From Letter Boxes to Construction Sites – The (In)visible Heroes of Everyday Life
Don't we all know them? People who, with their warmth, an open ear or special dedication, improve the daily lives of their colleagues. Here we would like to introduce a few of them to say “Thank you!”. To those pictured here, to those not pictured, and to the quiet heroes of everyday life.
Savvas Savvidis, KUKA SE & Co. KGaA, Augsburg
Always friendly, cheerful and helpful: this is how colleagues describe Savvas Savvidis, Site Service Post & City Driver. He has been part of the KUKA team since 2002 and, together with his two colleagues, he is responsible, for example, for ensuring that all letters and packages arrive where they are supposed to at the Augsburg site. That means is 17,000 delivery notes per year and thus about 34,000 parcels that need to be delivered. But that is just one of his tasks. Whether it is processing the mail, replacing offline components or, as a last resort when an employee cannot open his locker, Savvas always has a smile on his face. He explains where that comes from.
Kristen Nasceif, KUKA Robotics, Detroit
Kristen Nasceif joined KUKA Robotics US as project manager in the Customer Service Engineering Team in 2021. After only one year, she took over projects with one of our largest customers in the US in the automotive sector. Kristen has demonstrated tremendous dedication and customer focus, leading her project teams through challenging situations with a mix of perseverance and genuine empathy. “In every project, Kristen's passion for KUKA shines through. She inspires those people around her and instills a sense of shared purpose, making her a true leader. It is important to her not only to deliver projects successfully but also with a positive team dynamic,” says Florian Winter, Engineering Manager Customer Service.
Kristen herself is particularly motivated by working with others: “Having the opportunity to work with internal and external customers on a variety of projects and seeing them through from beginning to end is what really makes my job special. It drives me to see how our team’s hard work and dedication pays off.
Seeing the support we give to each other on a daily basis makes me want to continue to give everything I have to help support projects and groups to be successful. Teamwork makes the dreamwork.”
Stephen Ford, Ranjit Keshvala and Jason Cuttill, Swisslog, ASDA in UK
Stephen Ford, Engineering Line Manager, Ranjit Keshvala, Resident Site Engineer, and Jason Cuttill, Resident Support Technician, have been working for the customer Asda, a British supermarket chain, for 16 years. This year, they became heroes there when the fire alarm suddenly sounded during an ordinary working day. It quickly became clear that it was not a test alarm. The building was completely evacuated. In the meantime, it was possible to locate the fire as coming from a kitchen appliance. Despite clear protocols, the Asda area managers were somewhat hesitant about how to proceed due to the unusual situation. Stephen, Ranjit and Jason reacted immediately: they made sure that the flaming deep fryer was isolated and that the extractor hoods were running before they fought the fire with appropriate extinguishers. Only thanks to the prudent and quick reaction of the three Swissloggers was it possible to avert greater damage for the customer – a commitment that cannot be taken for granted under the given circumstances.
“I always try to lead by example. As a senior member of the on-site team, I felt it was my responsibility to help. That's basically how I and my colleagues see things: we help whenever and however we can, no matter what the problem,” says Stephen, explaining the quick reaction.
Abdourahmane Ndour, Swisslog Healthcare, Paris
Abdourahmane Ndour, Resident Team Leader, has been working as a team leader at the hospital in Pontoise, near Paris, for more than 15 years. Even if relationships with the customer are sometimes challenging or tense: Abdourahmane is present and patient with a smile for the customer at all times. Thanks to his persistence, expertise and the work of his team, Swisslog Healthcare was able to win a new project for this customer in August: the renewal of all existing plants, which corresponds to a project volume of more than three million euros. An outstanding team effort, in which Abdourahmane played a decisive role.
When asked how he managed it, he explains: “It is important to me that my team has the right foundation to be successful together when we work on site. Everyone is professional, listens to the customer and is motivated to do anything.”
His personal motivation makes it clear that customer satisfaction is particularly important to him: “I attach great importance to good work and always try to give my best. With age and growing experience, I have learned to adapt to difficult situations: when problems arise today, I know that it is only a matter of time before they are resolved. That helps me to stay calm in any situation. At the end of the day, what counts for me is that my installation works and the customer is happy.”
Martin Gürtner, KUKA Robotics, Augsburg
Martin Guertner, Foreman Body Assembly, has been part of the KUKA team in Augsburg since 2017. His journey began with an apprenticeship as an electronics technician for automation technology. It is clear to his supervisor, Volker Prues, Master Body Assembly, why he is a hidden everyday hero: “Martin is incredibly dedicated and versatile. He always goes through our production with his eyes open and whenever he sees a problem, he immediately starts to find the best solution as quickly as possible. You can always count on him – as a person and as a colleague.”
For Martin, it is the variety of tasks and small obstacles that make his daily work interesting: “I like to face new challenges every day. I have a great working environment here, we speak honestly and openly with each other and we always pull together to achieve our goal for the day. The reliability and helpfulness of my colleagues are essential for this. Of course, I also want to give something back to my team members.”
In addition to the personal aspect, it is crucial for Martin to apply his professional skills: “Since my apprenticeship here, I have always had the opportunity to train internally and externally. This is an important factor for me to keep the ball rolling and make a difference every day.”
Derek Ye, KUKA Robotics, China
Despite facing a challenging economic situation, Derek Ye, China’s automotive sales manager, achieved the best sales of the year. This success was possible only through his constant and untiring commitment to customers. Derek joined KUKA nine years ago. The Chinese market has been volatile since then. After a period of strong growth, the economy has cooled down. However, regardless of the market conditions, Derek has always sought to provide the best service to all of his customers.
“It’s important to me to offer my customers a professional service without errors”, he emphasizes, with customer satisfaction being a priority: “I need to be very close to my customers to make everything work. We work on every detail together. This is a joint effort with my KUKA team. Good collaboration is the only way to ensure everything runs smoothly and to keep our customers’ production running without any risk of shutdowns” Ultimately, his goal is not only to improve customers’ efficiency, but also to help them increase their market share. “I love to see the progress as we reach all the milestones along the way. That motivates me and encourages me to do my best every day."
Sascha Stöckl, KUKA Systems, München
For Sascha, this is a matter of course: “I simply enjoy working here. The team is great, the work is varied and at the end of the day you can see what you have done and that something big is coming out of your own work. What I particularly appreciate is the opportunity to learn a lot from my experienced colleagues. Here, everyone joins in everywhere.”
