Pengzhu Wang
Job: Group Product Development Manager
Department: Technical
Site: Doncaster
Can you tell us what you do at BRIDON International Ltd.?
I have three main responsibilities: (1) management of Bridon Group new product development system; (2) R&D work as Technical Leader of two NPD projects (I am involved in a number of other NPD projects) and (3) liaison role for Bridon’s joint venture operation, business development (e.g. M&A) and procumbent in China. The first two responsibilities are really the principal accountabilities of my job, whereas the third only takes less than 10% of my time..
What do you enjoy most about working at BRIDON, and about your job in particular?
I enjoy working at Bridon particularly because my R&D background and various skills find best-fit applications and help me contribute to the company’s growth and development most effectively. I spent more than ten years in research and teaching of metal materials, metallurgy and surface coating in China before I went to Cambridge University for my PhD in polymer materials. My dual technical identity of a metallurgist and a polymer scientist make me very comfortable to look after Bridon’s NPD projects which involve both new composition steels and high performance, innovative polymer materials. For the two NPD projects I am in charge one is about a new metallic coating with superior corrosion resistance while the other one deals with fibre reinforced polymer composites.
Another attraction of my job is the opportunity of developing my managerial skills. Bridon has a Product Development Steering Committee (members are all directors and I work as a secretarial function) to supervise and support new product development work and there are about 20 projects in our NPD system, so 20 project teams, I organise 5-8 meetings each year to bring together the committee and the project teams to assess proposals, update progresses and ensure products are developed in time and budgets.
Of course my language and culture background are very useful for my liaison function to our JV in China and to provide information support and advice to the company’s business development strategy in China – besides my technical qualifications I am an English-Chinese interpreter certified by Institute of Linguistics London.
What made you want to work for BRIDON, how long have you worked for the Company, and how did you start?
I joined Bridon in April 2005 after I finished my postdoc project at Cambridge University, I was recruited initially as a senior engineer to provide technical support to Bridon’s newly acquired joint venture in China and I was promoted to Group NPD Manager in early 2006. The opportunity to apply my wide background of R&D and skills and the company’s culture made me work for Bridon. The company started to “regenerate” its central technical department and rope research central laboratory in 2005 with the appointment of a new technical director, which I thought was a great opportunity for me who had been working in well established institutes for a long time and started to seek new frontiers for personal career development. This is one of the reasons I turned down the offer from a very large automotive company who sponsored my PhD in Cambridge and joined Bridon. Bridon is about the right size of company for me to work for, there is plenty of room for development yet you do not feel you get lost or you are ignored.
What would you say to a potential future employee about BRIDON and the development opportunities available for people wanting to aspire to a similar position as yourself?
Bridon is a technical leader in wire rope and fibre rope industry recognised and respected worldwide. While the way of making a rope is very traditional, the technical challenges related to material science, engineering and computer simulation are much more complicated than most people would think. To be honest I realised this in a number of months after I joined Bridon. Bridon used to have very large R&D Centre and Engineering Centre staffed with nearly 100 people and carried out joint research projects with many universities and institutes including PhD studentships and Part III projects with Cambridge and Oxford. Bridon was one of the pioneering companies to use carbon fibre composite to build a bridge in 1995 and to surprise you Bridon did a research project in fuel cell in 1980s. In the last 4-5 years we have re-established the Central Technical Department and Central Laboratory of Rope Research successfully and we are still expending, the second phase development plan has been approved by top management recently.
Bridon has manufacturing sites in the UK, US, Germany, China, Indonesia and New Zealand and provides dynamic career profiles and various career paths. Whether you want to be an expert in wires, ropes or a manager travelling around the world, Bridon can definitely help you realise it.
