On my way to Denmark!

Greetings, colleagues and friends, welcome to the 5th edition of my newsletter. In this edition we will cover my experience with module 2 and my preparations for the module 3 #international #project.

Module 2

Trainings

Our last training for Module 2 and until module 4 was #Leadership training.

Hagop Emrazian , Head of Leadership development at DSV, shared with us valuable information on what it means to be a leader and what a #team really is about. I want to thank Hagop for his fresh delivery and helping us grow a step further as professionals and future leaders.

The base of a team's pyramid is trust, without it there can be no team. There must be open and honest communication.

The second layer is conflict, not being afraid to respectfully engage in discussion around ideas.

The third layer is commitment, being decisive and leaving nothing hanging to fully implement our ideas.

The fourth layer is accountability, we hold each other accountable to achieve our goals, and we follow through on our agreements.

The final layer are the results, having clear and joint objectives that the team will achieve as a highly motivated and engaged unit.

This pyramid is not easy to build and as a leader and manager we have to understand that the human element is the most important thing to nurture if we want to achieve great #results.

Experience Days

For this module and to complete our project we had to do #experience days at operations.

I covered a myriad of topics at our site in Matamoros with my team. Starting off with our site manager, Patricia Rizo, we went over the general aspects of the warehouse, our main customers and processes.

Then I made my way to the warehouse were I focused on our Multiclients process from start to finish, from receiving to shipping. This was possible thanks to the support of the operations team: Carlos Ramírez, Norberto Pérez and Miguel Ramírez, to name a few. Here I was able to pinpoint several opportunities.

I also had a moment to discuss the administrative process with Francisco Javier Villarreal, our Administrative Coordinator for Purchasing and Finance, and the customer service workflow with Edgar Gomez , Customer Service Supervisor with vast customer experience.

Overall this closer look into the operation allowed me to have a better vision of our processes and, as I usually do in my quality system audits, I will continue to search for improvements.

Deliverables!

With the experience days and my observations of the different processes it was time to present my proposals at the end of the module.

I used the 8 waste philosophy when looking at the processes and I was able to find 3 #opportunities for #improvement with regards to Non-utilized talent, Transportation and Motion.

These proposals combined have a potential to save $10,000 MXN per year in operating costs for the facility.

My other colleagues also looked within their own operations and found many amazing opportunities. Some, like me, had a narrow scope in their process observations while others like Alejandra Aguilar or Alexis Hormazábal took a more comprehensive approach about their findings. Everyone did a very good job on bringing new and fresh ideas to the table.

Overall, this module was very fast-paced but that didn't stop us from accomplishing the objectives and I am glad to say I passed the module!

Module 3 - Denmark International Project

With module 2 over, I am finishing up the details and preparations for my international project, this is what encompasses module 3.

There are no trainings or experience days in this module. But in a way spending time looking at the project's elements and getting to know the people behind the local processes in Denmark will be as if i was doing that.

My project is regarding a template, structure or process for invoicing auditors that helps them do invoicing audits in a fast, secure and reliable way when a customer is up for review.

Lau J?rgensen , QHSE & Projects Manager in Denmark, is my sponsor for the month I will be there and he has been very attentive with the preparations. I am also counting with the help of Hanne Obling from HR, she has also been very kind.

I have my accommodations ready, my flights scheduled, and I am only finishing up the details. I will take off on the 24th of July, next week!

Some of my fellow young professionals are already out there in their international projects and while we focus on achieving the expected results, there will be weekends we get to explore a bit more about our host countries, just like Brendan Currie and Zsuzsa Luka are already experiencing.

I am excited for the coming project and I am ready to do my best. The hardest part of it is being away from my wife, my family and friends, but that's part for the course. I know I will get to meet great people and enjoy what Denmark and its people have to offer.

Who knows, I might get to meet Jens Bj?rn Andersen and the rest of our C-suites at the Hedehusene headquarters.

Thank you for accompanying me on this #journey full of #knowledge, projects and excitement, let's meet again next edition, have a wonderful end of July and an even better August!