Monthly Archives: July 2016

Interns Go To Chicago Regional Headquarters

The view from the top at thyssenkrupp Regional Headquarters in Chicago

The view from the top at thyssenkrupp Regional Headquarters in Chicago

AIN Plastics’ interns got the incredible opportunity to visit Chicago and tour the Regional Headquarters for thyssenkrupp. We began our day at Regional HQ with a tour and meeting a number of thyssenkrupp executives. The executives introduced themselves to us and we learned a lot about how they got to where they are today. Almost every executive told us how they started their careers out of school in one direction, but slowly over time shifted to another direction. Each of them laughed when they said they weren’t entirely doing what they had studied in college. As interns we found this inspirational since our careers are just beginning in a year or less, and we have no idea what the future holds quite yet.

Matt Schaubroeck presented on who thyssenkrupp is and how each division plays a role in this huge company. He communicated how all of the divisions come together to make up thyssenkrupp and the ways they can work together when selling their products in the form of cross-selling.

Will McFarland, AIN Plastics Supply Chain Intern, sat near Pete Murphy of thyssenkrupp Regional Headquarters during both the meeting and lunch. Will thoroughly enjoyed getting the chance to talk with Pete. Will said Pete was funny and full of great stories, but what stood out to him most was what Pete told him: “Tell everyone your ambitions.” Will was impressed with this statement and was appreciative of the great advice.

Meanwhile I had the opportunity to discuss the rebranding process and just how complicated it can be with Jonathan Evans. He explained how difficult it is to unite thyssenkrupp’s divisions under one brand when the divisions were originally their own companies with their own identities. To combine so many divisions under one corporation takes a lot of time, patience, organization, and planning. Jonathan’s team is working on that this very minute but says, even with lots of hard work, things take longer because of the shear size of thyssenkrupp.

AIN Plastics and new Inside Sales Representative Aaron enjoy a little time in downtown Chicago

AIN Plastics and new Inside Sales Representative Aaron enjoy a little time in downtown Chicago

Kevin Backus told us about his position as General Counsel for tkNA. Our finance intern, Kelsey Duggan, sat next to him at lunch and was surprised by all of the variables Kevin’s job consists of. She learned that as General Counsel of an international company he has to remember the different employment laws and ethics for each country that he is working with. She was fascinated with how much his job varies as General Counsel.

Our newest Inside Sales Representative, Aaron DeGiulio, was also able to join the interns for the trip to RHQ. He was interested in the conversation regarding the rebranding that I had mentioned earlier and he used that to pose a question himself. He asked the executive team how the rebranding could help

the company grow and develop from a sales standpoint, and Nihar Satapathy was happy to respond. Nihar responded by saying there is tremendous opportunity and it can be executed if the right amounts of communication happen within the different divisions. He also said that the rebranding will allow the customer to see a consistent company line and will allow them the ease and comfort to use more of our materials.

After a hard day at RHQ the AIN team headed out to the ballpark to take in a game.

After a hard day at RHQ the AIN team headed out to the ballpark to take in a game.

We were all extremely grateful for such an eye-opening trip to thyssenkrupp’s RHQ. We learned a lot about the various roles it takes to organize and run such a large company with so many different kinds of divisions. We thoroughly enjoyed our chance to see RHQ and we hope it isn’t our last!

Alyssa Warner

Marketing Department Intern
thyssenkrupp Materials NA
AIN Plastics Division

DSC_0138About Alyssa Warner

Alyssa Warner will be a senior at Judson University this fall. She is studying Graphic Design and has completed three internships in her field of study. Alyssa has interned at Kensington Church, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and thyssenkrupp Materials NA AIN Plastics Division.

Learn more about AIN Plastics and the family of thyssenkrupp Materials North America on our website. www.ainplastics.com

For a catalog of the engineered plastics and other products we sell please visit onlineplastics.com or join us on social media for the latest in plastics news and more.

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AIN Plastics Tampa Takes Part in Habitat for Humanity

Everyone at AIN Plastics prides themselves on being hard workers. We are up early, out on the road, in the office, wherever we need to be to do our part in keeping shelves stocked and getting engineered plastics delivered to our customers. But, something we also enjoy doing is taking time outside of work to get together not only the team, but their family and friends. As a team we also enjoy participating in events and volunteering time in our communities. Recently AIN Plastics Tampa signed on for a day at a Habitat for Humanity Project.

Stuart Gornall, Branch Manager for AIN Tampa shared with us what it’s like to do a day on a Habitat for Humanity project.

Stuart said, much like a weekday morning at AIN, the team arrived at 7:00am Saturday morning for a safety meeting.  After the meeting everyone was put to work doing different tasks that were to be accomplished that day.  On this day the AIN team was put in charge of painting and installing doors throughout the house.  Outside Sale Representative, Dick Cubero, Stephanie (Dick’s daughter), Steven Sheridan (Tampa’s newest addition to the Inside Sales team), and Amanda (Steven’s girlfriend) were assigned to painting.  In the meantime Stuart Gornall, Vince LaLima (Inside Sales), and Pablo (Fulfillment) were assigned to installing all the doors throughout the home.  Stuart noted that “Dominique, the woman who will actually be getting the home was right next to us painting the entire time too.  It was really great for the whole team to meet the person we donated our time to.”

Around 11:30 Stuart’s wife Erin brought sandwiches and the team took some time to discuss what they learned in the first half of the day before heading back to painting and hanging the remainder of the doors. Stuart explained that Habitat for Humanity schedules work time for each day from 7:00 am -1:30 pm because of the heat…so after lunch the team had enough time to finish up and head to some air conditioning to cool off. Stuart said, “As you can see from the pictures we had our work cut out for us because it was very hot out.”

The home will be finished and dedicated on July 11th at 9:00 am and Stuart says a few of the team are going to leave the office for a couple hours on Monday morning to attend the dedication ceremony of the home in Clearwater, Florida.  In addition to the team from AIN Plastics, local businesses that donated to fund the home, the mayor of Clearwater, other representatives from the state of Florida, and many staff and volunteers will be there in attendance to see Dominique receive her keys.

Stuart wanted his team to be able to take part in the whole experience. He noted, “since everyone got a chance to meet and work alongside Dominique, it would be nice to see the full circle of the project and the moment when she gets the keys to her home.

All and all, great experience and everyone is already talking about the next home build we will be a part of.”

Thanks to Stuart and the AIN Plastics Tampa team for sharing their time and their story and the photos of their day. If you’d like to learn more about Habitat for Humanity check out their site.

See you in the blogosphere again soon

Lisa Anderson

Marketing Manager
ThyssenKrupp Materials, NA
AIN Plastics Division


lisa_anderson_001CroppedAbout Lisa Anderson

Ms. Anderson has been ThyssenKrupp Materials AIN Plastics Division for over 4 years. She brings 20+ years of advertising, award winning graphic design, social media and marketing. She has worked in book publishing, advertising agencies, printing, manufacturing, and the apartment industry. Ms. Anderson has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Arts from Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI.