Employee Snapshot: Careers at mk North America

mk North America strives to be a company that hires and retains the best employees. mk firmly believes in promoting from within. With mk’s unique product offering that crosses four different core business models, having employees that are familiar with the mk product and are well versed in industrial and engineering standards is a must. Combined with mk’s focus on providing the best customer service experience mk looks for a well rounded employee, able to develop their knowledge of mk products while furthering their education and personal development.

 Back in 2013 long time mk employee Mark Leavitt was slated to make a career move within mk again. Leavitt had started his career at mk in 1996 as a conveyor assembler; and he was slated to transition from mk’s Purchasing Manager to Quality Control Manager in mid 2014.

To fill Leavitt’s pending vacant seat as Purchasing Manager, mk looked to their parent company in Germany Maschinenbau Kitz GmbH (Kitz).  Manuel Plagemann had started working for Kitz in 2005, and in 2013 he was their Purchasing Manager. Plagemann had been looking to come and work in the United States in order to learn about other ways people work and provide additional perspective on working cultures, better develop his English, and to travel. With Leavitt taking on this new position it provided the perfect opportunity to Plagemann to fulfill this desire and the details were arranged for both employees to fulfill their new roles in 2014.

Unfortunately in August 2013 Leavitt suddenly passed away. He left behind his wife Lisa and two daughters. As well as a legacy of dedication to employer and customer at mk. Leavitt’s passing moved up the timeline for Plagemann coming to mk, and he started at mk at the beginning of 2014.

Plagemann was a newlywed and in April 2014 his wife Sylvia Schaefer joined him in the US when her current work contract was up. Schaefer has the US equivalent to a Master’s Degree in Linguistics and Musicology and worked as a production assistant for a media cooperation in Germany. Plagemann had completed an apprenticeship in Germany in Business Management. Shortly after Schaefer ’s arrival in the US, mk began looking to expand their customer service and order entry department. Schaefer interviewed with mk and was hired. Her presence at the company seemed like a natural fit.

During his tenure at mk, Plagemann was able to grow and develop mk’s vendor base. He was also able to better streamline the ordering process from Kitz. Schaefer worked with her supervisor in better developing and refining the ordering and job tracking processes.

Plagemann and Schaefer returned to Germany in March 2016. When asked about their experiences in the US and at mk Plagemann said “Everyone was really nice…it was a great time”. Schaefer commented, “It was a great experience.  It was nice to work for a small company and it was interesting to see all of the processes.” After working for a large employer in Germany she appreciated how “smaller companies can make quicker decisions.”

About six months before Plagemann and Schaefer were to return to Germany mk began looking for their replacements. It was felt that the purchasing role would be best filled by promoting from within the company. Chris Peters had started at mk in March of 2014 as the Stockroom Attendant, and while working on his degree, was looking to advance his career.  Peters was able to train with Plagemann for two months before his departure. Peters appreciated this time with Plagemann emphasizing how he “taught me a lot about how to look for the best deals on the best products, as well as how to source more and more goods domestically.” For her part, Schaefer developed a training manual for her position and trained her replacement as well.

Back in Germany Schaefer and Plagemann are enjoying time with their friends and family as well as the city life in Cologne. Plagemann is working at Kitz again and Schaefer also rejoined her last firm. Schaefer felt it was hard being away from their family these past years; although she admits she will miss all of the seasons and weather that Connecticut sees, especially spring, summer and fall.