Interview with
Vera Fuchs
Production manager | Saccharification production department AGRANA Starch, Aschach a. d. Donau | Austria
My name is Georgiana Deciu and I am Head of Quality Management in our plant in Aschach in the Starch division. I currently work in Aschach | Austria but previous to this, I worked in Tandarei | Romania for almost ten years.
The projects within the AGRANA Starch team are part of our five-year quality strategy. The projects are mainly based on 1. AUDIT FITNESS 2. CENTER OF EXCELLENCE 3. DIGITAL REVOLUTION 4. NO-BLAME CULTURE and 5. LEAN MANAGEMENT
I say "good morning!" to my colleagues first thing, then grab a cup of tea and go over my schedule to check the priorities for the day and to get an overview of how the day will turn out.
I really like the challenges my job offers, the opportunity to work with all departments and to meet new people through the customer and certification audits. I like the diversity of my team; each new and experienced colleague brings added value in their own unique way.
For a Quality Manager a “typical day” is not easy to describe, as we shall stay flexible and ready to adapt in order to make sure that our quality management system stays alive. For this, I often coordinate with colleagues from production, raw material and technical departments. We also run several QM-projects, in order to improve all processes and to comply with the (internal and external) customer requirements.
The lunch break is an important part of the day for me. :) I almost always bring my own lunch which, before pandemic, I was happy to share with my colleagues. But at the moment I eat alone.
Within the Starch Division, we at AGRANA have focused on team building from the very beginning and regularly organise meetings with colleagues from other sites. We take every opportunity to share experiences and knowledge with others.
I would say that the entire period from 1st May 2020 until now has been a very interesting time in my working life. On 1st July I started work in a different location, a different country and faced the challenge of learning a new language (German). However, it’s been a great opportunity to take a step forward in my career after almost ten years at AGRANA´s starch plant in Romania.