Global Trainee – my next step


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Hello readers!

I’m Christian, the Global Trainee in the area of research and development for electronics and software in Ulm. I live close to Ulm in south Germany. Originally, I already joined Husqvarna Group (strictly speaking the Gardena division) in 2010 for the dual study program at the cooperative state university of Baden-Württemberg. After that I worked for two years as an electrical engineer especially in the field of IoT. During this time, I realized that I can expand my knowledge even further. This motivated me to start my master studies – of course also in Electrical Engineering. After my graduation I returned to Husqvarna Group and I had the unique opportunity to become a part of the Global Trainee program. Besides this opportunity the reason why I wanted to come back to the company was, that I really liked working with my old team and the very good collaboration and atmosphere.

For a good start as the new trainee group and to immediately get to know all the important stuff about the company we got an introductory week in Sweden. After this first week I started directly to support my old team with their development projects. In particular I primarily write embedded software for microcontrollers, a task which I really love to do! In addition, I also do some hardware reviews to find issues and improve the new products.

The department currently has no department head. Therefore, I’ve got the great chance (which is of course also a big challenge) to be part of important decisions. For example: for me a whole new task was to be actively involved in job interviews from an employer point. So, for the first time I had to really assess the applicants. That was a very valuable experience.

So finally let’s risk a view into the future. Starting in March next year I’ll spend half a year in Sweden, which I am already looking forward to!

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season and a happy New Year!

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Exciting times as a global trainee at Husqvarna Group


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Hi everyone, now it’s time for me to write another post about my experience of the Trainee Program at Husqvarna Group. I wrote my last post, more than a year ago, and I can’t believe that it has already been a year. I guess time flies when you have fun!

Now I’m sitting in northern England reflecting over my last 1,5 years and I’m grateful to be a part of this great company and Trainee Program. What great experiences and learnings I’ve got during this time, I’m sure it will have a positive impact on the rest of my career. I will soon move back to Sweden after being in England for 6 months working in Manufacturing Engineering and Product Support.

Mandatory football match  (Newcastle)

But before I start my next rotation I will fly to Shanghai for a week of training with the other trainees. During this week we will visit our manufacturing sites in China as well as the main office in Shanghai, which I very much look forward to. These weeks in between the rotations are great! It is always fun the meet all the other trainees and share laughs and experiences. We also get a great opportunity to boost our career and increase the understanding about the challenges and opportunities within the Group.

The last six months, I’ve spent in our factory in the UK, where we make our robotic lawnmowers. It has been a great experience with great co-workers, both at work and outside of work. During this period I have spent half my time with the manufacturing Engineering team, focusing on new technologies and automation opportunities. The second part I’ve spent with Product Support, where my focus has been more towards process development activities.

This will probably be my last blog post here, but not the last from the trainees at Husqvarna Group, don’t forget to check them out! And if you are interested in hearing more about the Trainee Program and manufacturing, let me know in a comment.

Picture from presentation skills training in Charlotte NC. (Part of last training)

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What I’ve been up to, SKF Global Trainee Programme


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Hi Traineebloggen, it’s me Carl, previously just a reader, now a writer.

A little more than a year ago I was a reader of Traineebloggen, but then as a senior in Mechanical Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg. I had just started to feel a mixture of anxiety and excitement about the future, what do I want to do, with whom and where? And who would want me to do something, somewhere with someone?

Traineebloggen gave me answer to what I want to do (become a trainee), and SKF gave me the possibility to discover new somewheres and someones, so I’ll try to help you guys out, by sharing.

I started as a Global Trainee in Application Engineering, in August of 2017 together with my ten trainee colleagues from across the globe. Would love to tell you more of our intro-month, but Saien and Henry has already got that covered (click here for Henry’s & here for Saien’s posts).

From the intro month: Off work challenge, escape room with Saien, Li, Allan and Dennis.

Clarification of tasks and short description of what I’ve been up to.

Application Engineering: Working very close with the customer to optimize the bearings arrangements. Could be in different phases, either in development phases with Original Equipment Manufacturers, improving current arrangements or root causing failures and prevent them from occurring again. This means that it’s both a strong customer and technical focus. The teams the customer meets consist of Sales, Customer Service and Application Engineering, to be able to cover their needs.

Customer visits: After a couple of years buried in literature, it was really exciting to get out in the real world, at our customers. Sounds pretty cheesy, but working in the engine bay of a towing vessel together with two 37 litres diesel engines was a blast. We conducted service on the drive-train, which included physical inspection of bearings, housing, lubrication and mounting of seals. The service job gave me valuable insight in both the technology and customer relations.

Project: In Sweden, we are set to increase the competitiveness of Swedish industry. Meaning that we need to be in the forefront when it comes to technology, organizational efficiency and being able to deliver the solutions our customers expect. To facilitate for this, several improvement projects are ongoing, and mine is focused on how to increase the value to the customer by having a closer collaboration, and how to set up the business for such a collaboration.

Education: Hybrid bearings in Steyr, Austria. SKF’s site in Steyr develop and manufacture bearings with ceramic rolling elements and coated steel bearings for electric insulation. As an engineer, this is really exciting, since the properties of such bearing are vastly improved in some areas compared to all steel bearings. These bearings are lighter, can run faster, with less lubrication, in more contaminated environments without the risk of being damaged from electrical currents. Meaning that these bearings are the “pièce de résistance”, located in some of the toughest places, such as F1 gearboxes and aerospace applications.

A demanding application and a long collaboration, SKF and Ferrari.

What happens next: In April I’m moving to Brazil for five months, to get to know another part of our global organization. I’m really excited about the journey, since I’m convinced I can contribute to their daily operations and challenges, and also to grow and learn as a global citizen. Hopefully, next time you hear from me, I have more to tell you about this experience.

For you: If you also want to spend 18 months: challenge, learn and develop, both yourself and SKF, apply “here” (for applicants based in Sweden).

SKF Wave 2 Trainees

 

If you have any questions, feel free to use the comment section.

Take care!

/Carl

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From Fika to Electrification


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What do Swedish coffee breaks, internet of things, chainsaws, lithium batteries, and robots all have in common?……….me. I have interacted extensively with all of these things and many more through my time as a Global Trainee with Husqvarna Group.

I joined Husqvarna Group after finishing my electrical engineering bachelors at Georgia Tech in the summer of 2016. My trainee journey began at the R&D test department of the North American headquarters based in Charlotte, NC. It was a wonderful way to get hands on exposure to the products and begin building, what was to become, a very extensive network of useful connections.

Product training in the forest of Huskvarna –   Battery Chainsaw

Come September I traded in my steel toed boots for a pair of tight jeans and a parka, then boarded my first flight for Stockholm, Sweden.

In Stockholm, I joined up with the other trainees for a week of introduction to the global organization. Here is where I had my first experience with the Swedish tradition of Fika: a coffee break with colleagues and friends that’s often accompanied by a nice pastry (to really understand just check out the Fika song https://youtu.be/oRIeytEXGhQ).

Breast Cancer Awareness in the Stockholm Office

I jumped right into my next rotation with the Stockholm based Technology Office. In the technology office, I worked extensively with the Battery Box project. An exercise in IoT, sharing economies, and strategic corporate partnerships. It was an exciting experience to stretch our thinking around how we interact with our customers.

After a few months, I headed south to the thriving metropolis of Huskvarna, the namesake and largest Swedish site of our Group. In Huskvarna I worked initially with the Pro Battery test team. I got to work extensively with our line of professional lithium powered hand tools and their related products. This gave me a terrific opportunity to familiarize myself with the lithium batteries systems that are rapidly changing the face of the industry. While in Huskvarna I also had the privilege of working with the Automower development team. The Automowers are easily the most electrically complex products in our portfolio and many will argue that they are the future of several segments of the industry. Here I was given the opportunity to help map the development process for the hardware team and in doing so became quite familiar with all the onboard systems.

Before I knew it 9 months had passed and it was time for me to head back to my home base in Charlotte. I ventured out from my technical background to spend 6 months working with our purchasing team. It is always important to work outside of your comfort zone sometimes and I found that I very much enjoyed the face time I got with our current and potential suppliers. I have gained a new appreciation for what they do and I am very glad I had the chance to experience a new perspective.

Trainee Project Management Training in Ulm, Germany

As I am wrapping up my time in Charlotte and preparing for my next and final international rotation in Germany, I look back on the last year and a half. My time in Sweden was a fantastic cultural experience. My world view has been expanded and I made friends and connections that will follow me for a lifetime. What stands out most clearly is just how valuable that cultural experience is, especially in this international work place. I am so grateful for all the technical knowledge that I’ve learned in my time so far. It is obvious that the future of this industry is intertwined with technology such as lithium power and IoT, and it is imperative that we facilitate development in those areas. However, what I value the most from my time as a trainee and what I believe will take me the furthest, are the relationships I have developed along the way.

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After the Wave II Introduction month


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Hello Everyone

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Saién Rugdeo ( Sai the Guy as I was frequently referred to during the past month). I have a background in mechanical engineering with experience in renewable energy for automotive vehicles. I am from South Africa, and I am fortunate enough to be a part of this amazing experience, alongside 10 other talented individuals for the Second wave of the SKF Global Trainee Programme. I am really excited to be the first of the Wave II trainees to post about our experiences.
During the month of September, all 11 of us gathered and met for the first time. We all had no idea what we were in store for exactly, but we soon realized how fortunate we were to be in this position, being exposed to the inner workings of an industry leader with such a global footprint. We met with members of Group Management as well as representatives from the various units with SKF, and we were encouraged to ask the challenging questions. We also ran into those cool kids from Wave I !

 

SKF Wave 2 Trainees

The best part of the introduction month was the opportunity to tackle tasks and problems with the other trainees who are not from the same background or have the same set of skills as I do. I noticed something amazing that would happen all the time, a “Mastermind Effect” . The diverse teams would come up with such creative solutions and ideas that would have never been possible if we all had the same skill set. It is something quite scalable, and I encourage everyone to approach tasks with this mindset. Collaborate!

I am currently back in my home unit of Application Engineering, in SKF South Africa. My 5 month rotation here will see me working with the engineers on different tasks, however I was assigned with 1 main task. As you may know, SKF takes its impact on the environment very seriously. SKF has 15 LEED (Leading in Energy and Environmental Design) certified buildings around the world, which proves its commitment towards Environmental Care. My main task during my 5 month rotation is to propose ways improve the energy efficiency and waste management of our current premises in Johannesburg, South Africa. I look forward to this challenge as well as the journey ahead of me over the next 18 months.

Please feel free to ask me any questions or give feedback and thoughts.
Until Next Time
-Sai

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WorldWorkTour


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Hej,

Jag heter Ulrika Orstadius och jag är ytterligare en trainee från Stockholmskontoret. Tänkte ta tillfället i akt och blogga lite från min #worldworktour och berätta om mina upplevelser från programmet hittills.

Vem är jag och vad gör jag här? Stora frågor som kan besvaras på en miljon abstrakta sätt, men rent faktamässigt så är jag Ulrika, född och uppvuxen i Göteborg. Jag pluggade nere i Lund till civilingenjör inom medicin och teknik och flyttade till Stockholm en vecka innan jag påbörjade traineetjänsten. Jag visste rätt tidigt att jag ville gå ett traineeprogram och när jag hittade Octapharmas – var jag säker på att det var dit jag ville. Det jag gillar med Octapharmas Corporate Trainee Program är att man får möjligheten att rotera hos så många olika funktioner – jag menar hittills har jag varit runt (nästan) överallt hos Produktionen, jag har också varit hos: Logistik, Material Management, Inköp, Produktionssupport, Validering, Finans och IT m.m. På denna korta tid har jag träffat nästan hela Stockholmsiten och jobbat tillsammans med kanske 500-600 personer (alltså faktiskt jobbat tillsammans med). Det är så häftigt!

Man får ett stort helikopterperspektiv på hela verksamheten som man kommer att kunna använda sig av i sin framtida yrkesroll och man har en möjlighet att bygga ett nätverk på väldigt kort tid. En annan del som lockade med detta program är den internationella sidan av det. Vi har under programmets gång ett antal rotationer och summits där vi är på andra siter än vår hemmasite. Ett stort antal av dessa hamnade efter varandra för min del – därav hashtaggen #worldworktour, hehe.

Just nu är jag på min längre internationella placering som är på vårt huvudkontor hos Corporate Branding i Lachen, Schweiz.  Innan detta var jag, Mathias och Viktoria på besök i Dessau, Tyskland, en av två platser där vi har visuell inspektion och paketering. Efter min tid här i Lachen skall jag till produktionssiten i Wien, Österrike, och därefter är det en summit i Heidelberg, Tyskland. Full rulle! WorldWorkTour!

Det som är kul med att komma ut till andra siter är dels att få se de saker som man inte kan se i Stockholm, dels att få uppleva de olika arbetskulturerna. På mitt kontor här i Lachen exempelvis består teamet av mig från Sverige, en från Spanien, en från Tyskland, en från Skottland och två från Frankrike. Jag älskar denna internationella miljö. Vi är så otroligt lika och olika på samma gång och det gör det väldigt spännande att gå till jobbet.

Jag är mer för visuella förklaringar än att ta in information via text, så hoppas på att kunna lägga ut några filmklipp från några av siterna i framtiden för att visa hur det ser ut. Until next time – Ciao!

 

Ett traineeprogram med utsikt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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