Injection moulding New Managing Director for Arburg Belgium

With effect from 1 January 2026, Ben Mechelmans is the new Managing Director for the Arburg subsidiary in Belgium. At 25 years of age, he represents a breath of fresh air, innovation and new perspectives, which he intends to bring to Arburg N.V., located in Molenstede. At the same time, he stands for continuity in terms of future priorities in the Belgian market.

Ben Mechelmans takes the helm of Arburg N.V. from Gerrit Hazeleger, who has been responsible for both the Dutch and Belgian branches as Managing Director since 2019. From now on, Hazeleger will once again focus exclusively on Arburg BV in the Netherlands.

Mechelmans has been with Arburg Belgium since July 2023. Until April 2024, he initially worked in internal sales, followed by external sales until December 2025. In this role, he was able to quickly acquire extensive and crucial knowledge and delivered convincing sales approaches and successes, thereby qualifying himself for the position of Managing Director of the Belgian subsidiary.

Mechelmans completed his master’s degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Leuven, the oldest university in Belgium. Regarding his education and experience, he says: “In addition to a solid technical background, I also have practical experience in the areas of marketing and digital communication”. His comprehensive induction programme also included several weeks of training at the German headquarters in Lossburg as well as targeted sales training with the support of local employees. “With this broad knowledge, I feel well prepared for my new role”, says Mechelmans.

Mastering current challenges through teamwork

Arburg currently employs seven people in Belgium. Their new Managing Director values both the wealth of experience of his team and the strong support he receives from Lossburg. Mechelmans describes the current economic situation in the Belgian market as challenging: “General political and economic factors are creating a difficult environment for many of our Belgian customers. As a result, they are under increasing pressure to further optimise the efficiency, reliability and flexibility of their production processes. We provide our expertise and full support to find exactly the right solution for each customer and bring even more productivity to the machine hall. Depending on requirements, this may take the form of an injection moulding machine, a fully automated turnkey system or smart digital solutions and services”.

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Strengthening the market position in Belgium

Arburg is one of the leading suppliers of injection moulding machines in Belgium, with an established brand and an excellent reputation for reliability, service and innovation. Belgian customers are interested in all future-facing areas such as automation, turnkey solutions and digitalisation. The most important growth areas include medical and packaging. “My main aim is to further strengthen our local market position by providing tailor-made solutions across the entire value chain. In addition, with the new electric Allrounders Trend, we are also ideally positioned in the standard machine segment”, emphasises Mechelmans. It will therefore be a mixture of innovation and continuity that will continue to drive Arburg forward in Belgium in the future.

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