News

Name: Claudius van den Berk
Company Role: Regional Sales Manager, EU Aftermarket
Based out of: The Netherlands
Number of Years with Cook Compression: 1

What three words would you use to describe your role?
Traveling, mind-reading, exploring.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?
The challenge to get trust which leads to business. The eagerness to connect with people, promote our products and discover new business. The long list of “to do’s”.

What common challenge in the industry do you want to fix for your customers?
As my focus is on Aftermarket solutions, the challenge is to improve machine performance. Reduce waste, pollution, energy consumption. Improve uptime, time between maintenance. Raise reliability and minimize breakdowns. Working in Aftermarket service organisations for about 30 years, I have developed a good understanding of machine maintenance, which I use to “feel” the message between the lines in conversations with customers.

Where did you get your start in the industry?
After my time in the Dutch army, I started as an international service technician for a Dutch company in process control systems. In the 30 years since, my roles have slowly changed from in-depth technical focussed to commercial focussed, for several global operating companies. Before moving to Cook Compression, I did project and account management. My last position was with Howden Compressors which gave me broad knowledge on process gas compressors. I like the international aftermarket work because it requires a broad knowledge of machine construction throughout the years and an understanding of the specific operation and maintenance needs of very diverse machinery, at customers with very diverse cultures.

What is your biggest achievement to date?
This would probably be a three- to four-year project at a printing plant in the U.S. In those days I worked for a U.S. company that produced rotation offset printing presses. We did plant upgrades worldwide to raise productivity and efficiency, getting ready for a new future. This particular project started with lots of problems and I was assigned to resolve this. It ended up being quite a success and the customer named us their best-performing capital goods and service supplier.

What does a typical day look like for you?
A typical day means I’m traveling and spending time at customers. This is mainly in the EU region but sometimes a bit further; I just returned from supporting a Cook partner with a compressor upgrade project in Kazakhstan. I use my technical knowledge and commercial insight to assess the needs and possibilities at the site and gather the information needed for our organisation to compile a strong proposal to improve machine performance.

What do you like about working at Cook Compression?
Working with the Cook Compression Ellesmere Port team means I can enjoy the short communication lines of a smaller team but at the same time have the backup and knowledge of the global Dover Precision Components organisation. The internal communication is always very pleasant, and I feel part of a very knowledgeable organisation which can teach me a lot. I’m able to be myself and bring my knowledge back to the organisation and reach mutual growth. Working for Cook Compression for me means getting stronger in my role and delivering my knowledge to others.

What do you enjoy doing when you are not working?
There is not much time left outside of work with all the traveling but when possible, you can find me on one of my motorcycles. Either a trip through Europe or track days on a circuit. In the winter I like to be Alpine skiing in the Alps or Dolomites, and when I’m home you can find me on a mountain bike. I used to do some sky diving, but it is difficult to find time for this.