Jack Ma: Re-Engineering the online distribution and e-commerce

WFOORRYLODU’SNFGIRESTNGENINGEIENRESERING NEWS ISSUE NO. 013
MARCH 2017

JACK MA:

Re-Engineering the Online
Distribution and E-Commerce

SPOTLIGHT ON MANAGEMENT: SPECIAL FEATURE
ARTICLES BY:
• 6 Skills Young Engineers Must Have
• Which Engineering Jobs Have The Highest Salaries MCDERMOTT / PETROCHEM
• 10 Qualities Top Engineering Companies Look For In An Engineer DAIKIN / VEOLIA / KÄRCHER
• 7 Mistakes Engineering Leaders Do When Leading A Team
ITRON

2 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 3

SP12ONWSAOVER#E0D5 CONTENT

Bacchus

Veolia Water Technologies
secures key partnership in China

Leading Alcopop manufacturer becomes Veolia’s anaerobic technology reference in Chinese food
and beverage market

Veolia Water Technologies China operations contains high James Peng, Solutions Director,
is proud to announce its latest concentrations of biological oxygen
contract with Shanghai Bacchus demand (BOD), chemical oxygen Veolia Water Technologies in
Limited Company (Bacchus), demand (COD), and suspended
which will see Veolia design and solids. To mitigate Bacchus’s China, concluded, “As a leading
build full turnkey global provider of innovative water
wastewater wastewater challenges, both and wastewater solutions, Veolia’s
treatment projects feature Veolia’s high-
plants for two of performing anaerobic reactor, the knowledge of local
Bacchus’s new Biothane Advanced® UASB. discharge limits
greenfield factories has benefitted our
in Tianjin and Renowned for its high organic clients, who have
Chengdu, China. loading capacity and superior had to mitigate
The plants will sludge retention characteristics, wastewater
integrate several of the Biothane Advanced® UASB challenges in
Veolia’s innovative reactor is particularly an increasingly
technologies suitable for the treatment environmentally
– including of food and beverage-type conscious market.
the Biothane® effluents, ensuring that This is our first
Advanced Upflow local regulatory standards partnership with
Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB), for wastewater discharge Bacchus in China.
AnoxKaldnes™ Biological Activated are met. In addition, the Our suite of water
Sludge™ (BAS), as well as tertiary compact solution supports and wastewater
and sludge treatments. biogas production, which solutions offers maximum technical
serves as an alternate advantages for our clients, and we
Established in 2003, Bacchus energy source, maximizing look forward to recommending our
manufactures the popular RIO® renewable energy utilization anaerobic technologies to more
Alcopop series, and is wholly for Bacchus. Food & Beverage manufacturers
committed to developing, operating in this region.” ●
producing, and expanding its
leading product to meet market
demand. Upon project completion,
both the Tianjin and Chengdu
factories will join Bacchus’s existing
production facility in Shanghai to
boost the company’s production
capacity to meet growing domestic
demand.

Due to the nature of the Food &
Beverage industry, wastewater
generated from processing

4 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

CREATING VALUE FOR INDUSTRY 13

SPONSORED CONTENT

Jack Link's

Creating environmentaly sustainable waste/
wastewater treatment system

methane-rich biogas, while UF membranes
create a high-quality effluent that is
discharged into the municipal sewer system.

THE CHALLENGE Biogas from the Memthane system is then
treated by Veolia’s Sulfothane system. This
Jack Link's, a leading protein snack producer, treatment step removes sulfur compounds
was in need of a water treatment solution from the biogas, which are highly corrosive
at its facility in Alpena, South Dakota. Jack and can damage downstream equipment. The
Link’s previous wastewater treatment system scrubbed biogas is then sent to a Combined
consisted of a Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) Heat and Power (CHP) Generator, creating
system for FOG (Fats, Oils, & Grease) and onsite electricity and offsetting energy costs.
TSS reduction. Effluent from the system was
discharged directly to the sewer system, THE RESULT
and the city municipal treatment plant The Memthane and Sulfothane systems
was becoming overloaded as a result of the have exceeded performance and client
facility’s production increases and high BOD expectations. Final permeate discharge from
loads. the Memthane system averaged less than 100
ppm BOD for greater than 98% BOD removal
THE SOLUTION rates. Membrane operation during the first
24 months of operation was stable, with flux
Veolia Water Technologies partnered with rates ranging from 9 to 18 lmh.
Jack Link’s to develop a process that would
solve the facility’s high BOD discharge issue, The Sulfothane system was able to reduce
while simultaneously creating biogas as a the biogas’s H2S levels from 6,000-8,500 ppm
byproduct to reduce the plant’s energy costs. to less than 10 ppm, which is well below the
generator’s manufacturer specifications.

Due to sustained process stability and
consistent high quality effluent, the city
treatment plant operation has improved
greatly.

Veolia’s treatment process utilizes ENERGY POSITIVE WASTE/
Memthane® Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT
(AnMBR) technology combined with a
Sulfothane™ Biogas Desulfurization System. The system is not just energy efficient, it
Memthane pairs anaerobic biological is also energy positive when operating at
treatment with ultrafiltration (UF) full flow. The biogas byproduct currently
membranes to create an industry-leading produced in the anaerobic reactor generates
anaerobic membrane bioreactor system. The more electricity than the system consumes.
bioreactor converts the plant’s waste into a The result is a fast return on investment for
the capital purchase. ●

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 5

4 WAVE I WETEX 2016 SPECIAL EDITION © Veolia Photo Library

Innovative
Water Solutions

WATER TECHNOLOGIES

Through its innovative solutions, Veolia Water Technologies enables industry, local authorities
and citizens to optimize their use of resources for more efficient, environmentally-friendly and
socially responsible outcomes.
We understand the importance of increasing the value of water and we do so by supplying high
quality water, treating and reusing wastewater, producing and/or recovering energy, extracting
raw materials and capitalizing on valuable byproducts.
www.veoliawatertechnologies.com
Contact us: [email protected]

6 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

Editor's Being an engineer is already hard enough. Taking on a leadership role makes
Note it harder. The further we progress in our careers, the more responsibilities are
handed down to us. As leaders, we initiate action, motivate the people we work
with and find the most efficient way to get things done. The work load makes it
too overwhelming especially for those who never had an experience in leading
a group of people anywhere. Sometimes, we are excited for the challenge while
for others, there is no choice but to take on the job.
In this month’s issue, we’ve prepared the best leadership articles to prepare
you as you take on the lead and guide your team at work. It’s no easy task but
we’re here to help you out! From pointing out mistakes engineering leaders
do at work to listing down the important skills one must have to excel at work,
there’s an article waiting for you here.
On the cover of this month’s issue is Chinese business magnate, Jack Ma.
Known as the founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group with a net
worth of $22 billion, we explore how his methods have re-engineered the
online distribution and e-commerce industry. His story about accepting
rejection and finding success in his career has inspired thousands of people.
Now, here’s a chance to get to know the first mainland Chinese entrepreneur
who appeared on the cover of one of the most prestigious mmaaggaa-zine, Forbes.
Apart from Jack Ma, leadership stories and professional news, get to know
more about different coomm-ppaanniieess featured this month. These companies
are leading in their respective fields, so take a look at what each company
has done to take one step further in achieving a new milestone in different
industries.
So sit back and relax. Get your monthly dose of engineering and technology
with GineersNow!

Engr. Alice Hernandez
Senior Editor-at-Large

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 7

GINEERSNOW TEAM

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8 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

10 20 42 44 46

CONTENTS 10 Daikin continues to lead Invention and 37 5 Attitudes That Engineers Need To
Innovation in HVAC since 1924 Develop In The Workplace

16 ITRON:On A Mission To Create A More 38 Most Difficult Engineering Interview
Resourceful World Through Talent and Questions From Companies
Technology
39 Take The Stress Out Of Engineering
20 Jack Ma: Re-Engineering The Online Work By Following These Tips
Distribution and E-Commerce
40 15 Things Effective Engineering
24 6 Skills Young Engineers Leaders Do
Must Have
41 How Google Engineers Learn
26 Which Engineering Jobs Have The Management
Highest Salaries?
42 Millenial Engineers Are Changing The
28 Want A Healthy Life? Engineers, Don’t Global Work Practice
Work Over 39 Hours A Week
43 Why Kärcher Is The Expert in Cleaning
29 Here’s The Facebook Employees 44 How Kärcher Became The Superbrand
Salary Survey
That It Is Today
30 10 Qualities Top Engineering Companies
Look For in an Engineer 45 McDermott Obtains A Construction
Vessel Amazon and A Deepwater Pipelay
32 How Do You Help An Unmotivated
Enginner At Work 46 McDermott Releases Its Financial and
Operational Results For The Year 2016
33 Bring Out The Engineering Genius In You
With These Simple Exercises 48 McDermott Achieves 50M Man-Hours
Performed With No Lost Time Incident
34 Future Engineers: Guide on How to
Survive the Year 2035 Jobs and Skills 49 How Petrochem Middle East Built A
Strong Reputation As A Global Chemical
35 We Need More Female Engineers... Distributor
And That’s The Truth

36 7 Mistakes Engineering Leaders Do
When Leading A Team

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 9

Tuna Gulenc

General Manager, Daikin Middle East
and Africa
Tuna Gulenc is in charge of Marketing
in Daikin Middle East & Africa since
October 2016. Prior to joining to Daikin
Middle East & Africa, in the last 10
years, he served in several regions and
responsibilities in the EMEA region for
Daikin. He was Deputy General Manager
and Board Member of Daikin Turkey
between 2011 and 2016, Sales Planning
& Marketing Manager in Daikin Middle
East & Africa in 2009 and 2011, Business
Analyst in Daikin Europe EMEA Office
in Brussels between 2008 and 2009.
He started his Daikin career in 2006 in
charge of establishment of the Turkey
Office in Istanbul.

“The HVAC Leader”

10 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

Daikin continues to lead
Invention and Innovation

in HVAC since 1924

DAIKIN AS GLOBAL LEADER IN SHAPING THE NEW HVAC ERA
AIR CONDITIONING Continuous growth in the HVAC innovative
Daikin Industries is the World’s HVAC Leader technologies and the consumer lifestyles in line
with more than 60,000 employees worldwide. with market growth of the construction activities
Daikin is engaged primarily in the development, had become a growing trend in the HVAC
manufacturing, sales and aftermarket support of industry. Compliant, Efficient & Innovative are the
air conditioning, heating, ventilation, refrigeration key drivers currently.
equipment, refrigerants and other chemicals, as There is an increasing demand for smart home
well as oil hydraulic products. Daikin Industries is control and total control solutions for commercial
headquartered in Osaka, Japan, with more than systems. This includes integrating, centralizing,
80 Global production bases & presence in more energy monitoring, predictive maintenance, smart
than 145 countries. apps and remote controlling of HVAC equipment
Daikin sells a full range of products, covering all along with all other the mechanical and electrical
Residential, Commercial & Industrial applications. equipment.
A Total Solution Provider having full range of Split GCC governments are already lifting utility
systems, Air Purifications, Ventilations, Rooftops, subsidies. Energy Efficient models can help
VRV systems, Air & Water Cooled Chillers, Air reduce at least 30% of the conventional AC
Handling Units, Fan Coil Units & Modular Chiller Energy Consumption rates without scarifying
Plants. on the expected comfort levels. Our aim is to
CHANGING THE GAME IN MIDDLE EAST continue the development of highly efficient
AND AFRICA models. We have launched a new green
Daikin Middle East & Africa promotes and refrigerant R-32 for residential products that
provides aftermarket support for a full range of will set a new milestone in Air Conditioning
air conditioning equipment and systems sold in Sustainability for its low Global Warming Potential
UAE, GCC, Middle East and Africa region. and Zero Ozone Depletion.
More than 15 new products were introduced to In the pipe line of Daikin’s innovations, this
this region lately, specially developed to meet refrigerant has been implemented in an inverter
the High Ambient conditions of the GCC Region, wall split which is considered the most efficient
exceeding the minimum energy efficiency & greenest Air Conditioner in the market that can
requirements set by regional regulators such as help to reduce up to 50% energy consumption,
ESMA, Estidama, AD-QCC, SASO, MEW, QS- compared to conventional A/C. More and more
SASO, Bahrain SASO, GSO and others. In Africa regions are mature markets, opening the door for
& other Middle East countries, more products replacement business.
were introduced to the market, using Inverter Market & regulators are also pushing for the
Technology. Daikin has recently acquired Zanotti development of more Green & high efficient
and together will be offering more commercial products & some industry bodies started to
refrigeration products in this region. recognize and promote such products.
Daikin will continue to lead the market with new EGBC (Emirates Green Building Council) had
technologies & High efficient products across awarded Daikin VRV IV series, the Green Building
the full product range, and strengthen our award of Year 2016 last May. Earlier, our chiller
Aftermarket & Service capabilities. product range had won Best Manufacturer of the
Visit: www.daikinmea.com year Award twice in a row in 2014 & 2015 in one
of the HVAC Industry award events.

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 11

ADOPTING AIR CONDITIONING AS The new facility will function as the core base
SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS for technology development of the globally
Problems such as climate change and changing expanding Daikin Group.
demographics are presenting our advancing Daikin is building the world’s No. 1 technology
global society with many challenges. The Daikin center with core technologies that includes
Group aims to contribute to the realization of a inverters, heat pumps, and fluorochemicals
sustainable society through business activities through the collaborative creation of innovation
with new values. inside and outside the company and will leverage
Through our business activities, we provide new and advanced technologies to expand
healthy and comfortable daily lives while at the business with differentiated products and create
same time contributing to energy efficiency new value and business opportunities.
and the reduction of greenhouse gases. The TIC facility is located in a six -floor building
Air conditioners consume large amounts of covering 49,000 m2 floor spaces with an
electricity, and the fluorocarbons they use investment of approximately 38 Billion Yen
as refrigerants deplete the ozone layer and employing 700 people. TIC will help Daikin
contribute to global warming. Particularly in accelerate implementation of “collaborative
the rapidly developing economies of emerging creation” on a global level through alliances
countries, growing demand for air conditioners is and collaborations with various companies,
expected to have an increasingly severe effect on universities, and research organizations. Daikin
climate change. already promotes comprehensive alliances with
The Daikin Group is focusing on alleviating the Kyoto University, Osaka University, and Nara
effect that products have on climate change Institute of Science and Technology and joint
through refrigerants with low global warming research and development with home builders,
impact and energy-efficient technologies. manufacturers of electrical appliances and
In addition, we strive to reduce emissions materials, and architectural firms.
of greenhouse gases during production and To achieve this, a variety of design innovations
transportation, and we recover and destroy were incorporated in the TIC office and laboratory
fluorocarbons during all stages from production areas to promote collaborative creation for
to final product disposal. engineers to overcome barriers. The building
Find more about Daikin Sustainability and CSR: uses Daikin Technologies to achieve zero energy
http://www.daikin.com/csr/summary.html building aiming at 70% energy reduction with
NEW VALUE CREATION AS A CORE BASE FOR laboratories supporting core technologies.
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT To know more use this link: http://www.
Daikin Industries, Ltd. announced the completion daikinmea.com/about-daikin/news-press-
of the Technology and Innovation Center releases/news-technology-and-innovation-
(hereinafter referred to as “TIC”) at its Yodogawa center-in-japan.jsp
Plant located in Settsu City, Japan. \

12 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

GOING GREEN! GOING SMART! If you consider combination of R-32 with
R-32 is currently being used in more than advanced technology like inverter against non-
15 million air conditioning units (estimated inverter or windows, the environmental impact
May 2016), distributed in more than 40 on our region can be even more significant!
countries worldwide, including Japan, India, Next-generation refrigerant is a real key element
Australia, Thailand and several other Asian, in the effort of lowering environmental impact
Middle East and European countries, including but in combination with the right technology
UAE, Oman & Saudi Arabia. Supporting like inverter, this will lead to real sustainable
sustainable development, Daikin encourages development for our region.
manufacturers globally to adopt the use of To know more about R-32: http://www.
R-32 on air conditioners to contribute lowering daikinmea.com/about-daikin/daikin-technologies/
the environmental impact. In that view, Daikin r-32-refrigerant/
is sharing its knowledge and technology by Daikin Middle East had launched the first
offering worldwide free access to 93 patents, high ambient split AC developed using the
to encourage companies to develop and Next Generation R-32 refrigerant and Inverter
commercialize air conditioning equipment using technology. The Inverter Technology constantly
this single component refrigerant. adjusts the compressor speed to precisely
It is estimated that if all air conditioners in maintain the desired temperature, and
developed countries using the conventional contributes on reducing the energy consumption
R-410A were converted to R-32, the global all year round, for a lower electricity bill. Whereas
warming impact from HFCs in 2030 can be the repeated ON/OFF operation of traditional
reduced by 19%, or 800 million tons CO2- systems leads to wasted energy consumption.
equivalent. Similar study has been conducted Find more about inverter technology: http://www.
in India and estimates that 15% energy can be daikinmea.com/about-daikin/daikin-technologies/
saved in residential segment by switching to inverter-technology/index.jsp
R-32 over business-as-usual with R-410A.
The studies here are only taking into account
the shift of refrigerant and not the upgrade of
technology.

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 13

As a result of this, the unit produces cooling Factors like total annual run hours, temperature
as what it is required and when it is required, extremes, corrosive environment, dust and
lowering the energy consumption, providing humidity levels; all need to be taken into
powerful cooling, quieter operation and Long life consideration.
time. VRV IV is a system that utilizes multiple Daikin GCC products are all designed and
indoor units with one outdoor. custom tailored specifically for GCC region. The
Daikin’s VRV IV has become even smarter; not market should be aware of non-high ambient
only is it especially equipped to handle the products that are not suited for use in this
sizzling heat of the Middle East, but with its region.The HVAC market in GCC and Middle East
unique VRT technology, it constantly monitors has also been witnessing the increasing use
ambient temperature and continuously adjusts of energy-efficient HVAC systems. Standards
not only the refrigerant flow like typical VRF on MEPS requirement (Minimum Energy
systems, but also the refrigerant temperature to Efficiency Performance Standard) are changing
achieve maximum efficiency and minimum power frequently and each country has slightly different
consumption. requirements.
Know more about VRV IV: http://www.daikinmea. Daikin is looking forward to enhance its full
com/commercial/vrv/index.jsp product range including Commercial and
Designing HVAC units for the GCC region is very industrial applications for high efficiency product
challenging and if not done correctly will result in lines using Inverter Technology & New R-32
equipment failure and a number of other issues. refrigerant.

14 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 15

ITRON:

On A Mission To Create A More Resourceful
World Through Talent and Technology

Over the years, demands for water and How many years have you been working in The values we bring are:
energy have been increasing due to your industry? - Manage and conserve resources
flourishing communities and technological 11 years. - Balance supply and demand
advancement. To keep up with this fast- THE COMPANY - Lower costs
paced, ever-changing lifestyle, Itron Describe your company. - Address energy-water nexus
wants to help several communities make Itron is a technology company that focuses - Deliver grid awareness and connectivity
their world more resourceful. By taking on solutions that help utilities measure, - Integrate renewable energy sources
advantage of what each community has, manage and analyze energy and water, - Enable energy efficiency
the company manages to lay a foundation headquartered in Liberty Lake, Washington - Provide foundation for smart cities
where communities can be provided with a State, USA and listed on the public stock - Increase reliability of service delivery
safe and reliable source of water, gas and exchange. - Enhance customer service
electricity. How big is your company? - Connect smart grid applications
Focusing on the availability of water Itron is a global company with more than - Engage consumers
resources, Itron has come up with solutions 8,000 employees. We have offices and Where is this company headed?
that allow several communities control, manufacturing facilities all over the world To help build a sustainable future with the
preserve and share among different people. with more than 75 key locations in 35 latest innovations, a commitment to quality
In this exclusive interview with Itron, Imad countries present in 8,000+ utilities in over and a shared passion for responsible
Dahleh, the company’s regional manager 130 countries. resource management.
for its Water & Thermal Energy division in Describe your mission, vision and values. THE ORGANIZATION
Dubai, discusses how they manage the Our mission, vision and values are around How many engineers do you have in your
resources needed to improve a community’s creating a more resourceful world. Itron company?
way of life while conserving them and empowers utilities to responsibly and I don’t have the answer to this question, but
minimize their impact on the environment. efficiently manage energy and water we are an engineering company in principle.
Take a closer look at what really goes on resources. How do you motivate your employees?
in Itron and how they are making the world In today’s resource-hungry world — where Recognition of their dedication and hard
more resourceful using their own talent and infrastructure modernization, new CO2- work.
technology. neutral energy generation and clean water THE PRODUCTS
THE PERSON for everyone are essential — resource What are the most successful products that
Introduce yourself. management is more critical than ever you have launched and why were they a
My name is Imad Dahleh and I work as before. success?
a regional manager in Itron’s Water & We all need to be more mindful of resource We provide accurate and reliable state-of-
Thermal Energy division based in Dubai. utilization and conservation. Itron is the-art electricity, water, thermal energy and
I’ve pretty much lived my entire life in dedicated to developing solutions that gas meters, communication modules, meter
Kuwait, Jordan, the US and the UAE. My address these challenges through more data collection & management systems and
hobbies are running, weight training, cross efficient measurement, management and data analytics software globally.
training, swimming and playing the drums. I analysis of energy and water resources.
performed with very big bands in the region
such as Black Sabbath, Avenged Sevenfold,
Epica and Nightwish.

16 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

Can you give us a trivia about your
company or product that no one really
knows?

Since I speak for water, the most successful Smart metering is at the heart of water
product we supplied in the Middle East is resource management and helps reduce
the Itron’s Intelis / ECHODIS+ ultrasonic leakages.
type smart water meter due to its advanced
functionalities, eco-friendly design and long TRENDS IN ECONOMIC,
lifetime specifically designed to be adapted PRODUCT & COMPANY
to our markets and installations conditions. What are the latest trends in your industry?
What products that you are working on right Water is a key challenge in every country
now? in the world as water scarcity is growing
a. What technologies do you use in your everywhere and population & urbanization
latest equipment/machineries? grow exponentially.
Ultrasound.
b. What kind of support do you offer to Water solutions industry is using more and We designed this in collaboration with
your clients? Quick and prompt aftersales more innovative and advanced technologies Dr Michael Webber from Austin (Texas)
support technically and commercially. to create, measure, all key data from the University. We strongly believe that
c. Where are they made/manufactured? field. Then the collected data have to be education is key in creating a more
In France stored, managed and analyzed. This is resourceful future.
where the trends are... in the computing In addition, our technologies and solutions
world, using the benefits of cloud storage help communities to better manage their
and big data analytics software. precious water resources. By measuring,
What do you think will the future of your you can control, preserve and better share
industry look like this year and by year among the population. Managing properly a
2020? What kind of service experience do water network and using metering data to
you see by 2020? precisely measure consumption and detect
The main evolution will be in how data are leakages allow to offer water to the largest
number of persons, safely and regularly. Our
easily collected and actions taken in solutions are by themselves a support to the
the field. Having the right features community.
in our tools so that utilities can ADVICE TO THE YOUNG ENGINEERS
immediately transform information into Energy and water management are at the
action. heart of all governments and international
organizations. This is a growing issue but
SOCIAL IMPACT & also one that drives many innovations
CORPORATE SOCIAL and create tons of opportunities.
RESPONSIBILITY
Does your company have
a CSR history? What is the
philosophy of the company?
We do not have today a
global CSR organization
and action. The latest
“local” action we developed
was to create a complete
set of e-learning modules
about water and energy
nexus to be distributed in
high school in USA in STEM
programs.

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 17

Your Partner in Creating a More Resourceful World

THE CHALLENGES WE FACE 61% 74% 8bn

30% 50% of energy is wasted of utility executives view estimated world
in the US economy the changing business population in 20255
water lost or increase in global natural model as an urgent or
unaccounted for globally1 gas demand between each year.3
2005 and 20302 growing concern.4

1 IBNET Water Supply and Sanitation Blue Book 2014
2 U.S. Energy Information Administration
3 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, July 2013
4 2016 Itron Resourcefulness Index
5 United Nations

TECHNOLOGY TODAY FOR A BETTER TOMORROW

In today’s resource-hungry world — where infrastructure modernization, new CO2-neutral energy generation and clean water
for everyone are essential — resource management is more critical than ever before. We all need to be more mindful of resource
utilization and conservation. Itron is dedicated to developing solutions that address these challenges through more efficient
measurement, management and analysis of energy and water resources. Utilities trust Itron’s technology and people to help build a
sustainable future with the latest innovations, a commitment to quality and a shared passion for responsible resource management.

The Value We Bring Enable energy efficiency
Improve system integrity
Manage and conserve resources Increase system reliability
Lower costs Enhance utility customer service
Manage distribution assets Connect smart grid applications
Deliver grid awareness and connectivity Deliver business outcomes
Modernize the grid

Enable distributed intelligence

ITRON | A GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY COMPANY

18 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

Delivering on the Promise “The Kalgoorlie smart water
metering trial, which uses
No other company offers the same breadth and depth of products and solutions as Itron. Itron technology, has been an
outstanding success because
We are leading the world in solving utilities’ specific business challenges. over the two years of the trial we’ve
managed to reduce the water
ELECTRICITY SOLUTIONS supply to Kalgoorlie by over 800,000
kilolitres (more than 210 million
» Smart grid and IoT solution with distributed intelligence and adaptive communications gallons), which is a savings
» Standards-based smart grid network with true interoperability of around 10 percent.”
» Smart grid analytics for demand response, distributed generation, outage detection,
Garry Peach, Service Customers
transformer load management, revenue assurance and theft detection Strategy and Support Manager
» Advanced metering automation via radio, cellular and wired technologies Water Corporation
» Smart payment for electricity
» Electricity measurement technologies “Itron is collaborating with
» Streamlined operations and business outcomes with managed services CenterPoint Energy to apply
technology to deliver reliable service
GAS SOLUTIONS to our customers and reduce our
environmental footprint.”
» Smart gas IoT solution
» Gas monitoring technologies to improve safety, system integrity and asset Kenny Mercado, Division SVP,
Grid & Market Operations
management CenterPoint Energy
» Gas analytics for enhanced customer service, district metering, revenue protection
“Itron’s gas prepayment system has
and cathodic protection helped the State Oil Company of
» Advanced metering automation via radio or cellular communications the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR)
» Smart payment for gas improve revenue collection, recover
» Gas measurement and regulator technologies old debt and improve customer
» Streamlined operations and business outcomes with managed services service.”

WATER SOLUTIONS Akbar Hajiyev, Managing
Director SOCAR
» Smart water IoT solution
» Water efficiency solutions to manage water scarcity, droughts and non-revenue

water regulations
» Water analytics for enhanced customer service, revenue protection, conservation

management, district metering, flow analysis, and trending and forecasting
» Advanced metering automation via radio or cellular communications
» Water and heat measurement technologies
» Heat cost allocation solution
» Streamlined operations and business outcomes with managed services

SMART CITIES SOLUTIONS

» Unified, secure, multi-service network IoT and smart city solution
» Interoperability of sensing technologies and dynamic applications at the device level
» Energy and water management expertise
» Smart city application and communications network management using

managed services

ITRON | A GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY COMPANY 19

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

Source: South China Morning Post

Jack Ma:Re-Engineering THE

Online Distribution
and E-Commerce

20 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

It’s rare to see Asians dominate the tech For a country so big and so rich with history, it
industry, where competition is very tough and is a wonder as to why there are no information
has been dominated by white men already. available, but that was in the 90s and the
But things are slowly starting to change with the internet we all depend on now is relatively new
start of Jack Ma entering and dominating the for the public back then.
Billionaire’s club. It was in that encounter that led Ma and his
If you’re not familiar with Jack Ma, it’s time you friend to create a website that was related to
should be. China. On the day the website was launched, he
As the founder and executive chairman of Alibaba received emails from his countrymen to find out
Group, the 52-year-old Chinese billionaire from more about him. Ma realized that the internet
Hangzhou, China is currently Forbes’ 8th richest really had a good potential and later on, started
man in the tech industry and the 33rd richest his first company “Chinapage” with his wife and
billionaire in the world. Ma was also the first his friend with USD$20,000 as capital.
person from mainland China to be featured on It wasn’t easy for Ma when he started his
the cover of Forbes. His company, the Alibaba company. Before he did it, most of his friends
Group Holding Limited, is an e-commerce suggested he should drop the idea because the
company that provides transactions between internet was unfamiliar to everybody. He shared,
consumers and businesses. Aside from that, “When I first started Alibaba, I was immediately
the company also provides data-centric cloud met with strong opposition from family and
computing services, a shopping search engine friends. Looking back, I realised that the biggest
and electronic payment services. As of last driving force for me then was not my confidence
year, it is considered one of the largest internet in the Internet and the potential it held, but more
companies and has already surpassed Walmart of this: “No matter what one does, regardless
as the world’s largest retailer in the world. of failure or success, the experience is a form of
Before Jack Ma started dominating the success in itself.” You have got to keep trying,
e-commerce industry in mainland China and and if it doesn’t work, you always can revert back
became a multi-billionaire, his journey started out to what you were doing before.“
with full of struggles and challenges. His career
started with full of rejections which included “No matter what one
an application to work for the police, Harvard does, regardless of
and KFC. In an interview with Charlie Rose, he failure or success,
shared, “I even went to KFC when it came to my the experience is a
city. Twenty-four people went for the job. Twenty- form of success in
three were accepted. I was the only guy…”
While it may have been rough for Ma, he itself”
persevered and on 1995, his introduction to
the internet eventually led him to an idea that
would change how businesses will be operated
around the world. During his trip to the US as a
translator in early 1995, he was curious as to
why no information comes out about China from
the internet.

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 21

So despite the challenges and doubts he met Despite being denied for funding by several
in starting the company, Ma started his first companies in Silicon Valley, Ma eventually got
company and created websites for different USD 5 Million from Goldman Sachs and USD 20
Chinese companies. Unfortunately, majority of Million from Softbank. Other companies thought
the management’s control of Chinapage was that Ma’s business model was too risky and
by the government when Ma decided to partner unprofitable.
with them. Ma was left frustrated and decided to The company started achieving profitability by
leave the company and work for a short period 2001 and started expanding their services in
at the ministry of foreign trade and economic 2003 with Taobao, a consumer e-commerce
cooperation. In this job, he was able to meet platform.
prominent people, including Jerry Yang, the Ma was the chief executive officer of his
founding member of Yahoo! company for its first 10 years but stepped
After leaving his job, he founded Alibaba with the down on the position to become the company’s
goal of joining international trade for small and executive chairman.
medium ventures located in China.

For over two decades, the Alibaba Group Holding Limited has expanded its business to
create several subsidiaries:

alibaba.com AliExpress Xiami
The largest online business- An online retail service where An online music service
to-business trading platform small Chinese business sell
provider
for small business products to international 365fanyi.com
Ant Financial online buyers A domestic crowdsourcing
Yahoo! China translation platform that small
Operates Alipay payments and medium enterprises can
AutoNavi Formed a strategic use to participate in several
partnership with Yahoo! back
Chinese map supplier transactions
Taobao in 2005. South China Morning Post
Aliwangwang Provides media coverage on
China’s largest consumer-to- An instant messaging
consumer online shopping software service for online China
Ali Health
platform selling Alibaba’s flagship health care
Tmall.com Laiwang unit that provides buyers
An online retail platform A messaging application and a selection of health and
Juhuasuan service pharmaceutical products
A group shopping website in Alibaba Pictures available in China
Renamed as the Alibaba
China Pictures Group, it’s a media UCWeb
eTao company that checks the A mobile internet software
Online shoppers use this to potential opportunities in technology and services
search results from most online entertainment
Chinese online shopping Youku Tudou company that aims to
platforms A company that broadcasts give better mobile internet
Alipay popular television programs connections to its users.
A third-party online payment and other videos over the
platform that requires no internet Lazada
transaction fees Alibaba Group R&D An e-commerce company
Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun) Institute that operates its sites on
A cloud computing service Focused on research and the Philippines, Singapore,
platform development and has filed Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia,
several patent and utility Vietnam and Thailand. The
Source:Getty Images model applications company sells different

products ranging from
household items to consumer

electronics.

22 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

Source: Vulcan Post Source: Rediff

Having started a small business that transformed Together with several tournament-winning Tai Chi
into one of the world’s biggest business empires, players, they teach regular classes at Alibaba,
there’s no wonder that Ma would receive several where employees are required to attend.
acknowledgements. Back in 2004, he was Despite having no experience in coding or using
chosen as one of the “Top 10 Business Leaders computers, his faith in the internet’s potential
of the Year” by China Central Television. He was made him one of the world’s richest billionaires.
awarded an honorary doctoral degree by the His story has inspired thousands (or even
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. millions) that rejection and failure shouldn’t stop
He was also awarded by Forbes Asia as one a person from pursuing things they believe in. For
of Asia’s Heroes of Philanthropy. He has been Ma, it all started with his first encounter with the
recognized as one of the best businessmen in internet on 1995.
the world by several international establishments More than two decades later, the Alibaba Group
already. Last year, Forbes made him the 28th has made a record of $463 billion of business
most powerful person in the world. transactions in 2016. With the aim to create
Fun fact about Jack Ma: He wants to be 100 million jobs and around 10 million profitable
remembered as a Tai Chi master as well. He has businesses in the next 20 years, there is no
been studying the Chen style of Tai Chi Chuan, a doubt Ma and his company will soon rise and
Chinese martial arts since 2009. dominate the tech world.

Source: ZeroHedge

Source: TNooz

Source: Vulcan Post

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 23

6 Skills Young Engineers Must Have

You should probably consider this if you want to stand out and be the kickass young engineer you want to be.

Nowadays, taking engineering seems to be a norm If your institution does not offer learning to use
that many young people consider in order to keep CAD software, there are crash courses offered in
up with the society’s demands of rapid changes, other technical schools for a certain number of
innovations and advancements in technology. Many sessions. There are CAD software programs and
specialized engineering courses are also introduced tutorials online so you can study it yourself too.
and the population of people taking career paths
in engineering fields gradually grows. Competition 2BASIC PROGRAMMING / IT SKILLS
is getting tougher, especially to young engineers At this point, hard sciences are now converging
who are newly grads. Several countries produce with the digital world to be more efficient and
millions of engineers where most end up in non- productive. There are now industries that depends
engineering fields or obliged to settle in entry levels on heavy database management and automated
they don’t deserve. Even if you’re an engineering components in industrial plants (Computer-
graduate, you may not be competent enough. integrated manufacturing). Learning how to use
programming languages and algorithms is also
But don’t lose hope just yet. Here is a checklist for a plus. Even if you’re a computer engineering
you to stand out and become a kickass engineer major, not all programming languages are
you want to be. taught in school. There are also crash courses
for this such as learning SQL, Mathlab, COBOL,
1AUTOCAD SKILLS C#, .NET, Python, Java or Ruby. Online tutorials
We are in the age that engineering design and downloadable software programs are also
is not confined on 2D blueprints or sketches available if you plan to self-study.
alone. Designs of components, structures and
architectural plans now heavily depends on 3D 3COMMUNICATION SKILLS
CAD designs especially for intricate objects in As an engineer, our science and mathematical
manufacturing. The ability to design with Auto CAD knowledge or technical skills are given. But
is really a must for engineering and architecture presenting and relaying it effectively is another
people in these fields. Having proficient CAD aspect. Being a persuasive presenter gives us
skills certainly gives you an advantage over other opportunities to be an exceptional engineer.
candidates.

24 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

We must learn how to stride the right balance companies assuring skills and quality. It has now
between technical and communication skills as become a requirement in a number of engineering
they are the keys to a successful professional firms and corporations. Having a professional
career. There are programs and workshops that license gives the public approval to perform
can help us enhance speech communication and engineering work. It is also seen as a commitment
presentation skills. to your profession and gives more opportunities in
your career.
4PROJECT MANAGEMENT
In our profession, we always coordinate 6GRADUATE DEGREES
with others or work as a team in a department. (MSc / MA / MBA / Engg D / PhD)
Engineers also become project managers and Today, a number of professional engineering
learning how to manage a project and a team societies are considering to make graduate degree
gives you a successful career. Having project the mandatory credential for would-be engineers.
management skills enables you to lead project They require master’s degree in finance, business
or program teams and will eventually master administration or industrial engineering in order
the dynamics of a project. From there, you can to advance in managerial positions. Millennial
handle more complex projects and be appointed engineers opt to take master’s degree units and
in leadership positions. You can also draw other certifications while working in order to raise their
professionals and open opportunities for business credentials and value of being a professional
and personal growth. There are institutions engineer. Some high positions need a certain
offering Project Management as an elective and of depth of knowledge and expertise in that
also a Project Management Professional (PMP) engineering field so that’s where these graduate
certification. courses come in as an advantage. Engineers must
not be limited to their majors but must continue to
5PROFESSIONAL LICENS learn and diverse into different fields.
As they say, licensure is the mark of a
professional. It means you are at the top of
your game and your profession. It is a standard
recognized by the government, the clients and

Source: MinnPost

Source: University of Toronto, College of Engineering

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 25

Source: Giphy

WHICH ENGINEERING JOBS HAVE
THE HIGHEST SALARIES?

Mechanical? Chemical? Everyone knows for a fact that engineers are
Electrical? Check which among the highest paid professionals in the
ones enjoy lucrative pays! world. Each one of us knows at least one
engineer, and for that it’s a common observation
that he or she lives with relatively lesser financial
struggles. Due to the difficulty and the global
demand of the job, engineering remains to be at
the top when it comes to median salaries.
This is one of the many reasons why many
are motivated to pursue this career – because
of the lucrative pay. But among the long list
of engineering courses offered in universities
worldwide, there are fields that offer way higher
pay than the others. Here are six of those as
evaluated from reports and statistics of reputable
sources including the U.S. Department of Labor
Bureau of Labor Statistics.

PETROLEUM ENGINEERING

As the global demand for energy increases,
the need for petroleum engineers goes with it.
That’s because these engineers are responsible
for the production of oil and gas. The median
salary for new petroleum engineers is estimated
at $74,240, the highest across all engineering
fields. Later, this increases to $132,320 during
mid-career, and even $186,520 when there is
ample work experience.
Because the petroleum engineering industry
is slated to have employees that will retire in
the next decade, this is a recommended career
choice to fill available positions.

26 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING time upon reaching the middle of the career. Due
to the cutbacks in space exploration, it is most
The descendants of Nikola Tesla, the electrical likely that the job growth for aerospace engineers
engineers, get one of the highest engineering is only at 5% over the next few years, which is
median salaries. Their job mostly revolves around lower than the average job market.
the design, testing, and supervision of electrical
equipment, but could work in related industries. CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
Starting electrical engineers could earn a median
salary of $57,330. With enough experience for a Usually employed in the areas of manufacturing
mid-career engineer, they get a median salary of and research tasked to produce, transform,
$89,180. Take note that this sector’s job growth transport and properly use chemicals, materials,
is expected to be around 6%, which is a rate and energy, chemical engineers enjoy high-paying
lower than average. This will go on until 2020. jobs. The median starting salary for chemical
engineers is approximately $94,000, while the
COMPUTER ENGINEERING mid-career salary is estimated at $154,840.
However, a caution: the market for chemical
Computer engineering is divided into two main engineers is expected to be reasonably flat
areas: hardware and software. The former deals over the next few years. What is set to pull this
with physical computer systems and components trend up is the related industries like biomedical
while the latter involves application of engineering engineering, which is expected to have a much
discipline to the creation of software. But the faster average job growth.
two have a relatively similar median salary, with
software seen to become more in demand in the MATERIALS ENGINEERING
future. For starting computer engineers – either
hardware or software – the pay is estimated at As the name suggests, materials engineering
$63,970. This goes up in mid-career at about deals with the development and testing of
$150,130. materials mostly used in the production of
industrial and consumer products. Engineers in
AEROSPACE ENGINEERING this field are responsible for opening doors to
new technologies across the industry. The median
Planning to take a degree in aerospace starting salary of materials engineers is $52,900.
engineering? The time is now. This field which As time goes by, it increases to $85,150 during
studies the development of aircraft and spacecraft mid-career. Job growth in this sector is seen to be
has one of the highest paying jobs. Fresh at around 9% until 2020.
aerospace engineers can expect a starting salary
of $65,450, which will become $103,720 over

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 27

Source: Huffington Post

Want a Healthy Life?
Engineers, Don’t Work
Over 39 Hours a Week

Putting extra time at work may yield you Dinh, lead researcher from the ANU Research
good impressions at work, but be wary that School of Population Health. “Long work hours
this may harm your health in the long term. erode a person’s mental and physical health,
This is what a new research by the Australian because it leaves less time to eat well and look
National University has found, saying that people after themselves properly,” he says.
who work more than 39 hours a week are putting If considering other commitments of women, Dr
their health at risk. Dinh tells that the previously set limit for healthy
A study like this hits close to engineers as we are work is at 34 hours per week. For men, it was 47
usually overworked and yet underpaid. Contrary hours a week because of the lesser involvement
to the international limit set about 80 years on care or domestic work compared to women.
ago which is 48 hours per week, this research Dr Dinh adds, “Despite the fact that women
drastically reduces the number of work hours. on average are as skilled as men, women on
That is if you are after going a healthy life. average have lower paid jobs and less autonomy
The research involved 8,000 Australian adults, than men, and they spend much more time on
conducted as part of the Household, Income and care and domestic work.”no matter what it is.
Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. He goes on to say that given the extra demands
Two in three Australians in full-time employment placed on women, it’s impossible for women to
worked more than 40 hours a week, with long work long hours often expected by employers
hours a bigger problem for women who do more unless they compromise their health.
unpaid work at home, according to Dr Huong

28 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

Here’s the Source: Glassdoor

Employees Salary Survey

Just How Much do
Facebook Employees Earn?

Ever dreamed of working at Facebook? Here’s PRODUCTION ENGINEER
the Facebook Employees Salary Survey. Most SALARY: $134,775
engineers who want to work in the computer Product engineers ensure that their products
or software engineering field would want to work are working properly, and whether they can be
at Facebook, after all it seems like an awesome updated or improved.
place to work at. Here’s an idea of how much you PRODUCT DESIGNER
can expect to earn if you work for them. SALARY: $133,810
ENGINEERING MANAGER Product designers need to have experience in app
SALARY: $166,561 building and front-end programming. However,
The engineering managers are the team leaders they say the most important designs still come
who manage a specific group of people who are from Zuckerberg himself.
working on a specific product. To be able to get SOFTWARE ENGINEER
this position you should not only know how to SALARY: $125,515
code, but have good leadership skills as well. These engineers are one of the most vital
SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER employees of the company. They make sure
SALARY: $160,638 everything runs smoothly and new developments
When you have proven yourself to Facebook, and are implemented immediately.
they know you’re good at what you do, you could SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INTERN
climb up the career ladder and become a senior SALARY: $77,544
software engineer. Are you graduating soon and are looking for
PRODUCT MANAGER placements? Facebook is a good option, especially
SALARY: $147,469 if you see the salary rates.
These people collect outputs from different teams ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
and incorporate all the products together. SALARY: $62,617
DATABASE ENGINEER Account Executives run the advertising of
SALARY: $141,635 Facebook and all other business-related events.
These engineers focus on dealing with massively
large amount of data, and constantly keep track of
their highly complex databases.
RESEARCH SCIENTIST
SALARY: $137,134
The research scientists are Facebook’s analytics,
they use data analysis to tell what’s working and
what’s not.

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 29

Qualities Top
Engineering Companies

10 Look For in an Engineer
If you want to land your dream job and easily climb your way up the
corporate ladder, these qualities will help you succeed.

There are several attributes that top engineering No, you don’t have to pretend to
companies are looking for in a candidate have these. You don’t have to fake
during the recruitment phase. There are 10 anything because employers know
specific qualities that engineers should mold and how to detect someone who really
develop during the course of their engineering has the qualities they are looking
careers. No one is perfect – that is a universal fact. for from someone who just likes to
We can never recruit that one person who fits all of pretend in a desperate attempt to
the qualities an employer looks for without a flaw or
two. However, it still helps that we know what kind get the job.
of qualities we need to land the job of our dreams
and boost our careers. YOU KNOW WHAT KIND OF PATH YOU WANT TO
So if you want to land the job of your dreams and TAKE IN YOUR ENGINEERING CAREER
start paving your way to a successful career life, If you want to work for big engineering companies,
here are the top qualities your future employer may recruiters would ask you what kind of path you
need from you: want to take once you get the job. Would you like to
YOU KNOW YOUR ENGINEERING STRENGTHS eventually be promoted to a managerial position?
AND WEAKNESSES They would surely ask you that. They’d want to
Employers usually ask you what your strengths and know if you’re the type who wants to stay in the
weaknesses are. So our advice is to be honest and company for a long time. Companies want loyalty
tell them what you’re really good at. Then, you can from the people they hire.
explain what your weaknesses are in a way that YOU CAN WORK UNDER LIGHT SUPERVISION
you can use it to your advantage. It’s pretty tricky No one needs a burden so they need to hire
but give this a lot of thought before you head to the someone who can easily understand the job
interview. description and knows how to do it. Your supervisors
YOU KNOW YOUR ENGINEERING SUCCESS STORIES would hate it if you keep bugging them if you’re
They would ask you for a success story. Usually, doing the job right or not. So as much as possible,
employers would want to know what problems avoid annoying them.
you’ve faced in the past and how you were able to
overcome it. That’s how they’ll judge you on your
ability to handle stress.
Don’t give a dramatic effect to it. Keep it
professional and don’t shed a tear.

30 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

YOU LIKE TO SOLVE PROBLEMS Your future boss would appreciate you even more if
When they ask you about a challenging situation you show enthusiasm in learning new things. Share
where your problem-solving skills are tested, they’d to these people that you like to read a lot of things
want to see how you handle those tasks and if to widen your knowledge on a certain topic. You can
you can fix the problem. We all know that our jobs also tell them you’re very willing to learn something
require us to solve problems all the time, so expect new for the job.
that you’ll be asked these kinds of questions all the YOU’RE A RESPONSIBLE ENGINEER
time. Hey, engineering school trained us very well Anybody wants to hang out with the responsible
for this so this shouldn’t be a problem anymore. ones inside the company so if you’re that type,
YOU ARE ACTIVE IN YOUR WORK there’s a higher chance that your employers would
As soon as you get the task done for the day, hire you for the job. So if you’ve had experiences
your employers would appreciate it if you offer to when you’ve proven yourself responsible, go
help with other tasks. If you end up as the perky ahead and tell everyone about it. But don’t sound
employee who’s always game to get a lot of job arrogant though.
done, you’d be one of the most favorite people in YOU HAVE AN AMBITION
the company. Employers look for someone who has the drive
Don’t be too perky though. Some employers might and determination to succeed with their job. In
think you’re a goody two shoes. short, they want someone with ambition. So go
YOU CAN WORK WELL WITH YOUR COLLEAGUES ahead, show them that you are that engineer.
When they check your resume, they would ask you
what kind of organizations you worked with during
college. They’d assess how well you perform in
group activities. That would play a crucial part on
how your boss would assess you. So if you’re the
type who can easily work well with other people,
this is no problem for you.
YOU ARE ALWAYS OPEN TO LEARN NEW
TECHNOLOGIES OR ENGINEERING METHODS
If you’re the type who hates change, then that
would be a disadvantage for you. Being part of a
company really requires you to learn new things to
improve your skills.

Source: Giphy

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 31

Source: Digital Trends

HOW DO YOU HELP AN
UNMOTIVATED ENGINEER

AT WORK?

There are different reasons why the engineers at your workplace
don’t show up to work with a goal to accomplish great things for

the day.

There are days when you observe the people As a company, provide time for each of your
you work with are not motivated enough to engineers to explore new things and give them
do their tasks at hand. You see them feeling new tasks every now and then. For a profession
uninspired to achieve good results at work. Then, that taught them to practice critical thinking in the
you find yourself asking if the problem comes field, it is best if you give them challenged that will
from the people they work with, the specific work help them apply what they learned in engineering
assigned to them or that the company is failing. school and actually have the chance to discover
There are different reasons why the engineers at more about their work.
your workplace don’t show up to work with a goal MAKE THEM FEEL THEY’RE PART OF THE
to accomplish great things for the day. As a leader SUCCESS OF THE COMPANY.
in your team, you must properly identify what the This is probably the hardest thing to do. One
problems are and find the best possible solution success of the company doesn’t necessarily
to fix these problems. Here are some ways to mean everyone can be happy about it, especially
help unmotivated engineers have better work for those who are not personally involved in the
performances at work: project. You have to find a way to let the people
YOUR ENGINEERS DON’T SEE THE VALUE at work know that each one contributes to the
IN WHAT THEY ARE DOING. success of the company. It is better to even give
In most cases, unmotivated engineers often feel them validation every now and then. Help them
that way because they don’t see the point in what understand what kind of impact they can have on
they are doing. This is why you have to explain the company.
your vision for your company. It is important that While it is always challenging to keep your
they know what and why they are doing these engineers motivated at work, as the leader, you
things. Let them know the value of their jobs have to come up with ways to keep them inspired.
and how they can help achieve the goals of your If you don’t want to have internal problems at
company. Give them something to believe in work, it is best to keep them motivated and feel
and involve them in things that will get everyone valued at work.
excited about when achieving certain tasks for As Sir Richard Branson once said, “Clients do
your company’s vision. not come first. Employees come first. If you take
GIVE YOUR ENGINEERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO care of your employees, they will take care of the
DISCOVER. clients.”
Most often than not, engineers do not like jobs Keep them motivated. Keep them inspired.
that are boring. They hate taking jobs that doesn’t
allow them the opportunities to improve and grow
as a professional.

32 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

Bring Out The Engineering Genius In You
With These Simple Exercises

Geniuses aren’t always one in a million.

by Cielo Santos

People often believe that geniuses are a rare breed THINK FROM ALL THE ANGLES
and that they are born, not made. They appear so There isn’t only one way to get to an answer.
rarely that you can make a safe guess that only People created knives to slice and cut, but never
one or two appear in a million people. But did you for the purpose of spreading butter on bread.
know that there are actually exercises which help Always think of all the angles to help yourself
you build up the genius in you? formulate a solution.
Roberta B. Ness, MD, MPH, dean at the School THINK OUT OF THE BOX
of Public Health, and vice president of innovation Engineers have this talent naturally, so it’s good to
at the University of Texas Health Science Center hone it more. As the saying goes, to get something
at Houston, talked about her findings in her book, you never had, you have to do something you’ve
Genius Unmasked. Ness talked about systematic never done. So, sometimes thinking crazy gets
tools that Marie Curie and even Einstein used to results, after all, most inventions in our world today
make their scientific discoveries. came from crazy ideas.
To start of, geniuses always ask the right Take Niel Bohr’s response of the nuclear physics
questions. They base off their hypothesis on past community to Wolfgang Pauli’s 1958 presentation:
theories while observing their environment. For “We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The
example, American engineer Paul Baran related a question that divides us is whether it is crazy
“web of computers” to “neurological pathways”. enough to have a chance of being correct.”
They also try to work on different points of view, According to Ness, Goodman and Dickerson in
as per Ness, stating that Darwin once imagined Creativity in the Sciences, they suggest these:
himself as a plant while Einstein was visualizing #1 Create a list of crazy ideas about a problem,
traveling at the speed of light. then making the next idea more absurd than the
If you’re looking for exercises to help you think like one before.
a genius, here’s a few things you can do to think #2 Choose one of these crazy ideas.
like one: #3 Then take the basic premise of the idea – what
CONTOUR DRAWING makes this idea stand out
Think of doing still life drawing without looking #4 Next, list down the component parts or features
at your own paper. It’s going to help you be more of that particular idea.
observant of what you’re doing and forces you to #5 Then take one of the component parts of that
be careful before each stroke. idea and use it to create a practical idea.”
CREATE “OUT OF THIS WORLD” IDEAS Geniuses make use of different cognitive tools to
Geniuses suggest that creating ideas off of a make their incredible discoveries. Thankfully, we
problem and making each more absurd than the can harness these tools for our own creations as
other enable people to think outside the box. Think well.
of a problem, create ideas for a crazy solution,
then make crazier ideas. Then think of what makes
that idea work and use it to formulate a more
practical solution.

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 33

Future Engineers: Guide on
How to Survive the Year 2035

Jobs and Skills

A guide for the future engineers out there. helpers will emerge as well, who need to have
An Australian report predicted that in the next great people skills, and the ability to interpret and
20 years, a huge chunk of employees will act understand health and well-being data.
as remote controls to unmanned vehicles, some As people around the world age, this kind of jobs
will be personalized preventive health helpers, will be significant. Online chaperones will be a
and others as online chaperones due to cyber job title as well in the next 20 years because
security. of the risks imposed by cyber-crime. They will
This report, authored by Commonwealth provide protection and support for online activity.
Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Transitions within the workplace due to
indicates that new skills will be required for the innovation also mean transition with skills. By
workforce to learn as we move along with the 2020, World Economic Forum listed top 10
Fourth Industrial Revolution. skills needed in the future workplace, in the
Unmanned vehicles have started their era and by following order as listed in their Future of Jobs
2035, all we need are pilots, ship captains and report: complex problem solving, critical thinking,
drivers working on their vehicles even a thousand creativity, people management, coordinating with
miles apart. Personalized preventive health others, emotional intelligence, judgment and
decision making, service orientation, negotiation,
and cognitive flexibility.

34 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

Source: University of Washington

We NeeadnMdoTrheaFte’smtahleeTErnugtinheers…

The statistics of women in engineering is quite alarming.

Source: UCL Engineering More Female Engineers Please. Are you planning to get into engineering?
Source: Newcastle University According to the US Department You’d be making a positive change in the
of Commerce, women hold scenario of female versus male engineers.
only around 24 percent of the STEM or Even though the total number of female
Science, Technology, Engineering, and engineers in the United States has
Mathematics jobs in the USA. When increased, there is still a big difference in
compared to the other jobs that women the ratio of men vs women engineers, and
hold, it accounts to around 48 percent of serious efforts are being made to bridge
all jobs in the country. It has also been that gap. There is also a serious dearth of
noted that only 20 percent of women female role models in engineering. Having
in the country have bachelor’s degree role models in the field of engineering will
in engineering, physics, and computer encourage more girls to accept the field of
science. This is also one of the reasons study and to be engineers.
for backlog in the field of new technology If engineering ideas need to reach the
innovation. common mass, it is very important to
Throughout the country, the experts are promote female role models in the field.
commenting that the women are the This will in turn curb the fears of women
minorities in the field of STEM. This is to enter the field of engineering. According
what is hampering the country’s ability to the experts, there is a sufficient number
to develop new arenas of addressing of women in the fields of medical and
technological and scientific challenges. law. So, why are women lagging behind in
Gradually, there are universities, colleges, engineering? If they try, they definitely can
and educational institutions that are compete with men in this field as well.
encouraging female students to take part
in studies and career related to STEM
disciplines.

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 35

7 Mistakes

Engineering
Leaders Do When
Leading A Team

And here’s how to correct them.

If you are currently leading a team of genius You cannot keep promises.
employees or a bunch of technical wiz guys, you Never make promises that you know you cannot
must read this. These are common mistakes keep. A habit a lot of leaders make, doing this will
engineering leaders do and how to avoid them. only end up with you disappointing everyone in your
You do not follow the rules you want your team. So be careful with the promises you tell to
colleagues to follow. them.
If you don’t want your colleagues to lose respect You think you’re the most important
for you and if you want them to follow the company person in your team.
rules, you should be the first one in the team to Don’t steal the spotlight on anyone. Remember,
follow rules. If you end up breaking them, your team your job is to lead and guide everyone in your team.
will only do the same things. You are the leader and You’re not supposed to be the most important
the team just follows what a leader does. person in your team.
You say you’ll do something, but you end You cannot handle criticism.
up not doing it at all. As a leader of your team, you are obliged to give
Learn to keep your word so that your teammates constructive criticisms to each of its members.
will learn to trust you as a leader. Don’t disappoint However, you have to be reminded that you are
them with words you know you couldn’t keep. Talk growing as a leader as well. Keep yourself open to
the talk. Walk the walk. criticisms and don’t take any of them as insults.
You do not admit you’re wrong. Learn how to handle criticisms like a good leader.
Don’t believe that saying about being weak You only believe yours is the right way.
whenever you admit you are wrong. If you find In order for you to help improve every member of
yourself in situations where you really are at fault, your team, you should know that the right way isn’t
don’t be afraid to admit it. limited to only one approach. More importantly,
Not only will that help correct a mistake, but it also the right way doesn’t exactly mean your way. So
helps improve your relationship with the rest of the brainstorm different approaches to the challenges
team. your team faces, then choose which is the best
solution that could work for everyone in the team

36 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

ATTITUDES

5 that Engineers Need to
Develop in the Workplace
Stuck in a rut? Turn it around by doing these.

5 important leadership attitudes for engineers to EXCELLENCE
harness. There will a point in your engineering Beside the efficiency is excellence. It will give
career that feels like you’ve been stuck in a rut. yourself some pressure, but that’s okay. That’s part
You’ve been doing the same tasks everyday and of it. Never settle for less – that’s what excellence
going to your workplace in your usual self. But means in engineering work. Do not be contented
each day, you notice that you are slowing down with good and always go for great. You are leaving
and less motivated. a lifelong service and settling for mediocrity should
Before you slip further to that downward spiral, never be an engineer’s attitude. Always, always try
there is still one thing you can do about it: change to exceed expectations.
attitude so that you will get the career boost you BEING EARLY
deserve. You can only get ahead if you are willing The early bird catches the worm. This proverb says
to step out of your regular attitudes. Try cementing it all. If you do something early at work, which of
these in your mind: course requires you to report in early, you will do
ENTHUSIASM more and hence be more successful with what you
There should never be a dull moment at work. do. This is the practice of productive people who
Always face every task or project with energy, by maximizes time at work.
sparing yourself from all of the excuses that drags MAKING IT EASY
your feet. An engineer’s work is worthwhile is he This does not mean compromising everything
or she enjoys what is being done. Prove to yourself mentioned above, but make the effort to become
that you still love what you do. Start by being the easiest to work with at your workplace. After
enthusiastic with everything! all, it’s never that the engineer does his work
EFFICIENCY alone, but always a collaboration. Try not to
In engineering, you are expected to yield results complain and nag, because those are infectious
with the least wasted time and effort. This is what attitudes that don’t help with work at all.
is exactly meant by efficiency. You need to strive
for faster yet productive results.

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 37

Can you answer these difficult engineering Most Difficult
interview questions?
Do you have what it takes to be a kickass Engineering Interview Questions
engineer? Top companies like Google, Apple, From Top Companies
Microsoft and SpaceX, of course, only hire
the top engineers and employees. Aside You’re really a kickass engineer if you can answer these mind bending questions.
from undergoing credentials checking, they By Farrel Pinto
also do tough screening interviews to get the
cream of the crop. Sometimes, according
to former interviewees and employees, the
CEOs themselves even conduct the interviews
personally. Let’s see if you have it.
Try these actual tough interview questions from
these top companies.

Dropbox Engineering Job Interview Microsoft Engineering Job Interview Google Engineering Job Interview

1Question 2Question 3Question
. You work on the 60th floor of 100 . You are on a game show. There are . Pretend 1% of the population
story building. You walk into your office three doors, behind one of which is a has a disease. You have a test that
and find a bomb sitting on your desk. prize and the other two is a chunk of determines if you have that disease,
It reads 90 seconds and is counting down. coal, and the host knows which door holds but it’s only 80% accurate and 20% of
What do you do? the prize. You choose door #1. Before it is the time you get a false positive. Your test
opened, the host opens door #3 and reveals comes back positive. How likely is it you
a lump of coal. You have the choice to stick have the disease?
with the door you chose originally or switch
to door #2. What do you do?

SpaceX Engineering Job Interview Intel Engineering Job Interview Apple Engineering Job Interview

4Question 5Question 6Question
. If you walk 1 mile south, 1 mile west . Can you design a spice rack for the . If you are in a boat in the middle of
and 1 mile north, you are exactly back blind? How will it look like? the pond and drop an anchor, how
where you started. Where are you? does the water level vary with respect
– (CEO Elon Musk’s Favorite Question) to shore?
Wanna know the answers? Click here!

38 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

Take the Stress
Out of Engineering
Work by Following

These Tips

This is a short stress management course

for engineers.

Is your engineering work stressful? Engineers are They are the kinds of people that keeps you drained
already so immune to stress that it has become part at work, and you can shrug them off by approaching
of our everyday life. There are so many stressors at the situation rationally.
work and at home that may already be detrimental DON’T HOLD GRUDGES
to the engineer’s emotional and physical aspects. If someone at work makes you hate him or her so
While that is happening with or without our much, stop that. A study by Emory University said
consciousness, there are sure ways to reverse the that holding onto stress contributes to high blood
damage. pressure and heart disease, and that includes
A research by Yale University found out that stress holding grudges. Negative emotions also induce a
reduces the volume of grey matter in the areas of stress response. Take note now that some people
the brain responsible for self-control. This means are not just worth the stress.
that future situations that put us in stress will be BE MINDFUL
dealt with a lesser control of the situation if we People who see to it that they are mindful in
cannot control our present stress. The solution? work situations are the ones who are focused in
Control our present stress, of course. Here are accomplishments rather than focused in being busy.
strategies: It is also a form meditation to gain control of unruly
SAY NO thoughts and behaviors.
The ability to say no is almost always difficult for PUT THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE
engineers. The tendency of engineers is to hoard a Some say that it’s just a matter of how we look at
lot of responsibilities, which means more work to things. A certain perspective sometimes yields a
do. And this gives us a lot of stress. So learn to say stressor, when there are other views that might not
no sometimes. do the same. For example, you should be thinking
DISCONNECT of the positive side of things instead of the negative
Some engineers resort to a lot of smartphone usage – it should “everything will go just right” instead of
as a way to release stress. But this isn’t always “what if this will fall apart?”. It’s all about keeping
the case, as work now is already integrated with your cool.
social media, including interacting with workmates SEEK HELP FROM YOUR SUPPORT SYSTEM
on Facebook or reading headache-inducing emails Engineers also have friends, right? Keep them
at home. It’s better to relax the mind by being handy when you feel stressed. Sometimes all it
disconnected and just read a book or two. takes is just a talk over a couple of beers to set
DON’T LET TOXIC PEOPLE GET IN YOUR HEAD things back in their un-stressful state.
There will always be engineers or staff at work that
are the ultimate cause of stress, for reasons that
vary. Do not let them get into your system.

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 39

Things Effective

15Engineering
Leaders Do

Here are things you can do to be the effective engineering
leader that you can be.

By Ninez Hernandez

So what engineering leaders do everyday to make them successful?
Being a leader in engineering company is never easy especially when you have to lead hundreds (and
thousands) of people at work. Every decision you make will affect the people you work with. It will even
affect your relationship with your customers. So, in order for you to be successful at work, you have to be an

effective engineering leader.

1. Know they don’t have the answers to everything 8. Focus on strengths Instead of not assigning
While they are assigned as the leaders at work, someone because of their weaknesses in certain
they know that they don’t have the solutions areas at work, these engineering leaders assign
to everything. They keep themselves open to certain tasks to employees based on their strengths.
suggestions from everyone at work. 9. Know when to give and when to take They know
2. They think before they react As soon as problems that success means one must give and take. It’s not
arise, they think of the best possible solutions all about “taking”.
immediately. They avoid letting their emotions rule 10. Work well with others They don’t command.
them. They work side by side with their colleagues.
3. Show people how it’s done, not tell. Talk is cheap. 11. Trust colleagues They don’t micro manage. They
Actions say more about a person’s leadership and trust their colleagues they know how to get things
can be more productive for the company. done on their own.
4. Find solutions, not blame While some leaders 12. Don’t make excuses Instead of finding excuses
like to play the blame game, effective engineering on why they can’t achieve certain task for the day,
leaders focus on solutions. They know blaming they focus on what can be done instead.
someone or something will not help fix the problem. 13. Praise for the right reasons They don’t praise
5. Plan and prepare Instead of getting things done the people they work with just to make them feel
without having a look at their strategy, engineering better about themselves, they praise when their
leaders are more effective when they plan things colleagues achieve success.
over and prepare their strategy. 14. Give constructive criticisms They want their
6. Don’t want instant success They know that colleagues to improve so they give constructive
instant success isn’t going to help the company in criticisms. They make sure though that they don’t
its long-term goals. embarrass them in public
7. Focus on the details While it’s good that people 15. Never distracted easily They know what they
focus on the big picture, effective engineering want and they will not stop just so they could
leaders know that in order to achieve that, they have achieve them.
to focus on the details as well.

40 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

HOW GOOGLE ENGINEERS
LEARN MANAGEMENT

Google helps its engineers become capable managers, which make a huge
difference to their success.

Everybody knows that Google is one of the biggest When Google was still in its infancy, its founders
names in the tech sector. That raises some pretty tried using a flat approach by eliminating all
big questions like how the heck did they manage managerial posts. Of course, that experiment
to become so great and what is it about their existed only for a few months. After all,
engineers that make the company achieve success managers do have an important role to play in an
after success. In order to understand these things, organization’s setup by improving efficiency.
we need to take a closer look at their hiring as well Now Google is known for hiring the best. However,
as management policies. instead of choosing guys based on their marks, they
For starters, Google does not look for your average go for cognitive abilities and skills. Google gives a
manager. What they require in a manager is lot of freedom and leeway inside its organizations.
different from what other companies tend to look It ensures that managers and engineers are able to
into. The second thing, which is rather interesting respect the skill set of the other side. Nonetheless,
by the way, is that Google does not really care much the question remains as to how to get these guys to
about formal education. value management so as to ensure efficiency.
The fact is that engineers and managers tend to This caused Google to try out Project Oxygen where
have a pretty brought relationship. The majority of a special group analyzed and tested people to find
engineers find managers to be a bother. They would out their managerial capabilities. In other words,
rather concentrate on their work such as coding Google used data to find out which of their great
instead of coordinating with managers and bosses. engineers could become exceptional managers.

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 41

Millennial Engineers
Are Changing The
Global Work Practice

Here are some of the benefits for the evolving
workforce.

By Cielo Santos

Source: Coventry Telegraph

TELECOMMUTING JOB SHARING
Soon, employees may have the convenience of This is when flextime workers share the
working away from an office environment. Since responsibilities that are usually given to a full-time
everyone is on the internet nowadays, they can employee.
connect to an employer’s office network.

FLEXTIME GLIDING
Employees could work at different hours, rather Employees will still have the traditional eight-hour
than the traditional 8-5 office time. It could work day for five days a week, but they have the
comprise of compressed workweeks. flexibility to choose what time they work.
PHASE-OUT OR PHASE-BACK HOURS
Source: Warwick University This is a temporary alternative work schedule that
lets an employee transition in or out of their usual
working schedule. Phase-out privileges are usually
used by parents who are preparing for a new born
child, or for retiring workers. Phase-back privileges,
on the other hand, are used by parents with young
children who are ready to come back to work.

42 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

Why Kärcher Is
The Expert in Cleaning

Being the leader in innovative cleaning technology, the company
makes sure that all of its services, machines and products can
really do the job!

When people think of cleaning, most of them Kärcher knows that most consumers would
end up thinking they’ll hire others to do it. make an error in using the type of machine
Who could blame them? Cleaning requires a and detergent for cleaning. To remedy such
lot of hard work and given the busy lives we errors, the surface for cleaning should be
live, it feels like wasting time to spend hours considered. Knowing what type of surface
getting elbow grease from doing the chore. is involved will make cleaning quicker and
This is exactly what Kärcher put in mind more effective. It is important to identify if the
when developing cleaning products for its surface is soft or hard. Soft surfaces include
customers. carpeted or other fabric surfaces. Hard
Being the leader in innovative cleaning surfaces include artificial and natural stones.
technology, the company makes sure that all Once identified, know whether it needs a fast
of its services, machines and products can reacting chemical detergent or a medium
really do the job! When it comes to modeling strength detergent.
its products and machines, it follows the Over the years, Kärcher has devoted its time,
Sinner’s Cycle in the cleaning technology, budget and effort in focusing on research
which comprises of four factors: time, and development to come up with the best
temperature, chemical action and mechanical machines, products and services. Following
action. the Sinner’s Cycle, machines developed put
Mechanical action refers to the type of emphasis on each of the four factors to be
machine used for the cleaning process. It taken in for different uses.
is important to take note which machine is One of its recent developments, a product
used to remove stubborn dirt on the surface. range the company is very proud of, is its
The chemical action puts importance on the machines with eco!efficiency mode. In a
type of detergent used to clean the surface. society that is conscious of how products and
Chemicals may be acidic, alkaline or neutral services can affect the environment, Kärcher
– with each type having specific instructions designed products with environmental
users should take note of. The wrong choice sustainability. Using these products allow
of chemical may lead to scarring of the consumers to save water and electricity by up
surface. to 20 to 40% compared to regular machines.
Temperature affects how the materials While the company is already at the top of its
and methods used for cleaning react on game, its people have no plans in stopping
the surface. Heat may or may not be good anytime soon. Innovation will always be
when cleaning surfaces. Lastly, the time is a priority and expect more products that
important to observe since some chemicals efficiently solve cleaning problems will be
take more time to be more effective in developed in the coming years. Karcher may
cleaning than others. have gone a long way already but it still has
more plans to be better than what it is now!

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 43

How Kärcher Became
The Superbrand That
It Is Today

When it comes to cleaning technology, there’s only
one brand that embodies innovation and high quality
performance: Kärcher.

When it comes to cleaning technology, there’s Each product developed were designed for
only one brand that embodies innovation and sustainability, user-friendliness and eco-
high quality performance: Kärcher. It is known friendliness. Kärcher has made a conscious
to be the global market leader in the cleaning effort to reduce the company’s carbon
industry and has served the professional and emissions by 20% this 2020.
consumer world over the years. With more than Just in case you didn’t know, Kärcher has
100 products under the brand, people trust dedicated itself in preserving of historical
Kärcher and rely on its innovative solutions to monuments and buildings for more than two
several cleaning problems. decades already. Some of their projects involved
The company was founded back in 1935 cleaning of Mount Rushmore in the US, the
by Alfred Kärcher with hopes that he could Burj Al Arab in the UAE and the Luxor in Egypt.
produce reliable products in the heating Following strict quality controls, the company
technology industry. He built the “Kärcher salt complies with ISO9001 and ISO14001
bath surface” that could be used for tempering certifications. In its observance in helping the
steel and light metals, which he patented later environment, Kärcher uses recycled materials
on. The company eventually produced more and products carry a badge that has eco!logic
products such as heating devices for cabin or eco!efficiency on them. These products have
heating systems and aircraft engines. When specific cleaning functions that help save water
the Second World War was over, Kärcher and power consumption, which helps reduce
shifted its attention to products for everyday carbon dioxide emissions.
use: handcarts, small cookers, round stoves What makes the company successful in its
and trailers for tractors. Alfred Kärcher made industry is how it focuses on its customers.
it in the cleaning technology scene when he Providing the most efficient and effective
developed the first European hot water high- solutions, customers can rely on its products to
pressure cleaner, which eventually became the achieve the best cleaning results. Kärcher has
basis for all burners today. Over the years, the also provided a very reliable technical support
company has been passed on to one generation system. Each employee is trained to give the
after another – leading it to the successful best service and consultation support to every
endeavors it has accomplished for decades. costumer. Kärcher also provides an emergency
A family-owned business, Kärcher was built hotline availability. To satisfy the costumers, it
based on its founder’s focus on innovation, invests in each employee in the company. With
creativity and entrepreneurship. As the business 11,230 employees, the company strives to
grew, the company has put in more effort in its take care of their needs as well. The company’s
research. It aims to provide innovative solutions management adopts innovative methodologies
for its costumers. Around 900 personnel were and effective practices for everyone. By taking
employed for its research and development. care of its employees, Kärcher gives better
Proving its innovative prowess, the company services to its customers and yields better
has over 1,300 patents and gained recognition results year after year.
and awards from different institutions.

Source: Kärcher

44 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

Source: McDermott McDermott Obtains

A Construction Vessel Amazon
and A Deepwater Pipelay

Vessel part of McDermott’s overall fleet strategy McDermott plans to upgrade the vessel to address
to extend technical capabilities of global the ultradeepwater market with a state-of-the-
fleet and grow subsea, umbilicals, risers and art J-lay system outfitted with the latest vessel
flowlines (SURF) market position technology. In the near term, the Company plans
The Company plans to upgrade the vessel to to make minor capital expenditure investments to
a state-of-the-art J-lay vessel to expand its bring the vessel up to Company standards.
ultradeepwater capabilities As McDermott finalizes its upgrade plans, the
McDermott schedules vessel for work on Company plans to use the vessel on existing
existing construction and pipelay projects construction and pipelay projects. Funding for
Dubai, UAE, March 01 2017: McDermott the vessel acquisition has been secured through
International, Inc. (NYSE:MDR) announced today a sale and leaseback arrangement under which
it has acquired the newly built pipelay and McDermott has control of the vessel in exchange
construction vessel Amazon to better position the for a daily charter-hire rate.
Company for ultradeepwater and SURF projects. The planned upgrade to the state-of-the-art
“This is a great opportunity for the Company to J-lay system and related financing are expected
expand the technical capabilities of our global fleet to be considered in line with market conditions.
and grow in the Deepwater and SURF markets Completed in 2014, the Amazon is equipped with
and greatly increase our ultradeepwater project 49,514 square feet (4,600 square meters) of deck
coverage,” said David Dickson, President and space complete with two 440-ton (400-tonne)
Chief Executive Officer of McDermott. “Due to cranes, a service speed of 12 knots and
current market conditions and the opportunistic accommodation for up to 200 crew and service
nature of the transaction, we were able to acquire staff.
what is essentially a new, enabling asset at a For more information about the vessel acquisition,
fraction of the original build cost.” visit McDermott’sInvestor Relations web page.

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 45

McDermott Releases Its
Financial and Operational
Results For The Year 2016

Fourth Quarter Order Intake Maintains compared to adjusted net income of $71.2 million,
Leading Position in Middle East with 2016 or $0.25 per adjusted fully diluted share, excluding
Book-to-Bill of 1.0x restructuring charges of $40.8 million, impairment
$4.3B in Backlog and Schedule charges of $6.8 million, a legal settlement of $16.7
Responsiveness and Flexibility Drive Higher million and non-cash MTM pension loss of $26.0
Guidance million during the full-year of 2015. Our income
Profitable Full-Year 2016 Result of Strong tax provision for the full-year of 2016 included
Execution and Focus on Cost Management approximately $13.0 million of tax adjustments
Proven Success of One McDermott Way recorded during the fourth quarter of 2016 as
Strategic Investment in Amazon a result of a change in valuation allowances
Dubai, UAE – March 01 2017, McDermott associated with deferred tax assets recognized due
International, Inc. (NYSE:MDR) (“McDermott,” the to improving results in Saudi Arabia and Mexico.
“Company,” “we” or “us”) today announced financial Additionally, we now operate under a tax holiday
and operational results for the fourth quarter and in Malaysia which further reduced income taxes in
full-year ended December 31, 2016. 2016 and will also benefit future years.
FULL-YEAR 2016 OPERATING RESULTS The Company reported revenues of $2,636.0
Net income attributable to McDermott stockholders, million for the full-year of 2016, a decrease of
in accordance with GAAP, for the full-year of 2016 $434.3 million, compared to $3,070.3 million of
was $34.1 million, or $0.12 per fully diluted share, 2015 revenues. The decrease was primarily due
compared to a net loss of $18.0 million, or $0.08 to lower activity on our INPEX Ichthys project and
per fully diluted share, for the full-year of 2015. For completion of the 2015 campaign of the Brunei
the full-year 2016, adjusted net income was $89.4 Shell Pipeline Replacement project. Revenue for
million, or $0.31 per fully diluted share, excluding the full-year of 2016 was primarily driven by the
restructuring charges of $11.3 million, impairment INPEX Ichthys, Saudi Aramco LTA II and Marjan
charges of $55.0 million, a gain of $5.0 million on power system replacement, and the RasGas Flow
the exit from our joint venture with THHE and a gain Assurance and Looping projects.
of $5.4 million non-cash MTM pension adjustment, Our operating income for the full-year of 2016
was $142.3 million, or an operating margin of
5.4%, compared to $112.7 million, or an operating
margin of 3.7%, for the comparable 2015 period.
Our adjusted operating income for the full-year of

46 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

2016 was $203.1 million, or an adjusted operating Aramco Lump Sum LTA II project, awarded in 2015,
margin of 7.7%, excluding the restructuring is progressing according to schedule, and is in the
charges, impairment charges and pension MTM fabrication phase, with work being shared between
gain mentioned above, compared to $203.0 million, the Jebel Ali and Dammam fabrication facilities.
or an adjusted operating margin of 6.6%, for the Cooperation and consistency between all facilities is
full-year 2015, excluding the restructuring charges, driven by our One McDermott Way and as a result,
impairment loss, legal settlement and pension MTM a Middle East customer approved work share on
loss mentioned above. Operating income for the a specific project for the fabrication of jackets in
full-year of 2016 was primarily driven by marine our Batam yard. The KJO Hout Jacket and topside
activity on the INPEX Ichthys, Saudi Aramco’s LTA II, will be installed and pre-commissioned in the first
Marjan power system replacement, and 12 Jackets quarter of 2017; the project is more than 55%
projects, as well as a pipeline repair project in the complete and is expected to be fully complete in
Middle East region. the second quarter of 2017.The Marjan power
Our operating margin for the full-year of 2016 systems project continued to meet key milestones
was higher due to project execution driven in line with client requirements, as did the three
improvements, final closeouts, change orders driven Saudi Aramco jobs awarded in the second quarter
by alignment with customer needs and the full of 2016. The three jobs awarded in the second
impact of our cost restructuring programs. Cash quarter are in the preliminary stages of fabrication,
provided by operating activities in the full-year of with activity expected during 2017. Fabrication and
2016 was $178.2 million, an increase compared installation of the Bul Hanine jackets is complete,
to the $55.3 million of cash provided in 2015. with minor closeout work remaining. In Qatar, we
Overdue payments received from Pemex during focused on offshore work for the RasGas Flow
the first quarter, as well as steady collections in the Assurance and Looping project, which remains
Middle East, positively impacted cash provided by on schedule. The MEA area also continued to
operating activities for 2016. demonstrate McDermott’s Taking the Lead initiative,
MEA region reaching an impressive 48-million man-hours lost
In the Middle East (“MEA”) Area, fabrication time incident (“LTI”) free.
activity in the fourth quarter was driven by Saudi Further information can be accessed at: http://
Aramco projects and the KJO Hout jacket and deck www.mcdermott-investors.com/phoenix.
structures. Marine operations continued in both zhtml?c=96360&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2247616
Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Execution of the Saudi

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 47

McDermott

Achieves 50M Man-Hours Performed
With No Lost Time Incident

“Safety isn’t just a procedure for us, it’s a culture
deep-rooted within every function and division of our
business. It is our number one priority.”

McDermott International, Inc. is the Safety isn’t just a procedure for us, it’s a
global leader in offshore engineering and culture deep-rooted within every function
construction industry. Through its services, and division of our business. It is our number
people are provided with innovative one priority.” The new milestone was
solutions that achieve the highest industry achieved back in January 27, 2017 as part
performance when it came to ethics, of the company’s program, Taking the Lead.
environmental, quality and safety. Recently, McDermott’s Operational Values (“MOVs”)
the company celebrated a new achievement were also implemented, which helped
when it reached 50 million man-hours achieve excellent safety performance. MOVs
performed that had no lost time incident in helped the company’s employees identify
its Middle East division. key procedures and processes that were
According to Linh Austin of McDermott’s needed for safety success.
Vice President, Middle East and Caspian, As for the McDermott company as a whole, it
“Everyone at McDermott had a part to reached one year with no lost time incident.
play in reaching the 50 million man-hour It included two spool bases, 12 McDermott-
milestone; it was achieved through mutual owned offshore vessels and offices located
regard for each other and dedicated around the world and four global fabrication
teamwork. facilities.

48 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017

How Petrochem Middle East Built
A Strong Reputation As A Global

Chemical Distributor

With dynamic and qualified professionals working for Petrochem, this
global Network company has revenues in excess of USD 1 billion.

Petrochem Middle East has made a graduated with a Bachelor of Science in
reputation as the largest Chemical Chemistry degree from National College
Distributor in the Middle East. Established Bandra in Mumbai, India. After working for
in 1995, it is currently ranked as the 13th his father’s chemical manufacturing factory,
largest chemical distributor in the world. he started his own business in chemical
The company offers marketing chemicals trading, then relocated to Dubai in 1990.
and specialties to different companies He established Petrochem Middle East with
across the globe that can be used for paints, David Lubbock, his friend and business
coatings, personal care, oil and gas and partner. According to Yogesh, he considers
even on Pharma industries. With dynamic his employees to be his business’s greatest
and qualified professionals working for assets. With his passion, mentoring and
Petrochem, this global Network company leading by example has led him and the
has revenues in excess of USD 1 billion. company to great success.
With offices located in Dubai, Taiwan, One proof of the company’s growth and
Singapore, Mumbai and Shanghai, the excellence in its field, it has built a state-of-
company exports over 800,000 MT of the-art distribution terminal in Jebel Ali. Ever
products. The public is assured that the since then, the company kept expanding and
company operates under the highest has kept increasing its capacity in facilitating
Operational Excellence standards, following PME customers’ growing demands. The
ISO 9001:2000, ISO 140001:2004 . company has also set standards to prioritize
Under the leadership of Yogesh Mehta, the health and safety of its employees
Petrochem Middle East has earned a spot working for its terminal. With so many
in the petrochemical distribution industry, things going on for the company, it’s clear
making it the largest distributor in the Middle that Yogesh and his team have no plans of
East and eventually reached new heights. settling for anything that’s far from being
The company has built a strong reputation excellent. The question for Petrochem
with its buyers and sellers. Yogesh, who Middle East now would be “What’s their next
greatest achievement?”

E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017 49

50 E-Commerce, Online Distribution and Management • March 2017