Peter Veldkamp, Account Manager
In the 19 years that Peter has been working at KMWE, he has had the opportunity to fill many roles. For the past ten years, he fulfilled a commercial role, but engineering still remains the basis. “Because I have experience working as an engineer and a planner, I understand the technical and logistical issues and I am able to solve them faster and better. In my current job, I combine engineering with people, which is the best of both worlds!”
Different jobs throughout the years
“I started my career as a quality engineer, because I lacked the experience for technical planner, the job I actually applied for. Luckily, KMWE realised that I was a good fit for a planner after all and after nine months, I was able to make a career switch to planner. Five years later, I had a lot more contact with customers and I became an account engineer. After four years, the director asked me if I wanted to be an account manager. After studying Account Management at a University of Applied Sciences, numerous in-house trainings and ten years, I can honestly say that I am still learning something new every day! I’m bringing in new business and maintain relationships with dozens of regular customers in Germany and the Netherlands. I am more a less an intermediary between the operation and the customer. I am part of several teams and I am in contact with people inside and outside KMWE.”
″In my current job, I combine engineering with people, which is the best of both worlds!”
Personal coaching and customer relationships
“At KMWE, it is appreciated if you indicate what your ambitions are and what you would like to develop further. That is very nice. Staying up-to-date with the latest developments in your field does not happen automatically, you need training and coaching. I am also constantly evolving my communicative and interpersonal skills. Just the other day, I followed one-on-one training sessions with an external coach. I learned to be more open and to listen to others. In my role, I am constantly dealing with customer relationships. Knowing the person behind the customer is essential. I know that my initiative was appreciated, but when I think about it, it is pretty remarkable that these things are actually possible at KMWE.”
Celebrating successes together
“Every time I return from a two- or three-day business trip with a request that eventually becomes an assignment, it boosts my energy. Achieving good results feels like a mutual success. We regularly celebrate successes. Recently, we celebrated with cake because we delivered the first machine that is part of a larger project. In any case, there is a good team spirit in our department. We also dare to have discussions and to be critical with the objective to work together in a more efficient and effective manner. It is a way for us to stay on the ball. We also share personal matters and talk about the new house that someone just bought or about our hobbies. This way, you get to know your colleagues better, which is good for morale.”
″We also dare to have discussions and to be critical. It is a way for us to stay on the ball.″
If I look back at all the years that I have been working at KMWE, we definitely had our ups and downs as an organisation. Thanks to our creativity, openness and sharing mentality, we are where we are today. If we have to work extra hard, we do it as a team. We are regularly updated by the higher-ups about our situation. That creates involvement. If things are going well, we are rewarded with bonuses, for instance. Yes, KMWE is a solid and good employer.”
Peter Veldkamp, Account Manager
