CAVİT SOY
İngilizce Makaleler
EVERY FACTORY IS A UNIVERSITY
Many of my engineer friends with bachelor's degrees are working in factories, producing, and developing. Many of our factories are constantly improving the materials and machines they produce. The laboratories of R&D and product development centres of factories are more advanced than many universities. We often hear about our friends who develop new products or add features that can make existing machines work more efficiently. Quite a lot of new patent applications are being filed on this subject. Factories are obliged to carry out such activities because they compete with the world. Then why shouldn't factory workers have academic careers and titles? What is the obstacle to this? Can't our engineer friends get an academic title if they turn their work into a written thesis and present it to university professors? Why should they not receive the titles of doctor, associate professor or even professor? Perhaps they can do this by taking annual examinations or by producing articles and research. I'm talking about something like the medical speciality exam, the factory speciality exam, FUS...
While an exam has been started to give the title of expert teacher even to our teachers, it is inconceivable that engineers working in factories cannot get such a title.
Factories are the embodiment of ideas, articles, researches, and developments. They are the environments where all scientific and academic studies and experiments are finalised, concluded, and presented to the service of humanity. There are no longer theories and hypotheses but practical results. The factory is the place where all hypotheses, theories, research, and development are finalised, but no product remains as it is produced, it is constantly evolving.
Do you think that something is produced by rote and copying method in factories? If you only knew what meetings, seminars, trainings and discussions are held while machines are being produced. What brainstorms are blowing in laboratories, project and R&D and product development offices. What lightning flashes in the brains of our engineers. What academic discussions are taking place in order for the machine to be more efficient and work more practically, and for the materials produced to be better. How our quality control engineers carry out their controls with great care.
For example, let's take Mrs Ayla, who has been working in the industrial oven sector for 25 years. Mrs Ayla is now a complete expert in industrial oven production. She has spent years in this business, but she does not yet have an academic title.
She has produced thousands of machines, carried out thousands of improvement works, and trained thousands of young engineers. Mrs Ayla took part in all production stages of the machine, starting from project drawing, design, production, assembly, steel, welding, machining, cutting, bending, hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical, automation, fan and ventilation, heat and temperature, refractory and insulation, bearing, motor, reducer and paint. She participated in the test phase where the machine will be used. She performed the quality control and gave approval. As you can see, Mrs Ayla has continuously improved herself for 25 years and has become more knowledgeable than a professor and has perhaps trained dozens of engineers. In addition, Mrs Ayla has even produced machines for the first time in Türkiye and patented projects and inventions.
As a result, we can open a title path for engineers just like our teachers. This will provide morale and motivation for them. They are compensated for their work and labour to some extent. In addition, this title can be used as a criterion in their job search and income. My suggestion is that our engineers can be given titles such as expert engineer, chief engineer, etc. depending on their success and career history through an exam or another study by the chamber of engineers. On the other hand, if their studies, researches and even the projects they have found and registered are turned into a thesis subject and submitted to the university committee, they can also be awarded the title of doctor.
A PURCHASING STORY
Every purchase has a story, and every purchaser is also a story writer. The story begins with the arrival of the purchase request and usually has a happy ending at the end of the process.
It is very important to note and archive all works and transactions related to purchasing, both in digital environment and in files and folders. Both in terms of looking back when necessary and accountability. But it is necessary to take notes without skipping even the smallest detail. Remember, the power and effectiveness of a purchaser is measured by this.
"Knowledge is the greatest power"
I will try to give you a better picture of the event by telling the story of a sample purchase.
In the first stage, the most important issue is that the request must come in writing, via e-mail or ERP, regardless of who it comes from. As a purchaser, do not receive a request verbally or by phone, do not turn that request into an offer or order. Have an "order footprint" that you can easily follow.
As you can see, I started writing the story by answering the following questions.
- Who made the request? Has the requestor's immediate superior verified and approved the request? For which project was the request made?
- Has this product been purchased before? How many, for which project, from which supplier, from which brands and for how much?
- What was the story of the previous purchase? How long were we told we had for the purchase? Or was it requested very urgently?
- Is a specific brand required for the requested product?
- Is there a visual, drawing about the product? Or is it a standard product?
- Do I need to take two in stock in case I need it in later projects or in case of any mishap?
Next was the bidding process. I received offers from at least three companies. I compared these offers in many respects such as deadline, price, quality, company history, payment terms, delivery terms, and meticulously selected the company I would purchase as a result of negotiations. The conditions in my supplier profile that I had used before were effective in my selection. One of the three suppliers was a company I met recently at the fair, and I wanted to see their performance on this occasion.
Naturally; I chose a company that is easy to reach, provides fast feedback, can provide certificates, has a reasonable price and payment term, makes fast and regular shipments, works in stock in case of repurchasing later, where I can get technical support, can get easy returns if necessary, and does not use the word NO. In short; I bought the best quality product, in the shortest time, at the most affordable price, under the best conditions.
Two days after I approved the offer, the products arrived. My warehouse attendant friend received the material with the delivery note and registered it in the system. I informed the relevant units that the product had arrived and shipped the products to the manufacturing and assembly department. Since it was not an advance, prepaid, short-term purchase, I did not feel the need to inform the accounting in advance. Since it was already a sixty-day term and low-cost purchase, I thought that the accounting would take it into the payment plan when the time comes. If it was a DBS or short-term and high amount purchase, I would definitely find out the payment status from accounting before turning it into an order and take a position accordingly.
Interesting things can sometimes happen to us at this stage. If it comes by cargo, sometimes the package may be torn, or the product may be damaged. It may even be that the cargo company delivers it to another company due to name similarity. If I have directed my own vehicle to pick up the product, the vehicle may have a flat tyre on the road and lose time.
The order in this story was a short-order product. For long-term orders, as the delivery time approaches, it is necessary to get information about the latest situation and progress, and to find out whether there are any setbacks. Otherwise, you may encounter bad surprises. It may be necessary to bind such orders to the contract and impose penalties in case of delay.
All possible mishaps must be written into the story. For example, if you are asked why the product was late, you should be able to say "the vehicle had a flat tyre on the way". Likewise, if you are asked why the product arrived defective, you should be able to answer "the product was damaged when it came from the cargo".
On the same day or a few days later, the invoice for the product entered the system. At this time, as a purchaser, I checked the invoice, confirmed its conformity with the delivery note and the offer, and after confirming it, I directed it to a higher approval and accounting.
All these stories are your experience. Your purchases are recorded to be included in the costing of overheads and projects and later reflected in the report. At the same time, the stories are written as plus or minus points for your suppliers.
 |
Do not be misled by the length of this story we have written about the purchase of only one item of material, the purchaser has 1-2 days to write this story. Because there are hundreds of stories waiting to be written and at the end of the day, the purchasers will have written a novel. 25 novels a month...
As can be seen, in our story we sought answers to questions such as what, when, for what, why, from whom, from where, for what purpose, for which project, how did you get it, whose request was it. We operated the five ws and one h rule valid in journalism. Now you can look ahead with peace of mind and provide clear answers to all questions about this order in the future, and most importantly, you can easily answer your managers. This transparent purchasing process and the story you write make you reliable. Anyway, our task is to reduce the costs and affect the profitability of the company we work with. Therefore, it is our duty to make a traceable and sustainable purchase.
Another important issue is that the purchaser should have a minimum of technical knowledge about the materials he/she purchases as well as his/her competence in his/her own profession.
In this article, I was inspired by Cemir Çınar's book "Storytelling". I would like to thank him.
