Tell us a bit about you, your department and your own work:
I am a qualified mason and building designer. I joined Alfix in 2013. When I’m not working, all of my awake time is spent climbing, travelling, running, doing sport with others and with my family.
There are three of us employees in the technical department, with an office at the factory in Kolding. We work closely together internally, but all have our own areas of responsibility. The tasks we do at work are somewhat varied, ranging from generic day-to-day tasks such as writing guidelines for a specific project, giving and receiving training in relation to use of a certain product, training on building regs and the regulatory framework around these, plus the guidelines underlying the work that has to be carried out in wet rooms and on facades and so on.
Another part of my working day, and an important one at that, is inspecting damage to buildings. It is important for us to gain an understanding of when and why damage happens; this is so that we can help the customer, but also so that we can develop sustainable products that can withstand the level of utilisation where they are integrated. Once we understand the reason for the damage, it also becomes easier to create helpful technical guidelines and ultimately give customers peace of mind. The tasks are pretty interesting, all in all.
What are your tasks, specifically?
There are so many. One of them might be to inspect damage. Typically the task will arrive on my desk from one of our own sales consultants or from a tradesman who has contacted us directly. In the first instance we always try to get an overview of the extent and nature of the damage, through images and calls. We can often provide support over the phone directly, based solely on the images of the damage we have seen and what we have been told.
In other situations, I would need to go to the construction site and see it for myself to get an idea. We often take samples away for more detailed analysis to get to the bottom of the damage and understand and explain why it happened. Typically I would then create an ‘inspection report’, in which I provide an account of the cause of the damage. It’s not a given that we will able to draw a firm conclusion on the cause, but we can highlight the most likely cause using our many years of experience.
We have also just finished a round of Alfix Pro Club network meetings across Denmark. Pro Club consists of a number of themed days aimed at professional masons,which cover a certain topical area. Typically I would be responsible for the technical content at these events. We have to plan everything in the months leading up to this, but luckily as a team we are good at getting all that done – covering sales, marketing and technical department tasks, among other things. It’s an intense, exciting time when that is going on.
What makes for a particularly good day at work?
When I can see that we are making a real difference, that’s a really good day at work for me. On a smaller scale, it’s when we help the mason to avoid damage and when they feel they get some enjoyment out of using our products. On a bigger scale, it’s when we manage to move construction in a more responsible and sustainable direction, and overall help to create more peace of mind around our solutions.
We work well together here in the technical department, which helps to create a nice working environment.