8. Seeing the DENSO Spirit in Action
“DENSO’s impressive flexibility at adapting to customer needs, and its influence globally in the automotive industry, are two of the main reasons I was attracted to working for this company,” explained Ben Brusselmans.
Ben Brusselmans, 31, process design senior manager in Battle Creek, Michigan, said his pre-DENSO manufacturing career showed him just how DENSO consistently outperforms its rivals.
“DENSO just operates so exceptionally and has a longstanding reputation for being able to adjust to its clients’ needs. It was refreshing to me to learn just how nimble this large-scale company can be,” he said.
He said that although he’s an experienced mechanical engineer, since joining DENSO he’s been able to also develop some of the “softer” management skills through various training and mentorship opportunities.
“When I signed up for the mentorship process here, my mentor suggested leadership training that could lead to future opportunities. I enjoy the ‘techy side’ as an engineer, but I also like to see people grow and learn. I get satisfaction out of that. It’s a unique opportunity,” Brusselmans said, adding that now he serves as a mentor within the company.
“Every day, I get to figure out how to remove roadblocks by coaching other engineers. We have to process both ‘people’ problems and technical problems,” he said. “It’s trial and error.”
Brusselmans said that his early COVID-era participation in Ford’s respirator project “taught me about how DENSO could come together for the greater good. We had a lot of energy taking that project from an original design sketch on a napkin, to 25 days later, when we had made more than 35,000 of the respirators.”
“After the first call went out to ascertain interest in working on the project, we gathered a small engineering team, and started meeting with design associates to talk through their concept and how we could manufacture that. It was me and four others on the process side in charge of getting everything ready,” he said.
He said the multi-functional team included scheduling professionals, assembly experts and “associates who didn’t mind spending long days to get this done. It was an uncertain time, and a crazy environment, but everyone wanted to help.”
“My team said It felt good to be part of something greater than ourselves and to see that project come to fruition. It was a release, a lot of energy, to know that we could have a timely impact when called upon,” he said.
He attributes some of his associates’ “get it done” attitudes to the DENSO Spirit that’s instilled throughout the company, but also to the DENSO Leadership Academy’s values, citing the special leadership guiding values.
“We also have True North Values. There are six of them, and they say it all: Love our People. Own our Destination. Grow Up. Be Real. Think All. Deliver,” Brusselmans said, smiling.
Words to live by.