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
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.
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
About 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
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