Ever wondered what it’s like to work with real-life inventors and take a whole new product line from idea to reality? We spoke to Edwin Grobbink, Head of Devices at Nedap, who led the development of Nedap Way, our new next-generation reader line for secure building access.
Edwin moved to this area of Nedap as a product manager for readers in 2022. Later, he took on responsibility for R&D and operations. And in 2025 became head of devices for security, including all Nedap’s security hardware, controllers, interfaces, and both long-range and short-range readers. We went behind closed doors to discover what life’s like in this role.
What do you like most about working at Nedap?
Nedap’s a really entrepreneurial organisation and I’m grateful for the opportunities that has opened up for me to grow in my career. As employees, we get a lot of freedom to choose our own directions and make our own decisions. And that also brings with it a lot of responsibility, of course.
What’s your ‘why’ when you start work each day?
I think having a sense of freedom, which we feel as Nedap employees, is one of the most important things in life. And through the technologies we develop, we can give people that feeling of freedom in their daily lives. So, they’re not worrying about security. They’re not wondering if they’re safe when they’re at work. They’re free to thrive and excel as they go about their day. That’s what motivates me when I start work.
Speaking of moving freely, let’s talk about Nedap Way.
Yes, Nedap Way is our new, next-generation reader line for physical access control. As ever at Nedap, it’s built from a people-first perspective. So, we came at it by asking: how can we make readers that are easy to produce, install, configure, and manage remotely? How can we make readers that are really intuitive and straightforward to use? All of which leaves people free to focus on other things. As technology is forever changing, we also wanted to make sure the Way line would be future ready as well as simple.
How much of the development process for Way included feedback from partners and customers?
The whole process has involved incorporating feedback. At the outset, we carried out research to understand what the market was looking for in terms of readers. And at every step we opened up our work to be challenged. We got feedback on each prototype from our partners, customers, production teams, installers, and colleagues so we could use it in the next iteration. Even today, for example, I’ve had talks with business partners to get their thoughts. Refining and improvement are part of an ongoing process.
So what does the process of taking something from idea to product look like at Nedap?
It all starts with value. What value do we want to bring? We then specify that into functionality, so we know what functions the product needs to bring. And those functions are then translated by the R&D team and product owners into technologies. Starting with value means we stay focused on solving challenges that need to be solved, rather than creating technology and retrofitting it to a solution.
Where do you personally sit in the process?
I’m mainly responsible for a product’s value proposition. So, I stay involved throughout the process with that focus in mind. I have a fantastic team of professionals in R&D, compliance and operations that work their magic. From the value refinement and high level functional requirements the product owner takes over. His role is to create the specifications and oversee technical implementation and delivery. Towards the end of the development focus shifts toward pre-production and compliance activities. This is also the moment we involve our commercial teams to prepare for market introduction. But our work does not end there, it’s merely the next phase in the product lifecycle.
How does Nedap Way fit into Nedap Security’s broader offering?
The Way line replaces our Convexs, Invexs, and NVITE ranges. It means we’ll have just one reader family that’s future ready and aligned with the visual style and branding of our other long-range readers. So, customers can ensure a consistent look across the readers they use. And we can ensure our brand is displayed consistently to reinforce customer and consumer confidence in it.
What was the main challenge when developing Way?
The key challenge is uniting design aspirations with technicalities. It’s always a struggle because you visualise how you want a product to look, but the components needed for functionalities sometimes mean you need more space in the housing than you’d hope for. So that was a challenge for our Way products because we wanted them to have a distinctive shape and light guides, for example. But we also wanted them to be as small and stylish as possible and suitable for every kind of architecture. It took several iterations to get it right. We tried multiple shapes, styles, dimensions, and technologies.
Any other challenges to overcome?
This was the first project where our R&D teams from Nedap Security and Nedap Identification Systems worked together on one product. So that added some challenges too, but also brought so much richness in terms of knowledge, experience, and perspectives. I think Way is better because of that. And now we have one strong, aligned R&D team working on all our devices. I’m very proud of the progress we made in becoming one team and we are improving every day.
What did the process emphasise for you as a leader?
It’s important to have a view on where you want to be heading, but what’s more important is taking people with you. It may be one step forwards and two steps backwards or you may leap ahead too fast. But you need to work hard to keep everyone aligned and make sure everyone’s work gets acknowledged. With so many different disciplines and (external) stakeholders it’s easy to overlook people who had an important stake in achieving a goal.
What are you most proud of in relation to this project?
I’m very proud of the product line we’re bringing to market and the timeframe we achieved it in. A team effort that certainly wasn’t easy where we had our setbacks and felt the time pressure. With Way, we have an excellent, future-ready platform that we can build on. It currently includes Way Base, Way Keypad, and Way QR and we’re already working on the flush version to add to the line.
Just for fun to wrap up, let’s do a quick word association game. What comes into your mind when I say…
…Way Base?
Entrance.
…Way Keypad?
Pin.
…Way QR code?
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