Delmia - V6: You Wouldn't Need Recruiters If It Was Easy To Find 'Em

It was a few weeks ago when it all started

The one month European vacations had just started and I was already worried because the team was due to start in a month!

But equally I was excited, because both the customer and the program has always been one that fascinated me. The customer especially – I’ve talked of them many times in the past and never once have I come across anyone with a bad word to say about them. In fact most are in awe of what they achieve in the automotive sector

But, with that level of quality comes an uncompromising demand for skills & this time it was my time to step-up in the search for Delmia Digital Manufacturing skills.

Now for those of you who don’t know this is Dassault Systemes’ suite of solutions for Digital Manufacturing, Manufacturing Operations/Execution & Advanced Planning & Scheduling and this time I was diving into the niche area surrounding the installation of the Machining and NC Programming solution.

But not just any old machining, this had to be V6, the latest version and with good implementation skills. 

The new head of manufacturing and I got together, scratched our heads, compared notes and networks and off we set.

We both knew India arguably had the greatest volume, together with Germany and of course France. I reached out to my network.

In they came, with a blend of “well Andrew you know there’s very little difference between V5 & V6" – yer right, I said! to “I know it, I’ve been on a training course” to thankfully one or two with some implementation experience 

We started interviewing, feeling semi-confident that we might find someone to train as we felt the Machining the least critical of the roles to be completed. I relaxed a little as I saw that plate spinning (my analogy when I feel I have choices in play) and diverted my attention to the other more critical roles where the plates weren’t spinning!

A couple of weeks past as we positioned people across each role and waiting for the European holidays to end.  Slowly Week 36 came around and as everyone began to return we had a meeting onsite to discuss the resources and to ensure we could come in within budget across each of the roles.

We weren't looking good as most of our favorite options were on the edge of our budgets. Nevertheless, we moved things along carefully interviewing everyone lined-up, but remained still a little weak on the machining side, but we figured we had time.

The roles moved around a little with varying start dates. And then the Program Director returned from the customer to advise us the project would not be starting until the Machining Solution Architect was both senior enough (an Architect to take control) and able to start fast!

It was an OMG moment - suddenly all our hard work in finding some of the very best architects across Process Planning, Catia, 3DEXPERIENCE Co-Existence etc could turn to nothing if we couldn’t find the V6 Machining expert!

What could I do?

I’d reached out personally to everyone I knew in Europe and Asia, and frankly no one would have expected any less of a recruiter to say “I gave it my best shot and there's no one out there……"; convincing ourselves no one else could either.

But then, I could see the pressure and the stress on the Program Director and the Head of Manufacturing, who both just wanted to deliver for their customer against all odds – I felt their pain!

My instincts kicked-in, along with my determination and I made a decision. I decided that somewhere in the world there was a V6 Machining Architect, who could be available within days and if it was to be, it was up to me to find that person. 

My strategy was threefold:

1. write down every single customer site with V6 Machining that I could find and reach out to everyone I know who touches them – and slowly I started working through them one by one

2. post a cry for help on my LinkedIn Feed and I quote “Just 1, only 1, that’s all I need” – the response was humbling as advice came pouring in. People are amazing when they know you need help and thank you to all who took the time to offer so many words of wisdom. It was out of the blue; one of my long-standing DS connections passed me a name in Spain – I set off in search

3. at the same time I decided to reach out to NAM – and the wealth of experience over there. A response came back from a consulting firm who’d undertaken a raft of work in Boeing

The customer deadline fast approached and I’d just been given two great potentials – would I make it in time to avoid the project being deferred?

The meeting was at 11am but one of the leads was in Spain and I was due to talk to him that afternoon and the other was in California, some 9 hours behind. I missed the deadline, I was gutted!

But the project was not over and it appeared the customer needed some more time to prepare the arrival of the team. I made it, albeit 48hrs later than I’d hoped but I can now sleep knowing that loyalty to your client, a never ever give up attitude always wins through in the end.

It was a big reminder that when you think you’re “done” there’s always more you can do to solve the problem.

And, next time however I will never relax too soon when it comes to V6 Delmia Digital Manufacturing and least of all Machining!

#plm #productlifecycle #3dexperience #delmia #machining