Yesterday, our group had the privilege of visiting Burke Porter Company while in Brugge. Burke Porter is a conglomeration of multiple companies which together produce innovative products in advanced manufacturing, advanced vehicle testing, and life science sectors. Today, their company has locations in 31 locations across 4 continents. The facility in Brugge is the location of the BEP Europe headquarters.
This was the first time I had heard of Burke Porter Company. I was amazed to see their wide range of products. With having past experience working in brake systems, I enjoyed most hearing about their vehicles testing technology. This is an entire market I often forget about. We not only need products as consumers; these products often need validation testing that require equipment of their own.
What I enjoyed most about this company tour was how interactive our visit was. The salesman which showed us around allowed us to get up and close with the technology. We got to walk on to their wheel alignment machine which can align wheels within minutes compared to what you experience at a standard car garage. He also handed us sensors to inspect. Most explanations about their products was often followed by a cool demonstration.
A difference between the European work culture and the American work culture that we discussed were salaries. The salesman talking to us was surprised to hear that there is about a $10k difference in starting pay for engineers. This ironic since life in Europe is more costly. I also appreciate the European’s ability and desire to learn multiple languages. With their ability to travel easily from country to country, knowing how to speak the native language of the people you sell to makes all the difference in business.
As a future employee, I appreciated the salesman’s emphasis on knowing everything about what you’re selling. He’s a business man by trade, but has the technological knowledge of those who created the products. He repeated to us to always be well prepared and never make empty promises to your customers. I learned a lot from this tour and look forward to what’s next.