Ready for Bavaria? – Part 1

Krones’ internal Across Borders exchange scheme sends staff from all over the world to Neutraubling – and vice versa. In fact staff can even participate in exchanges between our subsidiaries abroad – so the scheme offers almost unlimited opportunities.

I said “almost”, since working abroad for several months – at first that sounds like leaving friends and family behind, battling with language barriers and leaving behind your comfort zone. But as anyone who’s ever finally ventured this step will know: all initial doubts are quickly overcome, and what ultimately remains is an unforgettable experience and creates a huge added value both for the employee concerned and for the company as a whole.

This year, too, many of our colleagues took part in the exchange scheme. I wanted to know: what were the impressions gained by our international colleagues who came to us in Neutraubling?

Lerato Mabuya, Krones Southern Africa, Johannesburg

“Totally different, but in a positive way. That is how I would describe Krones. Working on different projects here in Germany was very gratifying, because you have much more autonomy and flexibility in making decisions. I have learned a lot during the exchange programme and have made enormous advances in my own personal development. I was homesick at times, but the experiences and impressions definitely made up for that. Using the communication channels now available, I chatted with my family as often as possible. At any rate, I am happy and proud of myself that I took advantage of this new opportunity. Besides work, I was highly impressed with Regensburg. I felt very content here and above all safe. The fact that people in Germany apparently pay attention to rules was certainly one of the reasons why.”

João Okada, Krones do Brasil, São Paulo

“At Krones do Brasil I am actually responsible for the engineering of spare parts and handling parts at LCS, so working in new machine order processing here in Neutraubling was a novel experience for me. I learned how to generate quotations and clarify and process incoming orders, which are practically the final steps before production. I also found it absolutely fascinating that you can wander around the production areas here and see live how the machines are put together. I noticed that technical issues can be resolved very easily here, because all the specialists are in the plant and can be reached quickly. Looking back, I have to say that being here at Krones was a great experience, and that includes the time I spent in Regensburg. Ultimately I have my co-workers to thank for that, and over time we became friends. We did a lot of things together including cycling and walking in Regensburg, taking excursions to Berlin, Vienna and Salzburg and skiing at Grosser Arber. I think that I made really good use of my time here.”

And in the second part of this article you can read how three other colleagues from our subsidiaries in Brazil, China and the Philippines got on.