The 12th time that I made a motif for a award winning company.
The award is the Danish Industry Initiative Award 2009.
The company is the Fittings Specialist in Fredericia, Denmark.
It was a couple of months ago.
As always I initiate the job by talking to the CEO. His name is Finn Roy, and he thoroughly informed me about products, organisation, etc.
We managed to drink three cups of coffee.
The chemistry between us was right.
Now you must see the robot, Finn Roy said.
The robot???
First I thought of Gyro Gearloose' Little Helper in the Disney Comic series Donald Duck by Disney and then of Lego Robots by Lego in Denmark.
I recently heard about robots that could create 3D prints - but these have just been invented and they are not yet tested properly.
Then there are CNC robots that I have seen in different companies.
But.
It was none of the above.
I was without a clue.
In plain English the robot collects items from stock for delivery.
Technically speaking the robot was a LOGIA WMS - an internal logistics- and warehouse management robot, which was integrated in Concorde C5 - the administrative computer system.
You might wonder that The Fittings Specialist can handle 35.000 items.
The robot is the secret.
It collects fittings from 88.000 boxes on two rows of shelves in a height of 7 meters (23 feet).
The robot rushes along among the 88.000 boxes - up and down, back and forth- all day with 25 miles per hour.
Without sweating.
The robot is computerized and it optimizes itself all the time. Among other things it places items with a high frequency together.
It doesn't use its full capacity - it runs at nearly only half power (60%).
The Fittings Specialist is increasing the number of item numbers due to world wide expansion.
The motif, which was granted to The Fittings Specialist - winner of Danish Industry's InitiativeAwardCompetition. To the left tubes with fittings. In the middle the fairy tale about Robert Robot and to the right Robert Robot himself. Robert Robot is constructed from fittings in the Fittings Specialist's catalog.
Through my talks with the CEO, by attending the presentation and listening to Finn Roy, John Damkjær, chairman of Danish Industry Region and Uffe Steiner, the mayor of Fredericia and not least by talking to the staff and guests, I had sure a feeling, that this was something special.
Why - I know a lot of companies - why is this particular company something special.
I wondered.
And I wondered.
And I wondered.
And I wondered.
And I wondered.
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Oh!!!!
I see!!!!
They use - consciously or unconsciously - a very special set of corporate values.
I'll use ART to make this fact visible to the staff, to management, to customers, to suppliers, to the surrounding organizations, to the surrounding society, to......
I constructed 6 keywords that matched the special set of corporate values.
Here are the keywords:
Interplay/Decency - Interplay among colleagues, customers, suppliers and others - in a decent way...
Meticulosity - Means care, precision, solicitude, be careful. Quality at all levels...
Respecting Recharging - Employees have the right and an obligation to recharge...
Changeability/IT-Readiness - The company as a whole needs to be ready for change...
Think Globally - In the near future the company intend to approach international markets so employees must think globally.
Strict Financially Management/Strict Equity Control - Strict financial management ends up in strict equity control.
Inspired by these keywords I have designed 6 artworks, size: 132,1 x 132,1 cm (52 x 52") primarily for a permanent exhibition in the headquarters, but as well for promoting the special corporate values in general:
Interplay/Decency
An employee in the Fittings Specialist communicates on a daily basis with management, colleagues, customers, suppliers, people in different fields of service etc. etc.
All communication and any agreement, deal etc. is based on decency.
Meticulosity
Means care, precision, solicitude, be careful.
Every process in the company needs to live up to the highest standards concerning quality.
Meticulosity or Meticulousness even means
Extremely careful and precise or extremely or excessively concerned with details.
Employees have the right and an obligation to recharge.
As a ground rule we do not do overtime.
It's important that our most valuable resource is fit at any time during work time. This can only be accomplished by insisting on that the employees have a fruitful leisure time, a fruitful family life etc.
Changeability/IT-Readiness
There is a rapid change in how to operate a company.
The company as a whole needs to be ready for change, the employees need to be ready, customers need to be ready and even suppliers need to be ready.
Especially the field of Information Technology (IT) sees changes every day. New opportunities.
It's important to be constantly aware of what happens in the IT field.
Think Globally
In the near future we intend to approach international markets so we must think globally. We can reach every spot in the world by the internet.
We can offer our products and we can accept orders via phone or internet.
Hereafter the main issue is to observe developments in logistic possibilities.
Improving your English is another issue.
Strict Financially Management/Strict Equity Control
Strict financial management ends up in strict equity control.
This is extremely important in our company as we want to increase our number of items and want to approach international markets.
The value motifs and the adjacent texts were presented to the CEO: Bulls Eye, he said.
The employees were introduced to the special corporate values in a folder in English and a meeting with me.
In order to underline and distribute the value motifs much more than usual I have designed a Fittings Specialist e-shop in which the company, employees etc.
can buy posters, postcards and merchandise like T-shirts, shoes, mugs, mouse pads etc. - all of them based on the 6 motifs.
You can see the contents of the e-shop at www.zazzle.com/fittings. The e-shop is based on the concept "Manufacturing on Demand", which means, that the products are manufactured and shipped AFTER ordering. No stock needed, you can buy only one piece, if you like.
Fittings Specialist's e-shop is run by a team of computer nerds in PaloAlto, CA in USA. Nerds that I have worked together with for some time.
They are crazy.
The most crazy thing they have introduced so far - as nothing is impossible - is an agreement with US- Postal, meaning that I as a PRO-Contributor to Zazzle can design US-Postal stamps for any company I like.
Sincerely,
Asbjorn Lonvig, Artist
"Lille Fejringhus"
43 Fejringhusvej
8722 Hedensted
Denmark
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