THE robot’s name is Dutch. He does a welding job in Oklahoma, at John Zink’s plant in Tulsa. They make heavy industry equipment, and parts need to be welded together.
Dutch comes from Alblasserdam. He is not much more than an arm, and a lot of software. Designed by family company Valk Welding.
Interesting, but there is nothing unique about exports from the Netherlands to America. Why is this different? Well, John Zink himself was of Dutch descent. Many Americans whose last name is Zink, Zinck or Zinke are from the southern Netherlands. John himself is no longer among us, yet his factory thought the robot should come from Holland.
That’s because of Zink’s parent company: Koch Industries in Kansas. Charles Koch who at an advanced age (88) still runs the corporation is the grandson of Hotze Koch from Workum. He came to America, changed his first name to Harry, and the pronunciation of the surname to sound like Coke.
Koch Industries is a super-sized private company in America, bigger than Boeing, bigger than Disney, “the biggest company you’ve never heard of.” They make paper and plastic, as well as fertilizer and stretch jeans. They produce ethanol and lycra, as well as yoga pants and diapers. If you find the Cordura label in your North Face or Jansport backpack: compliments of Koch, formerly from Friesland. They are market leaders in all products related to minerals, forests and livestock. They don’t disguise their political preference: very much Republican, but anti-Trump.
And they do robots. From Holland, from Alblasserdam. They called the first one Dutch.
So: the robot is Dutch, the founder of its employer was Dutch, and the giant parent company is Dutch.
Triple Dutch touch.
