Dushyant Habbu – VDL Pinnacle Engineering – Sales & Project management

As an Electronics & Telecommunication engineer Dushyant was introduced to the world of robotics in 2006. The next few years he started getting involved with installation and commissioning of robot systems with various industry applications. When given the opportunity by management, he also took on the additional responsibility of robot sales along with his programming work. Since then Dushyant has moved into Sales & Project Management of Turnkey automation systems.

What is your job at VDL Pinnacle engineering and what does it involve?

“I am responsible for Sales & Project Management at VDL Pinnacle. It involves a lot of interaction with customers as well as the internal team for project coordination. It’s very nice to work together with different departments like site management, project management and sales. Also I get to work with people all over the world like VDL Steelweld Breda for example. I also got the opportunity to travel to different countries for my job like The Netherlands, USA, and Sweden. Sometimes there are some challenges, but with the teams all around the world we always arrive at a solution.

My journey with VDL Pinnacle in the last 4 years has been an interesting one for sure. It has had more crests than troughs. One of the highlights was successfully managing the installation and commissioning for a high-value, international project.  This was for an Automatic Fitting Line which is a technology not used in India.”

Is it hard to balance your dual role as Sales and Project Management?

“Sometimes it’s a challenge to strike the balance between sales and project management. It’s a dual responsibility, but that’s also what I like the most about my job. Doing both of these gives me the opportunity to develop cross-functional skills. I see VDL Pinnacle Engineering as a lean company, so that involves multitasking sometimes. We have a lot to gain from the experience of VDL Steelweld and VDL Groep.”

Do you feel like VDL Pinnacle Engineering is part of the VDL Groep?

I have had the opportunity to work very closely on projects at VDL Steelweld (in NL & USA) including at VDL Nedcar in Born. Our colleagues from the design team have also travelled extensively to NL & UK on VDL projects. This cross-cultural exchange is a great indicator that VDL Pinnacle is part of the VDL Groep.

Access to latest technologies in different industrial sectors where VDL Groep is already established is one of the biggest advantages.

On the flip side, the expectations that customers have from us are immense, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but keeps us on our toes at all times.”