People at Krones – Paola Merle

Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, is the home of “Krones Surlatina”, one of the more than 40 Krones subsidiaries worldwide.
From there, 39 staff from Sales, Service Support and Administration look after the countries of Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Paola Merle is the Administration Manager at Krones Surlatina and has been with the firm from the very beginning.

Paola, how long have you been working for Krones, and what made you choose Krones in the first place?

I’ve been with the subsidiary ever since it was founded in February 1994, which is almost 20 years ago now. Horacio Cirigliano, the firm’s former manager, hired me as his assistant. Back then, there wasn’t a separate office: the job interview took place in a café, and at first we worked from the home office he’d set up in his own house.

What is your remit in the subsidiary, and how often do you come to Germany?

I’m the Administration Manager, and I’m responsible for human resources, accounts, controlling and IT. Business trips to company headquarters used to be quite rare, but since 2011 I’ve been coming to Neutraubling about twice a year. Mostly there will be important meetings or training courses scheduled, like the international IT meeting organised by IM this week, which lasted two days. I always find time, of course, to meet up with colleagues from Sales, Human Resources Management, IM and Finance. There are lots of issues you can settle better face to face than by telephone or email. It’s nicer working together, too, when you know each other personally. When I’m over here, I make sure every minute counts!

 Paola, you speak fluent German, and you seem to be pretty fond of Germany too  …

That’s right. My granny is German, and I myself went to a German school in Buenos Aires, where I learned the language right from the start. I really like coming to Germany, I love the lifestyle, the cleanliness, and the way things are so efficiently structured. You only learn to appreciate things like that when you no longer have them.
I like Regensburg as a city, too. There’s plenty to do in the evenings, there are nice beer gardens and a beautiful, historic city centre, plus all the students lend the place a rather special flair. And quite generally, too, German products have a reputation in Latin America for solid engineering and high quality. Krones’ products are also the first choice of our clients when it comes to buying new kit.

 Paola, why do you like working for Krones?

Krones is a good, fair employer. I feel very happy there, I like my job, and I get on very well with my colleagues – in Germany and Argentina alike.
What’s been particularly satisfying for me has been to experience and to help shape the subsidiary’s evolution from a home office with two people to a company with almost 40 employees.