UC Group was the ideal next step in my career

Jur de Kok has been working at UC Engineering for two and a half years and reflects on his career. Why did he choose this job? How does he like it? What are his future plans? "The transition to UC Group was ideal for me. You gain a lot of experience quickly and get to work with interesting companies."

He knew he wanted to work in logistics back in high school. "While my classmates were stocking shelves in supermarkets, I had a side job at a distribution center. Unloading trucks, storing products, picking orders—I found all of that much more enjoyable than working in a store." He chose to study Logistics Engineering at BUAS University of Applied Sciences in Breda and, to earn some extra money, also worked for a logistics service provider. "To select carriers, I built my first little tool. You could enter the type of freight, its destination, and when it needed to arrive, and the tool would automatically suggest the most suitable transporter. Not very complicated, but very useful."

Career Start

After completing his studies, the logistics company where he worked part-time was eager to hire him full-time. His knowledge of Excel, Power BI, and the latest logistics tools proved to be a valuable asset to the company. "In the first year, I focused on making processes data-driven and setting up automated reporting systems. After that, I spent some time at a subsidiary that focused on managing international transport flows. There, among other things, I was involved in the further development of the Transport Management System. It was all super interesting, but after two and a half years, I felt I had done all I could there. I also wanted to work for a different company and was ready for a new step."

A Challenging Job

Recruiters in the industry had no trouble finding him. Offers for great logistics jobs appeared on his LinkedIn profile. However, he was looking for more of a challenge: a role where he could apply his broad interests and gain experience at various companies. That's when UC Group came into the picture. "They approached me, and I was immediately enthusiastic about the projects they were doing. These ranged from production logistics to supply chain management, and from warehousing to transport. Through the senior consultants and interim managers who work there, you gain access to an enormous network of companies. It seemed fantastic to get a look behind the scenes there." He joined the UC Engineering department, which is based in Tilburg. "UC Group is a network of enterprises consisting of the partnership and UC Engineering. Within this network, the professionals have their own external network and specialization. Unlike the partners in the partnership, we as engineers are employed. Our team currently consists of nine people, most between 25 and 35 years old, but the ambition is to grow this number quickly." The atmosphere among colleagues is extremely collaborative. "If someone encounters a problem during a project, we always help each other. We grab a whiteboard and brainstorm until we find a solution."

A Great Project

His first project at UC Group was one where he could immediately put all his skills to use. For a large company, he and a fellow engineer were tasked with designing an automated warehouse solution. "Based on existing data and potential growth scenarios, we developed several variants: from fully automated to manual. For each variant, we created a business case and mapped out the costs and benefits. This was already a great project in itself, and we recently heard that the company's management has chosen one of our variants. We will probably now get to implement this system ourselves. How great is that!"

Future Plans

For now, Jur de Kok is still very content in his role, but he is, of course, thinking about his future. "I can still learn a lot and work on exciting projects at UC Group. There's a training budget, and I'm given ample opportunity to develop myself. For example, I'll soon be taking the Black Belt training for Lean Six Sigma. Eliminating as much waste as possible from processes based on data and statistics—that sounds very interesting to me. Once I complete the training, I can also train others." Another area he wants to delve into is AI. "Currently, in Power BI or Excel, we sometimes create formulas that are thirty lines long. Nowadays, this can be done more easily and quickly with the help of ChatGPT."

Tip for Newcomers

Does he have any tips for fellow logistics professionals who are at the beginning of their careers? "There are so many opportunities in this field, so many industries you can work in, and so many developments. When you're fresh out of school, you have no idea what to choose." He recently attended a job fair at HAN University of Applied Sciences in Arnhem Nijmegen and noticed that students were very interested in his story. "I understand that, and I can wholeheartedly recommend UC Engineering to them. You get exposed to all aspects of logistics and gain a lot of experience quickly. This isn't just good for your CV; you also develop a better sense of what suits you. For me, UC Group was the ideal next step in my career."

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