The Process Engineering Hub

As the saying goes, „All roads lead to Rome.“ This means all types of connections, paths and options. items, processes and workflows are not the only aspects that the PE (Process Engineering) team deal with at WFL. To keep a system up and running and improve it, the junctions and connecting roads between departments are very important. This is where Thomas Penz, Head of PE and his team come into play. They perform daily feats and problem-solving to skilfully combine pending workflows, coordinate system-relevant processes with the utmost accuracy and continually improve their methodology. The progressive collaboration and team spirit in this department are essential and drive this essential part of WFL forwards. COMPLETE magazine took a look behind the scenes at the ‚WFL motorway interchange‘ and met up with Thomas Penz for an interview.

Please tell us a bit about yourself.
My name is Thomas Penz and I grew up in the municipality of Liebenau in the Mühlviertel region of Austria on my parent‘s farm. The free and easy environment meant that I always had the freedom to make decisions and I started an apprenticeship on September 1, 1993 as a Plant Fitter at VA-Steinel. I‘ll never forget my first day. All apprentices began their training in the VOEST training workshop. The foreman greeted us with the following words: „Ah,... the Steinel boys,... you‘re all being sacked.“ I thought: „Not bad for my first day.“ His statement proved to be correct. Then, in 1993, WFL was founded. Hence his statement. Although we were still trained by the company MCE, we were able to move seamlessly to WFL in 1997 and begin our working lives. I experienced a lot of different departments at WFL during my apprenticeship, from Pre-Assembly and Main Assembly through to Control Cabinet Construction. I wanted to undertake further general training and sat the Berufsreifeprüfung, which is a vocational higher education entrance examination here in Austria.

In 2002, my colleague Herbert Basting came to me and asked if I was interested in a career change, which would ultimately lead to me moving to work with him in PE Calculation. When a colleague retired in 2007, I was asked to take on the logistics and stocking tasks. Five years later, in 2014, I took over as from Herbert as Head of PE. Since then, I have managed the  Process Planning department (later renamed Process Engineering) to the best of my knowledge and belief. It‘s basically like any motorway interchange; everything converges here. Receipt of order with deadlines, purchasing with delivery times, assembly processes and logistics, of course. You need to have an understanding of the overall picture and, above all, how the relevant work orders can best be linked, including with time management.

What‘s the best decision you have made in your career?
It was the decision to undergo further training and courses that I got to attend. Also the opportunity to take on a managerial position. This was a very good match for me and I‘m glad I chose to do it.

How are day-to-day tasks carried out and projects completed, how do you organise your working day?
In this regard, I am not very bureaucratic at all. I delegate responsibility to my team. My working day begins with a daily briefing, where we look at what needs doing, whether there are any changes or anything new. I try to keep an overview of capacity and agree projects with my team. In this regard, I trust my employees completely. It works very well and everyone is very conscientious in their relevant role. I am very proud of this.

How do you make decisions?
I make decisions according to the best of my knowledge and belief. Information on the order situation, delivery times, processes and planned developments are essential for this. Experience and a gut feeling are essential for the final decision.

How do you handle unusual or stressful issues?
I try to work through them calmly and not get stressed. Of course, there are times when something will annoy you but you try to remain calm in spite of it, find a suitable way to deal with it and solve the problem. You could say: „You can‘t make an omelette without breaking eggs.“ WFL works to a high standard and we all produce exceptional work in my opinion.

What would you do if you had 100 million euros, but could only spend it on WFL?
That‘s a very interesting question... (laughs) I can think of a few things. Money is known to be a limited resource at every company. Perhaps it would be nice to have a second dispatch hall. Or to extend the assembly space to ensure movement-free work, as far as possible. It would also be great to digitalise every installation workstation with an industrial tablet. Some employees have a long commute, so commuter buses would be the next step. With WFL branding for advertising, of course. R&D must not miss out either, and financial provision ought to bring security. All this should make things easier and make people happy.

What is your preferred department leadership style?
I favour a cooperative leadership style. I talk about requirements and targets, which I discuss with the team, but I let each employee find their own way. Ultimately, the right results must always be delivered. I trust my team to complete everything that we take on. I am willing to compromise and gladly listen to suggestions from colleagues. This ensures that we continue to improve and help one another. Everyone should develop and be able to flourish in their role.

What do you think are the three most important characteristics a leader must have? Do you have these characteristics?
Conscientiousness, honesty, loyalty and motivation. I think these characteristics are very important and I think I do bring these to the table.

What‘s your next project?
Last year we worked on a parts list system in conjunction with R&D and the engineering departments. This also contains aspects of pre-assembly so that processes can be completed more quickly and we have plans for process improvement cards. These A5 cards are to be available in each department and anyone can write down suggestions for improvement or ideas. These projects are designed to make everything easier and make processes themselves simpler.

Tell us a bit about yourself, outside of work. How do you ensure a healthy work/life balance?
I bought a house with my family in 2006. Since then we‘ve done some work to it and extended it, and have been doing up this cosy home. It‘s now reached the point where we all like it and it‘s become what we wanted. I‘m also active in the community. We look after our area, maintain the hiking trails, trace out cross-country skiing trails in winter, and in any remaining spare time, I also like to go cycling or quad biking or wedel down snowy slopes in the Salzburg ski resorts. This is what I do to balance out my working life and clear my mind of stressful situations.

What are the most important characteristics for an employee?
Team spirit is very important. It‘s also crucial that everyone can pull together. Conscientiousness and expertise are also essential in our department. These characteristics are necessary to get ahead and are what makes a professional employee.

What film title would you give to your department or your team?
That would be ‚The Incredibles‘. This Pixar / Walt Disney animation is a pretty good description of us. Who takes on which role is less important. It‘s simply about everyone doing incredible things and working hard each day to produce excellent results.

What are your professional and personal goals? What would you like to have achieved in the next five or ten years?
Career-wise, I am very satisfied, but open to new challenges. I think that I have proved that I work towards a goal and can approach processes with versatility and dedication. A lot can happen in five or ten years. In my private life, I wish for health and happiness, above all else.

Thank you very much for the interview!

PROFILE
Name: Thomas Penz
Age: 43 Years
Hometown: Arbesbach, NÖ
Education:
1970 - 1978 Primary and secondary school
1992 - 1993 Pre-vocational school
1993 - 1996 Plant technician VA-Steinel / VA MCE
1996: Austrian Armed Forces
1997: VA MCE
2000: WFL Millturn Technologies

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