The program aimed to give students a direct insight into the operations, daily processes, and best practices of companies from various industries that are key players in the region. The students received answers to beneficial questions from company executives and managers, and these experiences will serve them well after they graduate from university. 

The professional program was implemented with the support of the Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BKIK) and the Youth Enterprise Support Society, further strengthening the BKIK’s goal and strategic role in building bridges between future generations and the entrepreneurial ecosystem, as well as enhancing cooperation between businesses and knowledge centres.  

The students summarized their experiences of the professional company visit as follows:  

GE Vernova 

“GE Vernova is a multinational company that manufactures and services energy equipment. Before touring their plant in Veresegyház, Márton Győrfy, one of the mechatronics engineers from the LEAN team, gave a presentation about the company’s structure and operations. We learned that the corporation had been split into several divisions a few years ago so that the underperforming units would not negatively affect the stock price. It was also important that we got to know the various value streams along which production takes place, as well as how the individual turbines work and are constructed.   The tour required heightened attention since the company works with huge machinery. GE Vernova has only recently begun fully adopting the LEAN strategy — they had attempted this approach twice before, with limited success. The company’s closest competitor is Siemens, but as it turned out, GE Vernova is still about four times larger than its nearest rival. 

During the tour, we also learned that some of the company’s resources are already contracted for the next 30 years. It was astonishing to hear how high the demand for fossil energy still is, despite most countries striving to find greener solutions in the name of sustainability. The visit was very informative, and it was interesting to see how a company with thousands of employees organizes its internal processes and how much impact it has on job creation in the region and on the country’s economy.” 

We would like to thank Márta Sczigel, lead finance specialist at GE Vernova and Corvinus alumnus, for making this program possible! 

Veresi Paradicsom Ltd. 

“Veresi Paradicsom Ltd. is a market-leading tomato producer in Hungary and a member of the Jemefy Technologies group of companies. The holding company is owned by Zsolt Márkus. During our stay, we gained insight into the other companies the owner is involved with and their connections to the Veresi Paradicsom business. These companies include Dymex Supply Ltd. and Powerpak Ltd. 

The managing director of Veresi Paradicsom, András Szabó, was there with us during our visit, and they were very kind, as we were able to taste fresh tomatoes and strawberries. In recent years, in addition to growing tomatoes, they have also started planting strawberries, which are also of world-class quality. This is one of the reasons why they can claim to be suppliers to all Michelin-starred restaurants in Hungary. We learned that the company is currently struggling with a harmful bacterium that significantly infects tomatoes, resulting in substantial financial losses. Their previous revenue of nearly 1.8 billion has been cut in half due to the pathogen. They are currently working on several research projects to find resistant varieties that can withstand this harmful bacterium. 

They can claim to be the primary supplier of several large retail chains. These include Lidl, Aldi, and Spar. The entire group’s vision is to reduce microplastic use, which is reflected in their ongoing efforts to find more environmentally conscious packaging methods.They currently face several challenges in their day-to-day operations. Electricity costs have risen sharply during Covid, which has a significant impact on them, as in winter, they use electric lighting in their greenhouses to achieve the same temperature that plants receive from the sun’s rays in summer. This represents a significant additional cost. During our stay, construction was still ongoing at the site, as a new visitor center will soon be opened, where they will be able to welcome visitors like us who are interested in learning more. The company is currently working diligently on a strategy to ensure that this investment will yield a return for them in the coming years. This center will also house a vertical cultivation room, where they will be able to experiment with planting certain varieties, thereby promoting their later growth. 

We also got a glimpse of how AI has been introduced into everyday work. AI plays a significant role in irrigation and monitoring plant conditions, providing workers with constantly updated information that they can rely on to continue their work. Additionally, to save human resources and time, they also utilise mailing machines, which significantly expedite the mailing process. They showed us the bees and other insects that arrive in a bag, and these insects keep all kinds of pathogens away from the plants.” 

Thank you to András Szabó and Zsolt Márkus for visiting the company! 

During the trip, the group was divided into two teams of 22 people each so that they could properly tour the production and manufacturing facilities at both companies. Charter buses were used for transportation between the two teams, and everyone was provided with a sandwich lunch. 

The program was organized by Dr. Katalin Mihalkovné Szakács and Dr. Krisztofer Szabó, lecturers at the Department of Business Development and Management. 

Written by: Eszter Barati, Dániel Dancsó, Keve Mocsári, Dániel Molnár, Alíz Palotás, Zsombor Ungureán