A Day in the Life: Lisa Fewkes on customer commitment, proactive solutions, and 39 years of maritime excellence

With 39 years of service within W?rtsil? Water & Waste, Lisa Fewkes is a key part the team, bringing significant knowledge of the market and our technologies into her day to day work. Over four decades, Lisa has not only witnessed Water & Waste’s evolution – but has been at the heart of it. Lisa has continuously evolved with the company, navigating the implementation of new teams, departments, and even a full-scale acquisition, taking on new roles and responsibilities throughout – remaining consistent in her determined efforts to ensure customer satisfaction.

“For me, everything begins and ends with the customer”, Lisa says. “If I've learnt anything over nearly 40 years in this industry, it is the importance of tailoring the best solution possible for our customer's needs.”

?With a clear passion for customer support, Lisa cut her teeth in the aftersales department. The wealth of knowledge and network of customer relationships accrued there have been vital for her current role as Spares Manager, where Lisa now focuses on leading and motivating the spares team to deliver the highest standards possible.

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For Lisa, a typical day involves what she terms as the “safeguarding of customer satisfaction” through the organisation, as well as the delivery of spare parts. Part of this, she says, lies in ensuring clients see the value and importance of OEM manufactured parts over cheap alternatives available on the ‘grey-market’.

Safeguarding customer satisfaction for a global clientele is no easy feat. With many customers in the cruise sector, operators must adhere to a strict set of regulations – so for Lisa, ensuring safety and regulatory compliance is business critical, with direct implications for thousands of passengers and crew onboard. To meet these customer expectations Lisa shares that “open lines of communication are essential, which involves finding new ways to communicate to deliver spare parts as fast as possible”.

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Lisa’s department also works with commercial shipping customers that are vital to global supply chains, and that are responsible for ships operating 24/7, 365 days a year. Lisa explains that the “swift, efficient sourcing and delivery of spare parts is vital for these operators”, with direct implications for shipping goods to ensure supply meets demand.

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In a complex market, Lisa points out that “streamlining processes is essential in delivering exceptional service, particularly encouraging teams to be proactive rather than reactive”. For Lisa’s team, this means pre-empting issues before they arise – a sixth-sense that Lisa hopes she has been able to build thanks to her extensive knowledge of W?rtsil? Water and Waste’s customers, their ships and their specific individual needs.

This proactivity comes in many forms and requires Lisa’s team to communicate seamlessly with technical teams, ensuring that their knowledge of customer ships and of W?rtsil?’s technology is up to date – in order to deliver a truly consultative service.

The spares team execute their work as part of an intricate supply chain, advising which spare parts should be fitted, or even carried on board during a voyage, anticipating part-failure and monitoring the status of vessels in–and–out of operation, Lisa explains. The team must foresee potential issues before they arise, to mitigate the impact on customers. This requires expert internal communication from across the business.

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Ultimately, it’s the changeability of the shipping industry that has continued to stoke the fires of Lisa’s passion for her work. She hopes that the next generation of maritime professionals can “pursue a career path of genuine interest”. Her advice? Embrace change, adapt to new methods of working, and always ensure that the customer comes first: because they make any businesses’ world go round.