From university straight to Information Systems: Katrien's Kuehne + Nagel story

In an exciting workplace, innovation is common practice. That's why our offices attract those who have at least one thing in common: an urge to challenge the status quo. Also for Katrien this characteristic comes in handy in her job that allows her to steer technological change in our Contract Logistics environment. Despite her young age, she's already implementing new technology solutions as part of a warehouse management system (WMS) implementation project. This is her story!

A trip back and forth to Coventry in the United Kingdom left Katrien tired but fulfilled. She didn't want to miss out on her graduation ceremony at the University of Warwick and took two days off to travel there. "It was great to see my classmates again, many of whom are from different locations in the world", she says, adding that such international environments have this inexpiable vibe that create a sense of belonging for her. In the past few months she's experienced that same vibe at work, even at the local office where she's based. The expertise that she's already gained in our international environment, makes it hard to believe that she only recently graduated.

Kuehne + Nagel is her first employer, and the young logistics professional is part of the Information Systems (IS) team which implements and supports the information systems in our Contract Logistics sites. It's also the go-to team in case of technical issues or improvement requests. "In my role I'm responsible for setting up and configuring the systems, that is, adapting them to the business processes. Another part of the job is training those who have to work with these systems: the people in the warehouse like pickers, packers and so on. And last but not least our team also provides system support to these users", she explains.

Despite her juniority, the team felt that Katrien was ready for more autonomy and entrusted her with an exciting new project: to implement Voice Picking Technology as part of a brand new Warehouse Management System project for one of our Contract Logistics customers. She explains: "I teamed up with colleagues from Ukraine and partners from the UK who already had experience with this technology. The most challenging part was to grasp the business processes in a very short time and translate them to the system." But so far, Katrien has received nothing but praise for her commitment and good work.

Katrien explains that her job in the IS team requires an analytical mind to dissect the business and operational processes and translate them to the system. On the other hand, however, she's still very much involved with the warehouse operations. "I really enjoy the variety that the job entails as well as the fact that you're not glued to your desk. During the go-live of this new WMS it proved to be very useful being present in the warehouse to link what's happening on the computer with what's happening on the floor", she says. "I like to see how it works - or sometimes doesn't work - in reality. And if it doesn't work it's very rewarding to figure out what the reason could be and how to solve the issue."

Looking back to her first months in Kuehne + Nagel, Katrien is very glad that straight after university she landed a challenging job with many development prospects. "I feel like I've learned so much in these past few months, and despite my lack of experience I never felt overwhelmed thanks to the excellent support that I was promised and given", she concludes. We're looking forward to seeing how her Kuehne + Nagel story will further enfold!

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