X marks the Spot: Dylan Howes

After a career as an engineer and years of experience in the semiconductor and robotics industries, Dylan Howes joined CoreDux® at the beginning of 2023. As a professional in business development and commercial management, he focuses primarily on the US market for the Semicon and Aeronautics & Defence industries. He loves the dynamics of a growing company and has helped transform CoreDux USA into a value-added supplier. We spoke with Dylan about his drive, the power of cross-cultural collaboration, and how his European colleagues got him hooked on espresso.

What do you enjoy most about working at CoreDux?

I enjoy working for small to medium-sized companies that are in a growth phase. I love the many dynamic business initiatives, the engineering design process, and the rapid product development that comes with it. Having guided these types of growth transitions before, I thrive on the activity and ‘chaos’ that accompany them. It’s incredibly exciting to bring in new projects and customers. Furthermore, I’ve learned in the past that I don’t really enjoy working for large corporations with rigid systems, bureaucracy, and politics; fortunately, that’s absolutely not the case at CoreDux.

Why did you choose to work for CoreDux?

Before this, I held a great role in the robotics and automation industry. However, the company had reached a very steady state, and I was looking for a new challenge. A former colleague introduced me to Jan, who was looking for someone in business development with experience in both the Semiconductor and Aeronautics & Defence industries. I had that experience; up until 2014, for example, I was already active on the gas and liquid delivery side for Semicon. Once I learned more about the complexity and the excitement surrounding CoreDux’s flexible hoses, I was immediately intrigued. Since I primarily worked on the equipment side in the past, it’s fantastic to now experience the product side of the business.

What makes CoreDux different from other companies?

For me, it’s a couple of things. First of all, the collaboration across different sites and departments is highly efficient. Furthermore, we stand out because of the speed at which we develop products and take on new business. We are very agile and make decisions quickly. Having direct access to decision-makers, without the hurdles of bureaucracy or politics, is a massive advantage.

Can you tell us something about your latest project?

A great example is the ‘Chamber project’ for CoreDux USA. One of our core products for this specific customer involves these so-called ‘chambers’, which we both build from scratch and refurbish. We provided a lot of value from new chambers, but the customer wanted to focus on a greater need for refurbishment of the installed base. We faced the challenge of resolving this commercially while maintaining a good relationship with this customer, who can be quite tough in negotiations. 

Together with the team, we managed to expand the scope to also include the teardown and cleaning of these reclaimed chambers for refurbishment. By doing this, we are transforming the business in the US from a capacity houseto a value-added supplier, leveraging the CoreDux Group’s core competencies in purification. It took almost a year to define the scope and get the contract signed, but it was a major strategic accomplishment.

How would you describe the collaboration within the teams?

It’s highly interesting and impressive. I enjoy the fact that we have so many different cultures and initiatives across the various sites within CoreDux. Working in the US, it’s wonderful to collaborate so closely with the Dutch and French teams. Cross-departmental collaboration is also managed impressively well. Everyone works exceptionally well together, we make a lot of progress, and I simply don’t see the silos or barriers here that you might encounter at other growing companies.

What quality or skill is essential to have in order to work at CoreDux?

Definitely flexibility, accountability, and ownership. But perhaps the most important of all: being a team player. We move incredibly fast and solve problems at a high pace. There is simply no room for inefficiency, a lack of accountability, or siloed operations.

What is your personal contribution to the success of CoreDux?

When I started working with the CoreDux USA business at the end of 2024, there was no one in a commercial role to support our customers. In addition to my clear goals of building the business in the US and growing within the Semicon and Aeronautics & Defence markets, I’ve successfully worked on improving our customer relationships and enhancing our commercial results. Moreover, I feel a strong responsibility to establish a good, healthy, and productive culture in our business environment, which we achieve purely through teamwork.

In what ways can you improve yourself as a CoreDux employee?

I think I can align my goals even better with those of others by adopting more of a helicopter view. I want to understand processes better so we can support each other more effectively. In previous roles at smaller companies, I always did whatever it took to drive growth, so I am certainly not afraid to get my hands dirty.

What surprised you most when you first joined CoreDux?

My initial impression when joining CoreDux was that the company was already qualified to the industry specifications and entrenched in the Aeronautics & Defence industry, but in reality, we were at the ‘beginning’ of this journey. Fast forward only a few years and we are currently being qualified with a tier 1 on a major program in Europe.  For US-based Aero customers, we are working through several valuable opportunities on major commercial engine programs. It’s a fantastic challenge.  

What I also find incredibly interesting is witnessing how the American, Dutch, and French cultures collaborate so successfully.

How would your colleagues describe you?

Because my background is in engineering, I’m very analytical and don’t possess the ‘typical’ salesperson personality. Yet, I manage business conversations and negotiations very well. I stay professional and never get emotional with customers. This is all learned behaviour from years of observing how former colleagues were successful at it. So, I hope my team would describe me as professional, surprisingly patient, and level-headed.

Do you have a favourite ritual, habit or tradition within the company?

As for traditions, we now get together face-to-face with the whole group every quarter to jointly review our business objectives and we finish with a group dinner. I really appreciate this initiative. We also frequently start our leadership meetings by discussing a few personal items before getting down to business; that helps immensely in building our culture.

Did you know…

That Dylan has acquired a true taste for European coffee culture since joining CoreDux? Due to the time difference between the US and Europe, his meetings start very early in the morning. To power through his 6:00 AM calls, he picked up a brand-new ritual: drinking espresso! Before joining the company, he never used to drink espresso, but the European culture completely influenced his morning routine. 

Would you also like to have the opportunity to constantly develop yourself within an innovative and technical environment, just like Dylan? Then check out our vacancies on the website!