DiaSys colleagues take the floor. After all, behind every company's success is the story of an employee. From apprentice to professional - in our interview series, they talk about their way to DiaSys, their daily work, give advice and share what makes them unique.
Felix Schmid
Structural and organizational optimization is always close to my heart.
What do you do at DiaSys and what is your department responsible for?
My name is Felix Schmid, 30 years old, and by now, I have been working at DiaSys for ten years. I am the Head of Order Processing Center. This department takes care of the processing and planning of customer orders.
The Order Processing Center is responsible for all steps after the acquisition meeting of the sales department, i.e. order entry, input, planning, processing, release and export. After that, our work on the order stops because the biggest time factor follows: the production. We continue as soon as the packing lists are ready. Invoices and documents have to be prepared and transport has to be organized. This means we are the contact persons for our customers when it comes to questions concerning their orders.
You started here as a trainee back then. Do you remember how you came to DiaSys?
After graduating from high school, I had my physical examination and wanted to join the German army (Bundeswehr), but then I decided to do my civilian service. I worked in a retirement home and then applied for various apprenticeships. Among other things, I applied to the police, where I was accepted, but somehow it was not the right thing. Too late, I think two months after the closing date, I had applied to DiaSys for an apprenticeship as an industrial clerk and was hired after all. At the end of my apprenticeship, I specialized in controlling. Unfortunately, there was no position available after I graduated, but by a stroke of luck, I was able to take on a position in the purchasing department, where I was responsible for the external equipment warehouses.
After some time, I switched to the Order Processing Center. Later on, I became the deputy for Customs and Export Control. At the same time, I studied Business Administration with a focus on International Management and Controlling in Idstein at Fresenius from 2014-2018.
What stations did you go through on the way to your current position?
That is a little bit complicated. In 2017, I took over the deputy Head of Customs and Export Control. The deputy Head of Order Processing followed in 2018. In early 2019, I took over the leadership of the Order Processing department and by the end of 2019 I additionally became the Head of Customs and Export. On October 1, 2020, I took over the management of the production planning. In the end, the entire Order Processing Center and the Customs and Export Control administrative department were under my supervision. Due to personnel changes and my not yet completed studies at the time, something has changed in my position almost every six months since 2017. I was busy part-time signing job descriptions (laughs). Felix means "the lucky one," after all. I guess I was always a bit lucky that everything turned out the way it did.
Of course, it is not a matter to hold such a position at the age of 30. Especially the four years of study were a hard time. However, I always thought "trial and error". What should happen? I have always accepted responsibility with gratitude.
What is the attraction of your current job? What fascinates you the most?
I always wanted to work at the management level. Where you have personnel responsibility and can work with people. Export and the higher-level contact with customers is particularly great. For years, I looked after our key accounts DiaSys India and Shanghai. The diversity of customers, cultures and destinations is fascinating. In combination with the personnel responsibility and my great and young team, it is much fun. Even during the difficult time of the Corona pandemic, everyone pulled together well. I do not take that for granted. What is always close to my heart, and that is a bit easier in a management position, is structural and organizational optimization. It drives me crazy when something is too cumbersome or I feel that it can certainly be done differently. If it takes too many steps, I think about how I can avoid them. I am gradually trying to implement this in the department to optimize our work through digitalization, for example. This has proven its worth in times of increased home office. Export was always a very paper-heavy department. But digital optimization has made it no problem to work from the home office at short notice.
How do you clear your head to enjoy your free time?
It is actually hard for me to clear my head. I am someone who takes work home with me and has a hard time switching off. But it works best when I spend time with my girlfriend, our dog, my niece and family. When injuries do not regularly plague me, I am also passionate about playing soccer. That definitely gives me balance from work. Otherwise, I like to go out, visit festivals and spend time in nature.
But I cannot just lie down on a lounger in the garden and listen to the birds chirping; then my head would start rattling again. So I have to do something to distract myself actively.
To conclude, we would like to know three fun facts about you that make you who you are!
I handed in my bachelor's thesis in costume at Carnival. That probably speaks for my composure and joie de vivre.
Last year I hiked with my girlfriend on foot to the Zugspitze. From the very bottom to the very top. That probably shows my spontaneity, curiosity and will, because I completely underestimated this action. We had no climbing or hiking experience and said we had just do it. I did not even know we needed climbing gear until a day before. It was good to have found out in time, because we had to climb steeply up the rock face for the last 4.5 hours.
My mother told another anecdote on the subject of optimization. As a child, I must have always gotten into trouble because I sharpened the expensive crayons from both sides. As a reason, I probably said that I had to go less often with the sharpener to the bin - my way optimization at that time.
Julia HerrmannMarketing Communication Manager
Karina YilmazMarketing Communication