When it comes to the supply of vertical form fill and seal packaging machines, the applications managers at GIC play a crucial role. In this update, we look at a typical week in the life of an applications manager.
GIC has two applications managers looking after the supply, installation and maintenance of vertical form fill and sale packaging machines. Martin Raison covers the north of the UK, with Keith Marrow looking after GIC’s southern customers.
As an application manager, Martin and Keith are involved in everything from meeting new customers, to preparing quotes, installation and servicing.
Here are Martin’s notes from last week.
Monday
8am: Arrive at the office in Gainsborough. Catch up with the team over a cup of coffee. Check if any customers have lodged technical or support requests. Thankfully there aren’t any.
10.30am: Welcome a customer from one of the UK’s leading suppliers of fresh salad leaves, who is visiting us to the PDI a GIC4100 that is almost ready for installation.
2.30pm: Meet the Drawing Office Manager to see if there are any questions or queries on any of the projects currently in production.
4pm: Head to our film suppliers to collect the samples needed for a customer in Glasgow who I am visiting tomorrow.
Tuesday
6.30am: Up bright and early and on the road by 7.30am. I’m travelling to a customer’s factory in Glasgow.
1pm: On-site and ready for the film trials. We’ve set up a new program for future reference and will recommend improvements while it’s running to ensure the customer’s machine is running as efficiently as it can.
4pm: Arrive at my hotel for the night. Catch up with the emails I’ve received throughout the day.
Wednesday
8.30am: Leave the hotel and head south, stopping off in Manchester to visit a relatively new customer. Their new bagging line is still running as it should be seven weeks after commissioning.
3.30pm: Arrive home in Nottingham. Catch up with emails.
4pm: Teams meeting with colleagues in the office to go through the requirements for a new forming set that has been requested by an existing customer, which is introducing a new pack format for one of its products.
Thursday
8am: Another day on the road. Leave home and head to Sunderland to meet with an existing customer who wants to add a service contract to cover their six GIC4100 machines. As well as selling and renting vertical form fill and seal packaging machines, we also undertake repairs and routine servicing to ensure they continue to run efficiently for our customers.
1pm: Leave Sunderland and drive to Middlesborough, where we have a meeting with another OEM. On this occasion, it is a manufacturer of check weighers. Both companies have won contracts to supply their machines to a rice and pulse packer, which is introducing a new packing line. We like to work in partnership with other suppliers on projects like this as it ensures a seamless design and installation for the customer.
5pm: Drive to my hotel for the evening. Catch up on emails before knocking off for the night.
Friday
8.45am: Leave the hotel and drive south. Stop off in Leeds to visit a long-standing customer that has recently received a new GIC machine. Everything is working as it should be.
2pm: Back in Gainsborough for a kick-off meeting in the board room. All departments – management, applications team, drawing office, software and service team attend. We run through an order placed by a large blue-chip company last week. They need two high-speed continuous motion machines.
4pm: Leave the office and head for home. Looking forward to a trip to Wembley on Sunday and hopefully seeing Nottingham Forest secure promotion to the Premier League.
If you would like to know more about GIC and its VFFS packaging machines, don’t hesitate to get in touch – call us on 01427 611 885, email info@gic.uk.net or fill in our contact form.
