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Working at Probst—in development
15 years ago, Marius Kaltenbach worked at Probst during his semester breaks. As team leader for laying technology, he now develops large-scale equipment such as the paving machine.
A conversation about ups and downs in product development and how the team navigates them together.
What does your everyday life at Probst look like? How long have you been with Probst?
As a student, I worked at Probst during semester breaks. Now I have actually been going to the design office every day for 15 years and work on our large-scale equipment.
I don't have a typical everyday life. The tasks are wide-ranging and challenge me every day. The team in development is large enough for us to successfully implement the projects—but on the other hand, small enough for everyone to gain deep insights into a wide variety of areas. Diesel or electric drive, small and large devices, series products but also individual solutions for special customer requirements—as a developer, that's all super exciting.
What was your last big project that you successfully mastered?
This was clearly the development of our first all-electric laying machine—the VM-301-GREENLINE. An exciting project on which we worked hard for a long time as a team.
None of this was easy—in fact, it was very challenging. Converting our popular conventionally powered laying machine to 100% electric drive required a lot of brainpower from us as a team: Which battery technology do we go for? Do we keep the hydraulic travel drive or do we go for an electrically driven, hydraulic small unit for the working hydraulics? To name just a few of the challenges.
So ultimately, we didn't just replace the combustion engine with an electric motor, but fundamentally rethought the machine. We just wanted to do it "right." That was a lot more work, but it was also part of the appeal of the project. Our aim is to be the technology leader. That also means breaking new ground together.
And the fact that the VM-301-GREENLINE then even won third place at the 2021 Environmental Technology Award of the Ministry of the Environment in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, makes us in the team extremely proud.
What makes working with colleagues at Probst so special?
The team spirit and the support among each other. This is noticeable in large projects, such as the VM-301-GREENLINE, but also when casually chatting over work in the hallway. Everyone here knows their craft and has a desire to find good solutions.
Of course, we also help each other in the process: I keep catching myself in situations where I'm sitting in front of a problem with tunnel vision and just can't come up with the right solution. Then a colleague walks by, we talk about it, and *snap* the solution is there. It's just a good mix of in-depth individual work and swarm knowledge.
The knowledge of each individual is of course very important for our work. That's why I really appreciate the low turnover in the development team. Once you start here, you simply don't want to leave (laughs).
But of course, there is always something to improve, even for us. We have noticed, for example, that we need a closer exchange between sales, purchasing, production and development. That is why product management has now been established as an interface. This will help us to develop new products even more efficiently and in a more targeted manner.
Probst makes hard work easier—for customers. But what does Probst do for its employees?
As a father, the flexibility of an employer is very important to me. Anyone who has small children can relate: It's definitely challenging to keep balancing my work schedule, my wife's work schedule, and our son's needs.
School is cancelled, my son is sick or my wife has to attend an important appointment at the office at short notice—weekly planning chaos in the family (laughs). I'm extremely happy about our flexible flexitime arrangement. Mobile working from home is also possible without any problems. This brings a lot of relaxation into the private weekly planning.
Whats your favourite "Probst moment"?
After 15 years, there are definitely some special moments for me. The christening of our POWERPLAN paver spontaneously comes to mind. We christened it like a real ship. It's almost the same size.
At that time, we were all standing together outside on the street in front of the office building—with champagne glasses in our hands. The first model has received the name of a female employee, who was also allowed to throw the bottle.
It was a special moment—a celebratory conclusion at the end of the development phase—and it just shows how we can celebrate our successes together as a team.
Imagine meeting your younger "self" on Day 1 at Probst: What tip would you give yourself along the way?
I would say: be open to new things and learn from the experience of others.
And of course: You're always faced with ups and downs in development projects, but the team will always sail through them successfully together—to end with the "ship metaphor" (laughs).
