Learning through experience


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Ciao, hej and Nǐ hǎo TraineeBloggen!


My name is Nicola Brioschi and I’m part of the SKF’s Global Graduate Programme. I’m from Italy, with a background in mechanical engineering, ICE and turbomachinery specialization.
It’s been already 9 months that I joined SKF, having the fabulous opportunity to be part of this journey with other 10 colleagues from all over the world. Let’s go deeper into the details together…

The programme starts with a brief period in your home country (Italy for me) to get in touch with the local SKF and its environment. Suddenly, the real programme starts with an introduction month at the SKF headquarter in Gothenburg. I can’t imagine a better way to start your career in a global company: in this weeks you have the chance to meet the senior management, get the vision (A world of reliable rotation “) and mission (“The undisputed leader in the bearing business”) of the company and its way to achieve it.
The first impression that I had of the company made me feel that I made the right choice: SKF is a family, where there aren’t any barriers between employees, it doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or an expert, it doesn’t matter what is your job role; whoever you are in the corporation, you can get in contact with anyone to share knowledge, experience, ask questions about a particular stuff or just for a coffee during a break.
The time in Gothenburg was awesome and we participated in several trainings about Business Acumen, Finance, REP, products reviews and also a visit in the factory where bearings are manufactured: from raw material to a high-quality product. Furthermore, it gave me the possibility to meet the other 10 graduates as well as the previous SKF graduates. Funny activities and moments of reflection are mixed together and suddenly a great chemistry and synergy is created.

Wave 3 graduates with Alrik, SKF CEO

After the introduction month, I came back in Turin to start my first rotation, working on my own project. I was in the Product Development team for Super Precision Bearings, a product which requires a high level of running accuracy at high to extremely high speed (mainly spindles for machine tools, but you can find them also in racing, medical equipment…). I worked on a really technical project and I don’t want to annoy you with too much technical details: what I can say is that it gave me the chance to learn so many things about bearings, measuring systems, machine capabilities and 6 sigma principles. I am really grateful to all the people involved for giving me that opportunity, even if I was a fresh graduate.

Beside the bigger project, I was involved in the daily work of the office such as drawing preparation for customers or software simulations. During these 5 months I had also the opportunity to take several trainings on PLM, design courses and to take part at BIMU, the biggest fair in Italy on machine tools, robot, automation and digital manufacturing. The time flew and soon it was time to get back in Gothenburg for 2 weeks to share our experiences with our colleagues and have other powerful trainings as the GPM2 and the Agile way of working.

SKF Villar Perosa factory

As a trainee you are expected to be very flexible, that’s why I made luggage again for the second rotation: 5 months in Taiwan, at the machine tools solution factory. Here I am involved in different projects and activities with a close relationship with customers. If they experience problems in their application, mainly grinding, milling and turning, the solution factory can help them to find the root cause. In addition, we also design and mount spindles and components at the factory, selling to customers the assets and providing them monitoring services: only SKF can provide such a 360° offer!

But the journey in Asia is not yet finished for me… In June/July I am going to Shanghai for several customer visits where we will follow tests regarding SKF new products and solutions to reduce Noise & Vibration. Beside that, we want also to develop a more structured dialogue with customers to go deeper in their real needs and understand how SKF can help them when it comes to rotating parts. All the acquired information will be then passed to Product Development and Process to align. I am excited about seeing a new country and their way of doing business.

Trip with colleagues (or should I say friend?)

And after?

Another great point of the Programme is that you can actually choose your rotation and explore the most suited role for you. My next step will be in Steyr, Austria, working in manufacturing environment. Another part will be related to ReMan; this is quite a new business for SKF where basically we offer to customer remanufactured bearings, as well as service and condition monitoring to get more knowledge about the condition of their assets. If customer knows the condition of its asset in real time, he can also foresee maintenance period and change bearings without losing time; the used bearing can later be send to SKF Reman Centers to be inspected and remanufactured, giving them a new life. Can’t wait to set up another challenging project with my future manager!

Hope you have enjoyed the reading and gain some insights about the Programme and SKF in general!

Cheers,

Nicola

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Starting global!


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Ciao everyone!

I’m Ginevra from Italy, I am an engineer and I am part of the SKF Global Graduate Programme wave 3. Being half way through the programme, I feel like it’s time to share with you how my experience has been so far.

I am sure that you already know how the programme is structured, but in case you don’t, I will summarize it briefly for you:

  • 1 introduction month in Gothenburg
  • 3 5-months rotations in different business units
  • 2-weeks gatherings in Sweden with all your graduate colleagues between the rotations

The start – Rotation 1

I’ve joined SKF in September 2018, and after a quick week in the office in Milan to know my colleagues and get my pc and mobile, it was already time to fly to Gothenburg for the introduction month! Needless to say that it was great experience. What really impressed me at the time was the availability and willingness of the senior management to meet us and share with us their views. As a young professional, it doesn’t happen that often be given a 360° overview of the company and of its strategy.

It was then time to go back to Italy for my first rotation! In Milan I joined our Industrial Sales team for 5 months. During this time I mainly worked on a market study project which included database analysis, future trends in the segment, our value proposition and the go-to-market strategy. In the meantime, a lot of customer visits with our account managers!

All wave 3 during the introduction month

What’s happening now – Rotation 2

After the gathering in Sweden with the other graduates (so nice to meet everyone again!) it was time to start a new experience: I moved here in Gothenburg to start my second placement in Business Development in one of our factories!

I was expecting to have a slow start, being the new one that is staying in the department for only some months but it was not the case. Here I found a team that has involved me in all the activities from day one – asking for my opinions and challenging my views – the best start I could ask for!

I am currently working on three different projects regarding our self-aligning roller bearings, and everyday I find myself working with people from all over the world. Plus, I get to spend some time in the factory, getting my hands dirty and understanding how our bearings come to life.

In the factory with one of our large size bearings

What will happen next – Rotation 3

In August I will move to Katrineholm to spend the last part of my second rotation in our housings factory, and I am looking forward to understanding more about our manufacturing.

In the last few days I have also started planning my third rotation, which will probably be a split one: 2 months in China, joining the Product Development team, and 3 months in Germany.

I am extremely excited about the next adventures, wish me luck!

Arrivederci!

Ginevra

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SKF Global Graduate – the growing never ceases


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What’s up, TraineeBloggen?

My name is Morris Tong, part of SKF Global Graduate Programme of Wave 3. I have a background in mechanical engineering. And I am from Shanghai. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to kick off the wonderful journey in September last year with other fellow graduates. And I am very glad to tell you about my journey so far and share some insights toward this program.

All of wave 3 enjoying the lunch together

The Program started in September last year, soon after I joined SKF. I could easily recall how excited and thrilled I was back then. The introduction month in Gothenburg was sensational. Not only did I get the chance to meet other graduates from all over the world, but the nice overview of the whole corporation. That month was so well organized that I also got the chance to meet those cool guys from wave 2, from whom I got multiple valuable advice on rotations. The diversity of our wave impressed me most. We come from different parts of the world with different backgrounds no matter in culture or in major. It is always interesting to learn different things or see things differently by collaborating with them.

The first 5-month rotation started right after the introduction month was over. I am currently working in my home unit as part of Product Line Management team. Soon after I came back, I was assigned to be the project manager to take charge of the development of a new ball bearing by my manager. To be honest, the pressure was a little bit overwhelming and the project was also challenging to me in the very beginning. However, one of the best things of this program was the connection with other graduates and my own mentor. We could share our concerns, discuss our problems with each other. Also, my mentor gave lots of ideas on how to run the projects. Now, the project is ongoing well. The factory is producing the samples. Once they are done, we will deliver them to our customer for the validation test. My first rotation is coming to an end. Looking back at the past five months, I tried to make small progress every day, even though sometimes they just turned out to be baby steps. And now I have got a better understanding of both product knowledge and project process.


Head office of SKF China, where I work everyday for my first rotation.

Next month, all of us will gather together in Gothenburg again. I’m looking forward to seeing them. My next rotation will be in France. Although the first rotation in my home city was enjoyable, I am now super excited to come out of my comfort zone and explore more. It’s going to be another challenge. And it’s the challenge that let you push forward. Thus, it’s a process of growing that never ceases.

Morris

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Nur die Harten kommen in den Garten (Only the strongest survive)


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Me at SKF Group Headquarters in Gothenburg

Hola a todos!

First rotation

I’m Emilio from Gothenburg, Sweden. I started at SKF end of August in the global marketing team. There I did my first project, the project involved digital marketing and digital campaigns. It was super fun, I got to meet so much inspiring colleagues and other people during the various courses I did.

Me and Lisa looking for the perfect spot to do the promo shooting

Second rotation

I’m currently on my second rotation in Schweinfurt, Germany, working on a very interesting mountain bike project. I am responsible of all the social media strategy in this mountain bike project. The project is about providing our mountain bike customers with better products, this project will therefore have an impact on mountain bikers all over the world.

 

Me, Alessandra and Rasmus (also global trainees) sightseeing in the beautiful city of Würzburg

Germany as a country is very beautiful and all the people are super nice. Two things that strike me is that Germany is more analog than I thought. Most of the places don’t accept card and you pay everything with cash (restaurants, stores, taxi etc.). Another thing is the internet connection in the country, is super slow, I’m very surprised. When it comes to the German work culture the German colleagues are way more prepared during each meeting than we Swedes are, also they like quick and efficient decisions (not waiting for a consensus like we Swedes tend to do). Time is of essence for Germans, they don’t want you to be late nor to waste their time with a poorly executed meeting or PowerPoint presentation.

 

Sunset in Buenos Aires

Third rotation

For my third and last rotation, SKF is sending me to Buenos Aires, Argentina. I’m super excited to see what Latin America can give me both professionally but also personally. In one way, you could say that I will experience how my life could have been if I was born and raised there instead of Sweden.

 

Un saludo desde Alemania,

Emilio

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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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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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Västkustresa och nätverksbreddning


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På inköp tickar klockan ofta fortare. Många slåss mot tiden och ibland kan det se hopplöst ut. Dock så är det som mycket annat – det löser sig, för att man sätter sig ner för att lösa det. Så även om många inköpare talar om att de har mycket att göra och att det stressas ibland så märker man väldigt tydligt att alla trivs fruktansvärt bra på sina positioner. Med välfyllda agendor så hinner man med mycket, man känner sig effektiv och det blir roligare för man märker av resultat av sin strävan och slit.

Teckning av Lindström som jag finner härlig

Frekvensen av mina blogginlägg har sjunkigt något under min sista tid på inköp. Det kan bero på många olika leverantörsbesök där det senaste i raden var ner till Göteborg, min gamla studentstad. Nostalgin var på topp när jag checkade in på Hotel Post i Götet (hotellet som jag gjorde mitt exjobb på för ett år sedan och som då var en smutsig byggarbetsplats hade nu förvandlats till ett vackert vattenhål för hotellgäster och glada Göteborgare). Två dagar gick åt för att prata kvalitetsfrågor och framtida samarbeten med fyra leverantörer innan de tre Scaniaiterna drog sig tillbaka österut.

 

Klappar postlådan på Clarion Hotel Post i Göteborg

 

Jag och Anders testar restaurangutbudet i Göteborg

Vid sidan av inköpsarbetet så har jag även arrangerat ett besök för ett gäng SKF:are som reste  till Södertälje för att lyssna till hur Scania jobbar med ledarskap. En dag med intressanta ledarskapsföreläsningar, rundvandring i produktionen samt avslut med lastbils- & busskörning på Scanias Demo Center resulterade i att tummen var upp från samtliga deltagare. Att man bygger ett starkt nätverk inom Scania hade jag förväntat mig när jag började på traineeprogrammet men att man även skulle bredda sitt nätverk genom att träffa kollegor från andra branscher hade jag missat men glatt välkomnar.

 

Två glada SKF:are testkör några tungviktare

-Jens

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