Jonathan Cabeza

My journey as Global Trainee at Husqvarna Group started 9 months ago after obtaining a graduate degree at Duke University in Durham, USA. One of the few things that we were reminded about at school is that, with time, everything has gone global, which made the Global Trainee role very interesting to me.

I began a few months before the program officially kicked off in order to help one of our executives improve monthly reporting processes. At the time, I was not an expert in cost and finance, but I am always happy to learn something new. During those 9 months I was also able to get some exposure to product management, learn about all the products we manufacture and meet people from all over the world who are directly or indirectly involved in the creation and distribution of our products.

Husqvarna Group is the world’s largest producer of products like robotic lawn mowers, garden tractors, chainsaws and trimmers, and on my first rotation, I was asked to help documenting the reporting process for Cost Savings Projects for the wheeled category in Charlotte, USA, and improve it, if possible. The process would take about 8 hours of work after becoming proficient at it; it took me 23 hours the first time around. This showed me that the process needed to be improved more than it needed to be documented for someone else to do it. After several meetings with my former boss and also mastering the process, I had a clear idea about how to reduce the man hours needed and how to improve its accuracy. I always believed that anything I can do, I can do better. Therefore, after several iterations, ten or so, I was able to reduce it from 8 hours to 15 minutes while improving its accuracy by automating the whole process into a 37-tab Excel file. Currently, we not only save several thousands of dollars a year going through what used to be a tedious and inaccurate process, but we are now reporting accurate figures every month.

Global Trainees 2014

Late August was finally here and it was time for me to go to Sweden to officially start the program and meet my international counterparts. During this time I was able to meet the people behind the Global Trainee Program as well as most of the key decision-makers on Swedish soil. Teamwork was a great part of the workshops we participated in, which allowed all trainees to get to know each other better. Additionally, we were able to get our hands on all sorts of products Husqvarna Group manufactures, from a simple trimmer to an impressive demolition robot. During those two weeks in Sweden we were able to participate in networking events and dinners that allowed us to interact with company people in an informal setting.

Upon my return to the States, my first official and current rotation began; this time I was working for the Product Management and Development team for Consumer Brands in Charlotte, USA. My main objective here is to come up with the necessary tools and templates for the entire Group to use, in order to be able to make appropriate business decisions and at the same time maintain a consistent format amongst all product managers. This assignment was definitely more abstract than the first one and it took several meetings with product managers and current supervisor to determine what I needed to do and how. Three months later, I am in the late tuning stages of the main template I created, which should be released to the Group within a month. This template is automated as well, which will help product managers save time year after year when they are due for an update.

Overall, my experience as Global Trainee has been highly positive and rewarding. I have met and worked with helpful and smart people, while at the same time I have been able to learn new skills and sharpen others. Being able to get different outlooks from people all around the world when working on any given project has allowed me to change the way I think and do things; now I have a more global perspective in decision-making. I anxiously look forward to the following rotations and to the wealth of knowledge that will come along with them. I will keep you posted…

Jonathan Cabeza

Global Trainee
Product Management & Development – Wheeled
Charlotte, USA