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Steffen Rübling is a project engineer for additive manufacturing systems at TRUMPF in Ditzingen and inspires customers all over the world with this innovative technology.

Steffen has been working in industry management for TRUMPF additive manufacturing systems since 2017. As a technical expert, he is the contact person for his colleagues in Sales, but also has regular contact with customers himself. He travels around the world and advises them on the additive process chain, possible applications and the TRUMPF systems themselves. What fascinates him personally about 3D printing is the almost unlimited range of possibilities that the application offers. "Anything is possible – from a delicate crown for a tooth to heavy tool inserts," says Steffen.

Jumping in at the deep end

Although Steffen already had a solid foundation in theory and practical knowledge for his future job through his automotive engineering degree at RWTH Aachen University, holiday jobs and internships at TRUMPF (including in the USA), additive technology itself was initially unknown territory, even for him. "I applied for this Business Division at TRUMPF because I was impressed by the entire process chain – from data preparation, i.e. the software, to the manufacture of components, and even post-processing." Steffen needed to learn the technology from scratch in record time, and he succeeded. With the support of his colleagues, he familiarised himself with the technology using components as concrete examples and was able to gain international experience in sales. "The greatest challenge was to pass on this knowledge to the customer in a clear manner," says Steffen.

"An immense show of confidence"

During his induction period, Steffen particularly appreciated the immense show of confidence which he received from his colleagues as well as his superiors. He quickly found himself in situations in which he needed to assume responsibility, for example in discussions with decision-makers in large corporations. For customer meetings, he travelled to the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Italy. "In this respect, I always noticed that TRUMPF had one-hundred-percent confidence in me. For example, after only a short time I was able to fly to a trade fair in Korea with my sales team, in order to support our subsidiaries and advise customers on the possibilities that additive manufacturing offers."