2012
What course were you on?
2000-2003 BEng (Hons) Engineering with Business
Why did you apply to Southampton Solent University?
Because they were highly recommended for engineering studies.
In Germany, a comparable degree would take up to 5 years – here I was able to fully graduate within 3 years.
What did you enjoy about your course?
The relatively small course size. Together with Electrical and Mechanical Engineering there were only about 12 students. Again, in Germany the Engineering with business class would have been in excess of 300 students.
Now, 8 years down the road I must admit that the tools and theories taught were very practical and hand-on. I still use about 75% of the taught principles in my daily work (knowing and unknowingly).
Why did you apply to your current employer?
I applied at Rowenta (part of Groupe SEB corporation) because I wanted to combine manufacturing together with products everyone could relate to. Here in Erbach, Germany we are producing steam irons in a fully automated environment.
What do you think enabled you to get the job ahead of the other candidates?
My continuous willingness to learn and study. I did not stop after my initial degree. I continued with various educational services and institutions to become an EOQ systems auditor & Quality Systems Manager. Finally, have now rejoined Solent University on a part-time programme to obtain an MSc in Six Sigma. This constant development of my skills probably put me ahead of other candidates.
What does your job involve?
I have an overview over the entire product. Starting from supplier management and auditing, parts and design validation via FMEA, interaction with marketing with respect to customer needs and wants down to the management of our core production processes and their optimisation.
What do you particularly enjoy about your work?
Every day is different – problems and opportunities are sometimes not foreseeable.
What future projects will you be working on (or hope to work on)?
Full implementation of a Six Sigma Project in the entire plant.
What has been your favourite project that you have worked on in your career and why?
The implementation of a customer complaint system and its integration into a manufacturing environment. Traditionally, sales deal with complaints and production with “making stuff”. We managed to actually get vital details from complaints significantly improving our output quality hence reducing the number of customer complaints. A nice side effect was, that the time taken to resolve a complaint dropped over 68% over the course of one year to an average resolution time of 4.5 days – which is excellent in an industrial sector.
How have your studies at Southampton Solent University helped you with your career and in particular what you do now?
The practical approach to the taught material as well as the recommended literature have helped me a great deal. Again, compared to German Universities, there is less theory involved. All the tools, principles and ideas can generally be used right away.
What advice would you give to anyone who wishes to follow in your footsteps?
Try to get a high density of training and education into your CV at the beginning of your career and try to keep it that way. Once you “stop learning” as far as your CV is concerned you seem to settle and it looks as if you are satisfied with what you have achieved.