From construction to sales - customer contacts made Erik switch sides!

He is an application engineer who switched to the sales side, after seven years in construction. Now he is joining KUKA as area sales manager: "Automation is my great interest, I've been doing it since high school," he says.

10 April 2024

Meeting with people

Immediately after finishing his education at Chalmers, Erik Wingholm started his career in the industry - at a component supplier in the automation segment. A fun job, but after quite a few years of technical development, he got the chance to try something new: sales. - "For me, it's all about being out in the real world, meeting a lot of people and finding solutions to their challenges. It also means that you have great opportunities to develop as a person.

Joins a focused team

- Meeting people is important for me. It's not the same when you work as an engineer. He spent the last three years in his previous job as a salesman. At KUKA Nordic, he now joins a team focused on the Swedish market together with country manager Christoffer Poohl and area sales manager Hampus Samuelson.
- "We have a common goal to reach out more to our end customers," he says. He was hired in mid-March, with Gothenburg as his base. The job involves a lot of travelling, with customers from Kiruna in the north to Smygehuk in the south.

Erik Wingholm Area sales manager — Erik Wingholm, Area Sales Manager Sweden, KUKA Nordic AB

Robots are the definition of automation

- The majority of the end customer are located south of Stockholm. So of course there will be some travelling, but at a reasonable level, plus there are a few of us who share the responsibility. Why did you choose KUKA? - KUKA is a strong brand. And robots are the very definition of automation, they are products that are exciting and rewarding to work with. How do you see the ongoing automation in the industry? - I think it will continue, it will become more and more automated.

What is the first thing you have done in your new job? - Getting in touch with customers and building relationships with our system partners. It will be fun to meet everyone.

I am happy to have Erik in the team

Christopher Poohl, Country Manager Sweden