MR

Multinational business creating products for electrical transformers

Courses

all disciplines
Aeronautics and Astronautics (Course 16)
Architecture (Course 4)
Biological Engineering (Course 20)
Biology (Course 7)
Brain and Cognitive Sciences (Course 9)
Chemical Engineering (Course 10)
Chemistry (Course 5)
Civil and Enivronmental Engineering (Course 1)
Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (Course 12)
Economics (Course 14)
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Course 6)
Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (Course 21)
Linguistics and Philosophy (Course 24)
Management (Course 15)
Materials Science and Engineering (Course 3)
Mathematics (Course 18)
Mechanical Engineering (Course 2)
Nuclear Science and Engineering (Course 22)
Physics (Course 8)
Political Science (Course 17)
Urban Studies and Planning (Course 11)

Location

multiple

Host Type

Industry

Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen (MR) is an independent company that specializes in making products for electrical transformers.  They are a major player in the power distribution industry, with more than 50% of worldwide electricity consumption being routed through their products.  The company also works with MIT’s Leaders for Global Operations program.  At MR, LGO students gain experience integrating renewable generation into the grid, automation and smart grid design, and energy demands in developing countries. MR offers internships in Regensburg and Dresden.

Among the internship projects offered by MR, students have tackled such challenges as modularization to reduce design time at an MR subsidiary and developing of a new value chain concept for MR’s power electronic component business.

Student Story|Nalaka Kahawatte, Leaders for Global Operations, MBAn '20

Nalaka Kahawatte, Leaders for Global Operations, MBAn '20

The primary goal of my internship at Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen (MR) was to develop a viable business model that would create tangible value to Transformer Asset Managers, enable MR to capture some of this value as profit, enable the growth of MR’s new Automation Ventures(AV) business unit, and sustain profits and growth for a long period of time.

In order to achieve this, the project activities included deep dives into asset management philosophies, customer segmentation, understanding the jobs, pains and gains for the customers, partnering strategies, competitor analysis, product differentiation, revenue models, and cost structures.  The first semester of Sloan MBA prepared me with the right tools and philosophies to effectively tackle the topics above. Most importantly, the analytical rigor practiced during coursework prepared me to dive deep into different topics using multiple sources.

The internship experience at Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen was just amazing. They made me part of their team, gave me freedom to dive deep into topics that I was interested in, valued my opinions, and helped me figure out the complicated logistics and paperwork, especially with my family there.  I also got a chance to explore many cities in Germany and neighboring Switzerland, Austria, etc. which helped me gain a strong appreciation of the culture and the rich history.

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Student Story|Julian Demetz, Leaders for Global Operations, SM AeroAstro, MBA '18

Julian Demetz, Leaders for Global Operations, SM AeroAstro, MBA '18

The goal for my project was to investigate three aspects of the integration of power electronics (PE) for new product developments in the field of electrical power distribution and regulation systems:

1. Power electronics are based on semiconductor components which require scale to be manufactured economically. Which level of vertical integration for specific PE-based products would make economic and strategic sense?

2. The technology shift from electro-mechanical devices towards power electronics may impose the risk of cannibalization of certain own products and may overlap with offerings of current customers and might increase the dependencies from suppliers. What are possible scenarios and how should the business navigate them?

3. PE-based systems will be affected by different failure modes than electro-mechanical devices. Which are those failure modes and how can the risk of a system failure originating from PE-components be identified and evaluated early in project based business? Also, is it possible to assess the impact of the PE-components on the reliability of the entire system?

I once again I have realized, that no matter the size of the company the result of my work is highly dependent on how much and which support I get from the stakeholders within the company. If the project does not have a high priority among decision makers, it will be very difficult to get the necessary support and resources required to deliver impactful results. Hence, it was critical to understand the priority of the project and invest time early to secure the necessary support for the success of the internship.  Having had no previous experience with power electronics, I also learned that the matter is quite challenging and that it requires some good effort to understand the technology to the extent necessary to be able to conduct meaningful discussions with subject matter experts.

My experience working at MR in Regensburg has been both challenging and rewarding. I had the opportunity to dive in a completely new technical field and work together with very knowledgeable colleagues. During the last six months I could substantially broaden my knowledge about power transmission, distribution and regulation which complements my previous knowledge from the wind industry in a great way. I am looking forward to sharing my experience with MR with the MIT Leaders for Global Operations community.

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