The first generation of these pumps were engineered in the 1940s for truck-mounted applications. They were bolted to the chassis and driven off the PTO. That harsh environment established design features that would define the product line: a footed mounting bracket, a rotatable casing, and a thrust bearing housing for precise end clearance adjustment. The second generation saw a change to the bearing housing (while maintaining the same bearings) and an expanded range of sizes, material-specific model numbers and the offering of integrally jacketed versions.

[LISA] My name is Lisa Schoborg. I'm a senior data analyst at Viking Pump and I've been here for 18 years. [CHRIS] My name is Chris Mihm. I'm the program manager with the global distribution group and I've been with Viking for just over 20 years. [Andi] My name is Andi Bicket. That's an I, not a Y. I am a senior graphic designer at Viking Pump and I have worked here for 20 years. [BRUCE] Bruce Helgeson. I'm a senior operations engineer here at Viking Pump. Been with Viking for roughly 36 years. [INTERVIEWER] Look back.

Viking Pump is the global leader in positive displacement pumping solutions and we proudly manufacture and assemble our products in Cedar Falls, Iowa. With our own dedicated foundry and machine shop, we build our products from start to finish to our own high standards. This vertical integration gives us better control of our supply lines, enhances our ability to respond to change, and creates stability for our partners and customers. We’ve been centrally located in Iowa since 1911. We're proud of that history. We're proud of the work we've done, still do, and will do together.

So I started at Viking 6 and a half years ago as an account manager with the OEM team, moved up as a senior account manager and then a supervisor. Currently I'm the customer support manager for the OEM and energy teams. I really started with OEM but I got to work with energy here or there. Really cool to see just starting out having no knowledge of pumps and not knowing what any of the components are to having a lot more knowledge but even looking more at the process and how we can continue to grow better each day.

So I did an internship here. Once I graduated, transitioned into a production planning and scheduling type of role and then recently transitioned to production manager for about 2 years now over the assembly team. I've had some great mentors along the way, ones that have really pushed me to be the best that I can be. I think those kinds of opportunities are important because it helps motivate.

So I'm the HR support for several different functions within Viking Pump. Right now I support our foundry, our team in Windsor, Canada, and our finance team which sits at a couple of different locations. I did not have the foundry when I first started and I have the foundry now so that was a huge change in responsibilities since we have a union in the foundry and I actually had no experience working in a union environment when I started here. It actually was one of the reasons that I was interested in this job when I took it though.