Girls Day 2019 – fun and exciting every time

05. Apr 2019 | Education + Careers

Herth+Buss Fahrzeugteile, they only have jobs for men, don't they? Wrong! On this year's Girls Day two youngsters saw for themselves just how varied the range of roles can be in a supposedly male sector.

Driving a forklift truck, warehousing pallets or checking defective spares are jobs where you don't find many women working, even today. This is why we give girls the opportunity of looking behind the scenes in Herth+Buss's large halls every year. And this year was no different.

Girls Day kicks off

For Lara and Manat the day began at Complaints Management, where it was first explained what the daily work of this team involves. They then got down to business. Packages containing customer returns were scanned into the receipts register/SAP so all items included were listed there. The accompanying documents were sorted and the reference data (delivery note, invoice, price) for each article then found in the system and recorded. Everything was registered on the system and scanned onto the relevant warehousing carts.

Items relating to warranty claims were filed separately for checking later on whether they really came from Herth+Buss or possibly from another manufacturer or dealer. With information from the wholesalers about warranty claims it was also checked whether the relevant invoices from the workshops were enclosed. After detailed inspection of the item, it was then decided whether a credit note could be issued or whether there had just been an error in fitting.

Next stop the Test Centre

The two girls were then introduced to the Test Centre, responsible for checking whether alternators and starters showed the defects claimed by customers. Here too it is decided if a credit note should be issued to the customer or not.This was followed by a short briefing on the work procedure and the process involved in a warranty claim. It should be noted here that we offer our customers a warranty of two years from the date of purchase.The two girls were then allowed to tick off the individual points for checking a warranty under the supervision of our staff.

This process begins with handover of the goods to the Test Centre. Next, they inspected the item for obvious damage – and of course whether it was even one from Herth+Buss. A member of staff explained how to check the vehicle key data. The girls were shown how this process is performed at the test bay and analysis of the test results at the end. Once the youngsters had carried out all checks, they only had to make a note and tell Technical Services whether the warranty claim was accepted or rejected.

The verdict: The girls were very curious about the work of the Test Centre and said they had enjoyed talking about their interests during the first part of Girls Day. It was then time for lunch – a well-deserved break.

A tour of Logistics

High shelves, lots of Ants and blue lines painted on the floor. For someone who has never been round the Herth+Buss warehouse, this sounds a peculiar combination. Although high shelving isn't in itself too surprising when logistics is involved, our two visitors were pretty amazed to see for the first time racking 16.5 metres tall in our new storage facility. Lara and Manat were also truly impressed by the mighty forklift trucks that can reach up to 14 m.

With Ants we aren't of course referring to an infestation of pests but the pallet trucks used to transport goods around the warehouse. But what about the blue lines? It's perfectly simple: They're used to guide staff walking about the warehouse. Rule No. 1 at the warehouse is: If you don't want to get run over, DON'T go outside the blue lines!

Onto a pallet or into a compartment?

On their route through the storage halls the girls learned about the processes involved in logistics. They found out about the different types of warehouse and why some shelves contain pallets and why on others the goods are stored directly in the compartments. The girls also learned that items are ordered in greater or smaller quantities depending on their sales figures and are stored accordingly at specific shelf positions. Fast-moving parts are put on pallets and slow ones in compartments. Whether an item is a fast or slow-mover also depends on whether it remains at the firm, is sent to an field warehouse or possibly needs to go to Confectioneering for repackaging.

On the next stage of their tour the girls learned all about our repackaging procedures and how Herth+Buss protects goods while in transport. They were shown the entire process, from handling technology to the packaged article ready for dispatch to the customer. To round off Girls Day, the two youngsters watched how a HGV docked at the goods-in door and was then unloaded with the help of a stand-on pallet truck.

 

The verdict on Girls Day

And now the million dollar question of the day: Could the girls imagine themselves working in a company like Herth+Buss?

"We really enjoyed our day at Herth+Buss! We saw lots of interesting work processes and were allowed to help with them. So Yes, we can see ourselves working here as there are lots of different interesting jobs at such a company."

The two 12-year-olds still have a bit of time before they have to opt for a profession. We are nonetheless delighted that they had a nice and interesting day with us.

We're looking forward to next year and seeing even more girl power at Herth+Buss.