Nu är det även dags för mig att skriva det sista blogginlägget här på Traineebloggen, eftersom jag snart inte är en trainee längre. Det är en märklig känsla att tiden har gått så fort och att jag snart faktiskt lite mer på riktigt kan titulera mig som systemutvecklare snarare än trainee. Vi är rätt bra ändå!

Denna veckan har jag varit ledig två dagar och hälsat på Mittuniversitetet i Östersund, där jag läste på distans och tog examen från för ett år sedan. De har där en årlig informatik-konferens och jag var inbjuden för att komma dit och prata i år om hur det har gått efter studierna. Det kändes ganska stort att stå där och prata inför studenterna och berätta om hur livet kan se ut efteråt. Jag fick även en god chans för reflektion och se tillbaka över traineeperioden.

Ärendet jag sitter med nu är i vårt behörighetssystem där det skall in lite ny funktionalitet. Det känns som en väldigt bra uppgift för att lära sig mer , då det innebär både backend, frontend och databas/sql. Det är bra att få vara inne i alla delar och lära sig se kopplingarna. I det här teamet så kan det variera väldigt mycket mellan hur uppgifterna ser ut, vilket jag verkligen tycker är en stor del av charmen!

Jag ser verkligen fram emot de nya utmaningarna som kommer och jag är oerhört tacksam för att ha fått den här möjligheten på traineeprogrammet. Jag är många erfarenheter rikare och gissar på att det framöver kommer att bli ännu mer. Vi är alla lite nyfikna nu på hur det går i rekryteringen nu och vilka nya traineer vi får se i höst och bli faddrar åt. 🙂 Stort tack för mig!

Hi again everyone!!

Since last time I’ve been to really interesting and exiting events! Last week I participated at Handelsrådets workshop about innovation in retail, where people both from the industry, the government and academia joined to discuss the future within retail. The dynamic group really generated good and interesting discussions with many different perspectives – it’s really interesting to be a part of discussions where the competences are so different. The discussed topic’s was about a seamless commerce, sustainability and also the need of raising the importance of retail in our society. The trade sector accounts for 11% of Sweden’s GDP and 1 of 5 young and foreign born get their first job within the retail sector, which means that this sector is an important employer in social perspective. This can give us an issue when the new digital technologies are introduced to our market, what will the first jobs be then?

The day after I joined Matdagen 2019 which is a day hosted by Livsmedelsföretagen who is a branch organization for the food industry in Sweden. The focus area for this year’s event was public health. What can the industry do to contribute to good healthy lifestyles, spread evidence-based knowledge about food and health, create more food joy and simply help people feel better?

One exciting thing during the day was the award of the prize “Food Exporter of the Year” where Viking Malt was the winners who is partly owned by Lantmännen. Viking Malt has an export share of 80 % and annually exports 600 000 ton Swedish malt to breweries and distilleries worldwide.

In between the exiting events I’m still mapping up the value chain for oats – it is incredible how much you can do with oats and how many health benefits there are with oats.

Have a great week everyone and until next post, eat some oats – it’s good for you!

Best Regards,
Moa

PS. Did you know that the Food industry is the third biggest industry in Sweden?

Hello  everyone!

Since last time I have finished my last project for Swecon Baltics where I made a suggestion of a process of how to work with prizing of spare parts. I learned plenty during my time there, both about different way of working with prizing, the difficulties of having the right price when you hare hundreds of thousands different spare parts, and also the cultural differences between the three countries Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In other words – a great project!

Now I’m sitting at the strategic department in Stockholm HQ where I currently look at the value chain of oats within Lantmännen. Plenty is happening within oats in the food industry so it’s a very hot topic here at Lantmännen. So far, I‘ve had the great opportunity to attend external meetings which have given me insight in how to work with strategic questions, also on how decisions are made. As the business plans for the different businesses in Lantmännen are set during this time of the year, I also learn about that process – really interesting!

Last evening there was an Afterwork at the HQ office with a music quiz – great fun it was!

Until next time!

/Moa

When I write this I have been part of Husqvarna Group’s Global Trainee program for a little over seven months. Before I joined the Group I studied MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management and BSc in Design and Product Development at Linköping University, Sweden.

What made me apply? When growing up I have always been exposed to Husqvarna branded products. My dad owns an Automower (robotic lawnmower) since many years back and he praises it much more than he ever did when I cut the lawn as a kid. I think this speaks to how Husqvarna make customers love their products and services, and this was something I felt I wanted to be a part of.

Once I joined I started to realize that the great products and services we offer are actually the result of a more important resource, the people. All the colleagues I get to meet are supportive and as a trainee, you really get a unique insight into the whole of Husqvarna Group’s business.

A key behavior here is to take ownership and ask yourself: What can I do? For me so far, I have had the opportunity to do the following:

• Run a handheld battery development project as a project manager.
• Contribute to our process development by interviewing and looking at how to work with resource management.
• Spend time in R&D labs taking apart (and trying to put together) every product.
• Training modules in Stockholm (Sweden) and Ulm (Germany) with all Trainees.
• Work at Husqvarna’s Automower production site in Aycliffe (UK), where I am at the moment.
• And so much more!

With that, I leave you this time with a picture of the latest and greatest Husqvarna Automower 435X with an all-wheel-drive!

Thanks, dad, for not praising my lawn cutting abilities. Until next time!

Nu är vi inne på den sista perioden i Traineeprogrammet här på Jordbruksverkets IT-avdelning. Alla traineer har blivit placerade i sitt team för den långa perioden, jag fick sitta kvar i UTV3-teamet, samma team som jag gjorde den senaste kortare praktiken i! Det kändes bra, dels för att det är ett bra team och dels för att jag slapp flytta på mig en gång till 😉 Även en av de andra traineerna hamnade i detta team för den längre perioden, en trainee som går under namnet Nora, som också har gjort några inlägg här på traineebloggen! I onsdags var vårt utvecklingsteam ute på en liten teamutvecklings/lära känna varann-aktivitet som vår team-leader/scrummaster hade anordnat. Vi var iväg på ett ställe i Husqvarna som kallas för ”prison-island”, vilket går ut på att man hade vissa rum att gå in i där man löste olika problem tillsammans för att få poäng. Vi delade upp oss i två team och tävlade mot varandra, det var kul, rekommenderas! Eftermiddagen avslutades med en burgare på brooklyn burger, en väldigt rolig och trevlig eftermiddag!

Det börjar kännas att Traineeperioden går mot sitt siste skede, men det känns bra, traineeprogrammet och dess upplägg har lagt en bra grund för att kunna gå över och jobba som utvecklare inom en snar framtid!

Hej!

Nu har redan tre veckor gått på Period 3 av traineeprogrammet. Tiden går verkligen fort! Jag blev placerad i Dreamteam som jag var i under min andra femveckors-praktik. Det känns roligt att vara tillbaka och man känner att det är lite mer “på riktigt” nu!

Jag har redan hunnit med en del åtgärder, där vissa delar varit lite mer utmanande än andra. Vissa saker kanske inte har varit så tekniskt utmanande, men lite nervöst när det varit i ett så skarpt läge. Exempelvis när jag fått utföra databasförändringar i den “riktiga” miljön – rätt coolt ändå! Jag fick även förra måndagen en uppgift som skulle lösas och driftsättas akut på fredagen, det kändes lite häftigt att vara i hetluften. 🙂 Kollegorna i teamet hjälper mig givetvis när jag fastnar och behöver hjälp. Man vill ju gärna bli så självgående som möjligt på en gång och komma på alla lösningar själv, men jag får ibland stanna upp och inse att vi alla är barn i början.

På måndag nästa vecka ska jag följa med till högskolan här i Jönköping på en lunchföreläsning för studenter. Där kommer två av enhetscheferna prata om Jordbruksverket och vår avdelning, en av teamledarna här kommer att prata om agil utveckling och jag och Anna (som är koordinator) ska prata om traineeprogrammet. Efteråt kommer det även finnas tid för lite diskussion med studenter. På tisdagen sen är det dags för informationskväll för traineeprogrammet där jag kommer att vara med, så vi hoppas att många av studenterna är sugna på att komma dit! Den här informationskvällen kommer även att livesändas på Facebook. Länken här går till Facebook-evenemanget:

https://www.facebook.com/events/588602728254832/

Sista dagen för ansökan till traineeprogrammet är på fredag nästa vecka – så tipsa era nära och kära som kanske skulle kunna vara intresserade! Information om traineeprogrammet och informationskvällen hittar ni här:

https://www.jordbruksverket.se/trainee?utm_source=MalinUlfenborg&utm_campaign=Klicktoppen

Ha en riktigt fin helg, så hörs vi igen och kanske ses vi på tisdag!

/Malin

Hi folks,

My second rotation at Aspen in Hindås (a metropol outside of Gothenburg) has ended, and it was one of the most exciting projects I have done. I was asked to develop a packaging strategy for Aspen, and quite quickly I decided to focus on a sustainable scope, as it is a great interest of mine and it seems more relevant than ever.

Aspen is a local company on a global market selling alkylate petrol for small machinery and motors, which is a product that contains less bad and hurtful chemicals and components that impact machinery, people and environment. The petrol is sold in plastic containers, and I was asked to develop a future packaging strategy for these products.

Within the first weeks I learned more about alkylate petrol and plastics than I ever thought I would. I was through a thorough 2-week introduction program with my colleagues at Aspen. I read any reports I could get my hands on regarding plastics, and I attended a plastic conference at the UN city in Copenhagen, Bio Plastics conferences in both Copenhagen and Gothenburg, and finally an internal packaging seminar at the Lantmannen HQ in Stockholm.

Within the first month I realised that the most common and impactful path to take with the plastic packaging was an effective return- and recycling system. I proceeded by looking at what the legislators did on local-, national- and international level, what other companies had done, and of course what could be done by us. I finished the project off by looking at a long-term solution with bio plastics instead of fossil-based plastic. After attending the bio plastics conferences I believe that a change of raw material for plastics will happen, but a major change is probably still some years ahead of us.

Life has been good in Sweden the past seven months (Stockholm & Gothenburg), but now it is time to move on to Chicago, where my next project is awaiting. I am going to work for Lantmännen Unibake, and will focus on digital marketing on the American market. I am looking forward to the challenges, as well as living the American dream for the first time in my life.

Stay updated on the blog as Lovisa is about to drop a lit blogpost within few days!

So long!

Mikkel

Hi again everyone!

We have just started our third project and after two projects within the food sector (Cerealia and Unibake), I am now working on a project within Swecon, which is the construction equipment reseller of Volvo’s machines. Swecon is in the development process on a webb-app, called mySwecon, where customers will be able to get an overview of their machine fleet, book services and much more. The launching of this app is TODAY- really exciting to be part of a project where so much is happening! One part of my project is to research further functions to include in this webb-app. Next week we are going to the world’s biggest fair, Bauma in Munich, to promote mySwecon and see what the competitors are up to.

So what I done since last time we talked in our neighbor-country Copenhagen? I have been working for Unibake International, the global headquarter of Unibake, where I worked on a health and nutrition concept. During the last couple of years, we have seen a trend raising in the area of health, and there are people excluding bread from their diet because bread are seen to be unhealthy. However, if a bread is unhealthy or healthy depends on the bread, there are a lot of bread that is high in fiber and wholegrain for example. As a leading bakery, of course, we want to emphasize this, so my project was to research what does our healthy portfolio look like and how should we communicate it. I also got to see a lot of the organization, for example on the picture below I joined my instructor at a workshop with the Danish organization, in Holstebro. The workshop was about how we could work to decrease the complexity in the production, but we also had some tasting activities.

I also want to share a picture from our recharge in Norrköping. During this recharge we got the opportunity to visit Lantmännen Agroetanol, which is the largest biorefinery in the Nordic region. We got to learn how they produce etanol and carbonic acid from waste of the food industry.  We were also introduced to upcoming plans for Agroetanol, and they are truly a great example of a company emphasizing circular economy.

Wishing you all a great day!

/Lovisa

I Fredags avslutades den tredje och sista praktikperioden och i måndags påbörjades den tolv veckor långa provperioden då vi skall provjobba i ett team. Och nu är jag i team Seals!

Jag har hittills fått en fullstack uppgift att göra, vilket har lärt mig mycket mer om JSF.

Precis som Rickard skrev för några veckor sedan i sitt blogginlägg om SEALS så är det ett härligt, hjälpsamt gäng.

…In northern England, more precisely in a small town called Darlington. My name is Caroline Lilja,  I’m a Global Trainee within Sourcing, and I moved here a week ago to start my second rotation in the UK Sourcing team. Very exciting!

The last few weeks have been a lot about meeting new people and traveling. I have been in Germany for our second Training Module and as mentioned, I just moved to the UK for my second rotation.

Training Module in Germany

As you might know, between each rotation, we have a training week in one of Husqvarna Group’s main sites. This time we got to visit Ulm, Gardena’s headquarter. The module typically consists of a lot of interesting presentations from different areas within the company performed by senior managers, former trainees and other amazing colleagues. The week in Ulm also offered some practical exercises like Lego simulation, project management training and, last but not least, nice food and great company! The top two things during the week was according to me, the LEGO simulation and the cooking event. The LEGO simulation is a fun activity about continues improvements and we as a group did really well! It’s so much fun to work with bright and driven people! We also got the opportunity to challenge our ability to cooperate when we, one night, attended a cooking class. We were supposed to cook a three-course dinner for 15 people… But honestly speaking, I think the real chef cooked all the food and we just messed around in the kitchen ;).

Second rotation in the UK

After the week in Ulm, I did a quick touch down in Sweden to finish up some work and then I went straight to the UK for my second rotation. In the UK we make, according to me, our coolest product. The robotic lawnmower! And wow! The UK office have really welcomed me and from day 1, I’ve felt like I’m a part of the team. Of course, it is a bit overwhelming to move to a new country, leaving the safe ground in Sweden to explore something new. But that really triggers me, and I think it’s good to step outside your comfort zone from time to time to experience new sides of yourself. Sometimes you just have to throw yourself into the unknown and see what happens. To wrap up my first week in the UK, I went out for a typical British pub crawl with my fantastic colleagues from the office, see picture below.

Professional skills and personal development

For me the trainee program is not just a great opportunity to develop my professional skills, I also get the possibility to travel around the world to learn from different cultures and to meet great new friends! This program gives me an opportunity to grow as a person and to step outside my comfort zone. Husqvarna Group is a company that understands how important it is for people to grow, not just professionally but as an individual. I’m so glad that I got this amazing opportunity.

Until next time, take care :)!

Regards,

Caroline