘My biggest project at the moment is developing the new portal. When I started here in November 2025, a large part of it still had to be worked out and designed. So when it comes to the portal, I have the product owner role. We are building the portal partly with an external partner and partly in-house.”
“I like how quickly you can be given responsibility within Sidcon. You can quickly test an idea, and when you’re ready for something, you’re also given the freedom to figure it out for yourself.”
”I work very closely with Sjoerd. Together, we form the IT team: design, development, support and planning. Of course, the portal and firmware need to work together perfectly. We discuss bugs, gather insights from across the organisation, and I test and review his code.
What I like is how directly and quickly you can make an impact. In Sjoerd’s very first week, for example, we went to Amsterdam together to take sensor measurements and test new firmware. Sjoerd had prepared the test version. So there you are, working alongside a service technician, taking measurements on a compactor. You gain first-hand experience with the compactor and immediately see the effect of your code in practice. It makes the work very tangible, and I find that really motivating.
I also like how quickly you can be given responsibility within Sidcon. You can test an idea quickly, and when you’re ready for something, you’re given the freedom to figure it out yourself. There is also a constant need for innovation. That can be something big, such as an entirely new portal, but also smaller things like adding support for a new card reader. For example, we are currently working on a new lock control system at a customer’s request. You then have to work out how to integrate it physically, connect it electronically and make it work in the software. I really enjoy that combination of development and hands-on work.
There’s no fixed ritual for how I end my day. Development is creative work. Sometimes you’re really in the flow and just want to keep going. But of course, Loek also needs to be picked up from daycare. So at some point, I get back on my bike and pick things up again the next day.”
