Solutions Sales Engineer George Burrell has quickly moved up the ranks since joining Endress+Hauser four years ago. Here he discusses his current role in the solutions department and how the team can help customers with their more demanding applications and projects.
“Solutions was always something that I was interested in. I’m on site three or four days a week, and I enjoy meeting different people and seeing different places. I could be in Southampton one day and Newcastle the next. But the real enjoyment for me comes from being able to promote what Endress+Hauser can do as a company. We’re not just an instrument provider. We also do online monitoring, full mechanical and electrical installation, panel work – the full turnkey offering. We’re a one-stop shop for our customers’ projects! Not many of our competitors can do the same on the same scale.
I joined Endress+Hauser as a junior field sales engineer covering the Yorkshire region. The following year I was promoted into a more senior role with responsibility for the whole of Yorkshire and the north-east up to the Scottish border. I’ve been in my current role working with the solutions team for a year now, and I’m also the tank gauging expert in the UK. My past experience working for a marine engineering company comes into play here. I worked on cargo ships and navy vessels on things like gas monitoring, inventory monitoring, tank levels and ballast protection.
Since moving to Endress+Hauser I’ve done even more training. There’s a lot of theory at the start and then you learn through experience and being on site. I spend a lot of time on oil refineries and chemical plants as well as in the food & beverage industry. You have to bear in mind the requirements of different industries: the heavy industries are very safety driven, for obvious reasons, whereas the food & beverage and life sciences industries are more focused on cleanliness, especially when it comes to mechanical and installation work. You have to have different approaches for different companies, but that’s what keeps it interesting.
I think I’d always like to stay on the solutions side. In future I’d love to manage a team of people with specialists for the heavy industries and hygienic applications. I’d never want to completely down tools and be trapped behind a desk! I like being involved with the full process, the engineering side of things. You have to be a good problem-solver in solutions. It keeps you on your toes and no two days are the same.
Endress+Hauser has been very supportive of my progression. The bosses want you to excel but you have to work for it! There are lots of examples of people coming in as juniors and progressing through the ranks. Even the CEO started as an apprentice panel wirer, which is a great example of what Endress+Hauser is like as a company. Even the most senior executives are not just people managers or experts in sales: they have real, practical engineering experience. We’ve got broad knowledge across all departments, and we offer something different to our close competitors.”
For more information about solutions from Endress+Hauser, call 0161 286 5050 or visit https://eh.digital/solutions_uk