From the workshop to the sales office

He has come a long way, Peter Kofoed, Area Sales Manager in Denmark. His career began on the shop floor, but a talent for leadership took him further.

10 March 2023

Working with my hands

The background within an academic family – with a father who was a doctor and a mother who was a nurse – could have led him in completely opposite directions.
- But there was no pressure from home, they were quite open, says Peter Kofoed. He himself had completely different ideas than starting to work in healthcare, and as a young man was moderately interested in higher education. - It went okay at school, but I was more interested in working with my hands, he says.

Peter Kofoed, Area Sales Manager Denmark

Started as an apprentice

So he invested in a practically oriented technical education. Started out as an automation mechanic apprentices, only interrupted by military service and education to an automation technician, then imployed in an automation company. There, his superiors discovered that he was not only good with the machines, he was also good at leading others. So after a number of years, Peter Kofoed had to take a step up and became head of the automation department where he started after his education. - It felt fun and it worked out well, he says. In that vein, education came back into his life, but now with a new focus. He started studying alongside work and finished a Bachelor in leadership.
After a few more years, working life took a new turn. Peter Kofoed entered the sales side - and proved to have an aptitude for that as well. - Although I like it, I wouldn't say that I have a classic sales talent, someone who has the ability to convince anyone to buy anything. But equipment that are high quality, I know works, give good advice about and that I know is good stuff, equipment I can vouch for…That I love selling, he says.

A dedicated downhill skier

He grew up in Denmark's third largest city, Odense. He still lives there, today with his wife and children. And if someone has a clichéd image of Danes as a people who like sports such as cycling, handball and football, then Peter Kofoed breaks a little against the image. His great passion is skiing. Not cross country skiing, which would have felt more natural in one of the world's flattest countries. For him, it's steep mountainsides and climbing them at high speeds that matter. - Ingemar Stenmark was something of an idol for me when I was growing up, he says. So a couple of times a year the Kofoed family goes to Norway or Austria for a week's holiday in the snow.

Development in the industry

Regarding his working life in automation, Peter Kofoed thinks that there has been a fantastic development in the industry during the roughly three decades he has been in it.
- And it just goes faster and faster. I can only fantasize about what we will see in another 20 years. Some worry that robots will take over jobs? - It is one of the questions we get a lot in this industry. But in my years I have never seen that happen. In the wake of the change, new jobs arise. Is new information being created? - Yes, the development has rather contributed to the fact that we have been able to keep jobs in Denmark instead of outsourcing, and to the fact that people have escaped tasks that are monotonous and boring.

Facts: Peter Kofoed
Age: 51 years.
Lives: Odense.
Family: Wife and two sons.

At KUKA: Since 2018. Previously worked with a number of other brands.
Occupation: One of KUKA Nordic's two area sales managers in Denmark. Responsible for Funen and Zealand.