Within the first two weeks of working at REHAU, I knew it was something I wanted to be part of. Learning about their partnerships with IKEA, Boeing, The World Cup and all these major industries made me realize it was something I wanted to be a part of now and something that I wanted to be a part of in the future as well.
My supervisor, Ryan Truman, made REHAU a place where I could thrive. During the first week, I was handed a 500-page project management binder that I had to read. While it may sound intimidating, that was when I knew I was going to have the opportunity to learn a lot of information and benefit a lot from this experience. The environment matched everything I was looking for in a corporate experience. My relationship with my supervisor was a great balance between knowing when to have fun and knowing when we had to be serious. When things needed to be completed, we got them done, but we also spent valuable time getting to know each other.
During my internship, I learned to be confident in my ability to take a project from its very beginnings to its very end. I became the lead point of contact for implementing the new complaint management system in the Americas. I started with no knowledge of the system and had to conduct research to learn all the little details. I then created training manuals that were distributed across Canada, USA, Mexico and South America. I was able to take the project from nothing to something that sales offices are now using with customers and real complaints. The other project I worked on was creating goods inward inspection plans for several REHAU plants, through which I was able to familiarize myself with extrusion processes, ISO 9001 – quality management standards, 8D reporting and plant and lab audits. I utilized concepts in project management and design classes within my engineering major in my projects, which is what allowed me to succeed.
I feel like each project I did made a difference at REHAU. This is what kept me motivated throughout the summer – knowing my projects are actually applied and used to make a difference at REHAU.
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