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Day: 29 January 2018

An evening of inspiration – Inspiration Night!

An evening of inspiration – Inspiration Night!

Hi there dear blog aficionados!

Now in the early morning as I am sitting on my commute from Gothenburg to Trollhättan, I am in a reflective mood, and with a smile on my face thinking back on the previous week. Of what one might wonder? Well, it certainly included intermingling, laughter and lots of pizza – in other words, the Inspiration Night!

Last Tuesday, 23rd Jan, we young graduates arranged for an Inspiration Night for the local ITU-programme (High School programme of Industry & Technology). Over 30 interested pupils and parents joined us at this event, where they got the opportunity to ask questions, learn more about the GKN enterprise in Trollhättan and simultaneously get to know what opportunities and what the ITU-programme offer.

The evening started with an inspiring (of course) presentation held by our graduate Lisa, on education in general and within technical fields specifically, as well as sharing insights into the operations and enterprise of GKN – what we do and why that is important. Two outstanding teachers from GKN were also present – Magnus Ek and Per Ingemansson. They described the ITU-programme, shared interesting statistics, answered interesting questions and also presented what opportunities there are before, during and after ITU. Jonas Velander, a former student, was also present at the event and shared his colorful experience of the programme, which has led him to his interests and work today involving the RM12 jet engine for JAS Gripen.

Something that actually caught my attention, which I appreciate, is the flexibility in choice that ITU offers with both qualifying towards higher education as well as providing good practical hands-on experience during the time that you’re studying.

The evening was concluded with some fun intermingling and lots of pizza! It was nice to be able to speak with both parents and students, discuss education and listen to their thoughts and opinions in the matter – and gobbling substantial amounts of pizza while doing so!

Mingle and pizza in the exhibition hall.
Intermingling and large amounts of pizza in the exhibition hall. 

We graduates are definitely repeating this event due to the positive response of the evening. Onwards, we are planning to also invite all pupil classes in secondary schools that wishes to join, and ignite even more interest for technology and spread the inspiration!

Until then,

Mr. P signing out!

Love at GKN

Love at GKN

Andreas, what do you think is the most important thing for a company? For a quality engineer, the answer is easy: the customer! In order to proclaim my love for the customer, I have composed a letter that shows my appreciation. (An owner usually thinks that return on equity or another boring figure is more important. But who would want to write a love letter to return on equity?).

Dear Customer,

We love you. We could not live without you. We do not know what we would do without you. You are the reason we exist. Our entire business aims to give you what you want. We start where you have a need and do not end until you are satisfied. All we want to do is to create value for you. We think of you every day, we worry about you and wonder how we can help you. We base our whole self-esteem on what you think about us. Please, love us back. Occasionally, we make mistakes which may disappoint you, but do not lose faith in us. We will reward you many times over if you trust us and give us the chance to perform. Please give us a second chance.

I would like to end with a quote from someone wise.

“[The customer] is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.”

Customer, we love you.

Forever yours,
A secret admirer