In today’s world, it is important to keep on your toes and be well-prepared for whatever the day has in store. This is so much easier to achieve when you have employees around you with different experience and knowledge. Perhaps you have read the previous blog posts “Different Nationalities, Shared Strength” and “Shared Breakfast, Nourishment for the Soul”, written by a couple of my colleagues. They give the impression that we are like a bag of mixed sweets – a great many people from different countries and different departments. And that really is true. Garantell has all functions and departments under one roof, from Production to Sales, from Development to Painting.
Thanks to our philosophy that everyone at Garantell works under the same roof, our customers are able to get their questions answered quickly. We assist each other across departmental boundaries, and you always get a helping hand and swift responses to your questions. An example of this occurred during the spring when many countries went into lockdown due to the pandemic, which meant that we, as sales representatives, received fewer requests. But all goods ordered still had to be produced and delivered. So a few of us went down to production and helped out in order to optimise time and direct our energy towards what was important – delivering the goods to waiting customers on time. At the same time, we obtained more knowledge about production and packaging, which ultimately also benefits our customers.
Even during a normal workday we gladly move between departments and learn from each other. Besides the fact that it’s fun to meet with product developers in the R&D department when they’ve come up with a new product, or the warehouse workers when they’ve broken records for the number of packed pallets, it’s very practical to have employees from the various departments in such close proximity.
It is also a major advantage for our customers that sales reps have regular meetings with R&D, in which we discuss needs and how the markets are developing and changing. We do this to ensure that we are always one step ahead and to effectively simplify our customers’ everyday lives.
Company processes can sometimes hamper efficiency. There may be numerous intermediaries in communication, which means information must be conveyed from person to person, and each individual must then wait for an answer before the problem is eventually resolved.
Here at Garantell, one of our goals is to always respond within four hours – a service that is greatly appreciated. Although we are physically far away from our customers, our fast communication paths mean that, in most cases, we can respond quickly.
My customers, for instance, are around 2,000 kilometres away in Spain and Portugal. One of the disadvantages of this is that I cannot meet with them as often as I would like, but thanks to technology they are just a push of a button away. With a simple phone call, I immediately feel like I’m eating tapas in a bar in Spain.
It is very exciting to work at a company that is growing at Garantell’s rate. It is motivating to be part of a company that has never-ending ideas for further development, both at an individual level and at company level. Our new subsidiary Smartlack – which is naturally also under the same roof – is a perfect example of this. The company was formed in response to huge demand from our customers to be able to obtain powder-coated products faster.
What will it look like in 5 years? There are a lot of exciting ideas and plans, so one can only guess right now. Will the factory have new machines? Will the roof be completely covered by solar panels?
There’s a lot we don’t know, but one thing that is certain is that Garantell will always search for ways to simplify everyday life for customers and employees.