Choosing my first job
I wanted to explore working in diverse roles in the business world, while leveraging my engineering background. It was also important for me to feel the impact of my work and to be associated with a company that is inclusive and fosters growth, both professionally and personally.
Daunting at the start
Every assignment in the program requires a good mix of analytical and interpersonal skills. You could be working on influential projects alongside executives from the group and perhaps external stakeholders. It is therefore important to be structured, proactive and mindful of the use of their time. As a young professional, this might be daunting at the start, but it is a highly rewarding process at the end.
A collaborative network of young professionals
I was fortunate to meet numerous former and current trainees that work at Trespa or Nemho during my first project. This gave me a sense of community while living abroad. Besides that, it is invaluable to have a collaborative network of young professionals who have gone through a similar process. The group training sessions are also a great opportunity to learn from each other’s experiences and understand Broadview's vision and approach as a whole.
My projects
During my first rotation, I worked on increasing the process efficiency that impacted two production lines at Trespa, using a Six Sigma approach. I worked with production technicians at Trespa and research experts at Nemho to design a root-cause study to get a deeper understanding of statistical results and explore modifications to the process. It helped me understand the value of data-driven decision making in a manufacturing environment, which would enable meaningful change in work processes.
My second rotation focused on the integration of a newly acquired company in the US and investigating potential synergies that would drive organizational efficiency. I was involved in a broad range of working groups at both companies, ranging from Service Operations and Finance to Logistics. Working with teams across different functions and levels at both companies helped me gain a holistic view of the business and understand perceived versus real problems.
In my final project, I worked on harmonizing scrap reporting across factories in the US, Italy and the UK, to facilitate benchmarking and knowledge sharing across the group. The outcome was a repeatable approach to closing the gap between how factories currently measure and define scrap to what was meaningful from an operational efficiency perspective.
In all my projects, I needed a good mix of thinking top-down and bottom-up to keep both the details and the bigger picture in mind. That, in combination with stakeholder management skills, was needed to execute change at an operational level.
My current position
Business Analyst at Formica Europe, CEO’s office
After completing my traineeship, I transitioned into a business analyst role at Formica Europe’s business office in Amsterdam, drawn by the opportunity to continue working on a breadth of commercial and operational topics.
As a part of business development and controlling, I help monitor the group’s sales and operational spend trends to find growth opportunities. I also leverage my business intelligence experience to automate reporting across various areas, ranging from tracking sales and project performance to safety and factory spends, streamlining multi-source inputs so the team can focus on deeper analysis and strategic decisions.