Forgive the title of this post; I couldn't come up with anything more descriptive that would help capture the events of the week. I blame it on television, at least from the stuff I happened to watch this past week.
The week started off okay for me. Although I was looking forward to another visit to Flensburg, I was feeling a little apprehensive about the meeting with the customer, as well as some members of the supply chain company. I was prepared for the meeting based on the agenda topics that my customer had sent out, but my experience with them usually involves a few surprises. Furthermore, my direct counterpart at the repair site was going to be out of the office until late Wednesday, leaving us almost no time to make quick last minute preparations before our face to face meeting (with all parties) on Thursday.
My Chinese customers and supply chain folks had all wanted to meet earlier in the week, but, due to the scheduling conflicts, I had to mandate that we could ONLY visit the site on Thursday, once my counterpart was back in house. The customer hadn't accepted my plea to postpone the meeting for one week, which would have allowed us a bit more time for preparations.
I, myself, was not altogether clear on when I would need to be in Flensburg, since the customer was being rather vague about when he would be arriving there. Finally, I made one last firm statement that indicated that I would travel to Flensburg on Wednesday, arriving mid to late afternoon, and that we would all convene on Thursday morning. I sent that email out on Monday afternoon, only to find out the following morning that the Chinese were already gathered in Flensburg, but at least not on site at my repair partner.
One of the elements of my job involves the coordination of such visits, and each time I have met with this customer, it has been way more complicated to do the actual coordinating, since they never seem to communicate their own plans, except for five seconds before they actually do something.
Yes, it may sound like I was overcomplicating matters and getting worked up for nothing, but there is a certain amount of etiquette that we try to follow in the repair service business, and a big point, here, involves site visits. A repair site normally has a lot of operational things going on (as one might imagine), so it is not as if they are sitting around waiting on someone to visit them. When I worked in a repair center, we always wanted our customers to come visit, but with sufficient notice so that we could plan and arrange things accordingly.
Like I said, our customer has a tendency to start doing whatever they feel like doing, including popping up unannounced at a place of business. They tend to show their dissatisfaction when you open the door with surprise, and are never patient when you scramble around trying to accommodate them.
It's right up there with how you feel when, as you are hosting a party, the first guest shows up 3 hours before the time stated on the invitation.
At any rate, Tuesday evening, I headed over the pub for a couple of beers and a little friendly company before starting my journey the following morning to Flensburg, where I would spend the rest of the week.
Tuesday night was enjoyable as I celebrated a friend's birthday one day early. I had one beer too many, but woke up ready to dash to the train station Wednesday morning. The train ride calmed me down, and I arrived mid-afternoon to my hotel in Flensburg, and found that my room was not quite yet ready for check-in.
I had a coffee from the little place next door to the hotel, and sent a proper Happy Birthday message to my friend and also to Chris and Lori, whose youngest daughter was also celebrating her birthday.
Finally, the girl at the reception desk told me my room was ready, and I took my card key and went to my room, where I found myself feeling a little deflated. I had stayed in a different hotel during my last visit, and while the current hotel was OK, it was a far cry from my previous experience.
I didn't want to be snooty, but the last hotel had been incredible, and the current one, which I had to book because the other had no vacancies, just paled in comparison. It was a little irritating because the room rates were pretty similar, and now I was having to settle for less.
Things started getting a little surreal when I turned on the television, only to find an episode of Hogan's Heroes showing, obviously in German language. I actually stopped unpacking for a moment, just to allow myself a moment to comprehend. Those familiar with this sitcom from the 1960s know full well what the show is about, and I found it really strange that such a show would be showing in Germany.
I watched a further couple of minutes in amusement before switching over to a news channel. I had no real interest in watching TV, but was just settling in the room and logging on to my computer. I wanted to catch up on a few emails before the end of the work day, as well as go over my preparations for the following day's meeting.
Fortunately, I got to speak with my counterpart for a few minutes; he had just arrived back to Flensburg himself. We felt like we were ready for the following day, despite any surprises the customer might bring along. And, immediately after we hung up, the customer texted me to confirm the meeting time for the next morning, then went on to text 5 or 6 other questions. I responded with a short text expressing my interest in speaking via telephone; it would be easier than having to wear out my thumbs trying to type the answers.
After 30 minutes, the guy did not respond, so I decided I would head out for something to eat. Just as I walked downstairs, a simple "see you tomorrow at 9am" text came through, and I just left it at that. If he did not want to speak directly, so be it. If texting is the preferred method of communication, then why in the hell did I just spend most of the day traveling?
I felt like a hamburger for dinner, and found a little cafe on the high street. The evening was rainy and a little cold (typical Flensburg), but I just wanted some quiet time. The meal was adequate, but not overwhelming, and again I thought of the super meals I had eaten during my last visit. Na ja.
Back in the hotel room, it was still too early for bed, but I was tired, so surfed through the channels looking for something to distract me until I fell asleep, and this is why I found myself watching Avatar in German language.
"Wow, first Hogan's Heroes, now Avatar, and this only days after I watched Braveheart," I thought to myself. The two epic movies obviously share some exciting rallying of the warriors prior to the battles that serve as the climactic points to the stories, and even the following morning as I finished my shower, I kind of said "Freiheit!" to myself, perhaps as a way of mentally preparing for my day.
And what a day it was.
We spent the next 8 hours discussing all of the points from our agenda, and I considered it to be semi-productive. As always, I was discouraged that the reactions (or lack their of) from the supply chain folks did not show their understanding of the challenges that their lack of performance were making. Multiple times throughout the day, I wondered if I was actually on another planet, as the words I kept saying, words I thought were from my mother tongue, were just not being understood.
Was it me? Was it my pronunciation? Was it my way of communicating? Or, did my audience simply not understand the topic we were discussing? The supply chain folks, since our repair program has started, have repeatedly failed to comprehend the task at hand. For example, they tend to only supply a minimal amount of materials, which results in my repair partner being unable to complete the repairs of the units they are trying to fix.
I won't go into a lot of detail, since the business isn't the most exciting, but to put it in layman's terms, we are constantly facing shortages of materials that are incredibly important, despite their low value.
Ask yourself this: would you ever start baking a cake or cookies at home without first making sure you had all the ingredients? It is not as if you put all the ingredients in the mixing bowl, start zipping along, then go, "hey, I don't have any sugar!"
During our visit to the repair site materials warehouse, we experienced a perfect example of where things were not functioning as we needed. One of the materials handlers held up a little plastic bag with ONE small label inside.
This label would normally be used to print (or reprint) a serial number, which would then be put onto a major component. The problem is, the label has to be put into a printer, a printer that requires a whole ROLL of labels.
I was just getting ready to (with some level of exasperation) ask our guests if they normally went to the grocery store to buy ONE SQUARE of toilet paper when I realized that they were experiencing a light bulb moment. Finally, it was dawning on them what our problem was: they were not sending us enough materials, and certain materials are needed in really large quantities.
We did manage to get through all the topics by end of day, and I was feeling exhausted as we brought the meeting to an end, but thankful that the next morning I could return home to the sanity of my own flat in Frankfurt.
Surprisingly, the supply chain folks invited us to dinner, and we all went off to a local brewery for a couple of beers, some good food, and what turned out to be some enjoyable lighthearted conversation. With respect to my customer and the supply chain team, who all have many many things going on presently, I had constantly felt frustrated with their approach to things. The Chinese customer had spent at least half the day with a phone to his ear, participating in other calls or meetings. Clearly he was only able to focus on a small percentage of the topics. Likewise, the supply chain folks seemed overly intent on doing everything manually as opposed to systematically; a method that only creates more work for everyone else. Additionally, they had not understood a lot of what had been said out loud, at least not without some extra clarification.
Now, I am not commenting on language ability. I fully understand the challenges and anxiety that come with having to conduct affairs in a foreign language. It can be scary, and not everyone likes the uncomfortable feeling of having to speak, especially when they lack confidence.
I like the challenges of having to bridge the communication gaps, but really get bogged down when it is clear that all parties do not understand the actual subject. My frustrations were related to the fact that the supply chain folks, who are supposed to be the experts, were not able to demonstrate that they knew what they were doing.
But, after a few beers, we were all laughing and smiling with each other, and as I enjoyed myself, I hoped that the relationship will continue to develop, hopefully quickly, so that we can all become a bit more efficient working together. I hoped (to myself) that in the coming days and weeks, the customer will stop sending texts or emails at all hours of the day and night, and instead start sending more concrete communications.
Only time will tell, and until then, I will find a way to make it all work.
see you out there
bryan
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