My story begins with the fact that I grew up in rural surroundings in a half-timbered house built in 1856 with both feet firmly planted on Westphalian soil in the south of Münsterland. My father and grandfather were gentlemen tailors and part-time farmers. At the age of 14, I was able to tailor my first pair of trousers and was proud of the many craftsmanship skills I was able to learn from my father when we renovated the old house. I learned that you can do anything if you put your heart and mind to it.
I spent my free time with music. I was in the fanfare corps of the local rifle club with around 100 other children and young people.
I am still passionate about playing the trombone in big bands, brass bands and church.
I didn’t have my first contact with computers until I was almost 16 years old, when I completed my vocational training as a furniture carpenter after finishing secondary school. I was immediately fascinated by the tool and have seen many generations of this technology over the years: The monochrome main frame terminal, the first IBM 8086 – personal computers, the beginnings of local area networks with token ring and BNC cabling up to the current technology with ultra-mobile internet, SAA and now AI.
Of course, I learned various programming languages (FORTRAN77, Pascal, etc.) and, as IT and organization manager of a small company, I was also busy laying cabling myself and managing servers, networks, software, databases and personnel access.
I was able to take my final path when, after completing my carpentry apprenticeship, I caught up on my A-levels and studied production and manufacturing technology.
Already in my diploma thesis I dealt with the structural and process organization of a small steel construction company and recommended the introduction of ERP software in order to change the paper processes into modern electronically supported processes.
I finally made the transition to IT and organization in 1991, when I was given the opportunity to move to the central IT department at FAG Kugelfischer KGaA in Schweinfurt in my first job after graduation, after originally being assigned to the work organization. My very first task was the introduction of a production feedback system in sheet metal processing for cage production at Kugelfischer KgaA.
My training was supplemented with various courses on network techniques and other IT topics (relational databases and CAD) as well as REFA training and project techniques.
In 1995, I became a junior consultant in a small software company in Rimpar near Würzburg, which developed its “CAI” software based on UNIX/SINIX, INFORMIX and COBOL.
From here I switched to Microsoft ERP in 1997, when I became IT and organization manager of a small manufacturing company (HABASIT GmbH, Germany, Eppertshausen, Hesse) that was looking to move away from UNIX to Microsoft environments. I started with a process and workflow analysis and converted this company to Navision version 3.5 within 3 years.
Since then I have been at home in the Microsoft ERP world.
In 2007, I switched from Microsoft Navision to its big sister Axapta version 5 when I was able to move to the well-known KCS Deutschland near Ludwigshafen as a senior consultant. Since then, I have worked exclusively with the products of this product series: AX2009 to AX2012 R3 and then Microsoft Dynamix F&O up to today’s Microsoft Dynamics D365.
Over the years, I have traveled throughout Germany (Bavaria, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia) and many European countries as well as far away countries.
I was able to experience the hospitality of my international colleagues and customers in Poland, Holland, Denmark, Belgium, but also China, Hong Kong, India and the USA (NY, Florida).
I have gained a great respect for the most diverse cultures on these trips and can say that I feel at home anywhere in the world.
“Project work is working for and with people”
I have been drawing this conclusion for several years.
It is important to achieve objective goals, but this cannot be achieved without respect for people and the integration of individual qualities.
No project works like the one before it, because the composition of the people must always be taken into account.
ERP projects are therefore projects for and with people.
People need SMART goals that correspond to their skills, but also challenge their ambition.
Respectful recognition of their commitment creates an unexpected dynamic and the project goal becomes achievable even under less than ideal circumstances.
I came to this realization because, on the one hand, I worked in adult education and taught “late-comers” about the world of office IT, but also as a trainer with an IHK aptitude test for IT specialists.
I was able to introduce over 50-year-olds to modern office products for the first time
and train young people with an intermediate qualification to become IT specialists.
That gave me a lot of satisfaction and their success made me proud.
I look forward to continue the next chapter of my story…