Bringing a smile to work

Being responsible for the local enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, Ellie Tian has a knack for the integrated management of core business processes. Thanks to the process optimization, systems automation and function design work that she has led, finance staff can now get accurate figures in a more regular, timely fashion, and do the activity-based cost (ABC) work that once took two weeks to complete in just three days. Her spare-parts barcode system has won her the hearts of warehouse personnel, who now operate more efficiently than ever. The system won her the Gränges Golden Award at Gränges’ annual party in February 2017.

“I felt so happy and excited – it was such an honor,” she says, “and it gave me the motivation to work even harder. But this award does not just belong to me. It belongs to everyone who worked on the project. Whenever I got stuck, they’d offer me advice and encouragement.”

She enjoys working at Gränges, describing the atmosphere at the company as relaxed and happy, and her colleagues as clever and humorous. “They help each other and share their experience. In our department we often enjoy organized activities such as a Werewolf or Escape game, so working here is also fun. Gränges is like a big warm family. Gränges pays attention to personal development, making us feel we can add value to the company.”

Working as a team on the barcode system made Ellie feel energized – which was fortunate given the tight schedule they were working to. “It’s hard to get a balance between work and home; during the project, I spent less time with my family (her parents live in Chongqing, more than 1,600km from Shanghai). I’m grateful for their understanding and their support. Even though there is a great distance between us, we are pretty close in our hearts.”

Besides her support network, the secret to Ellie’s success is perhaps her keenness to embrace a challenge (“This job is full of them!”), learn new things and understand how the business works. At 25, Ellie is one of the youngest members of staff at Gränges Shanghai. In spite of that, she has been the speaker at the Gränges engineer forum and given a talk about spare parts barcode system with engineers from other departments to share her thoughts and ideas. Frank, confident, down-to-earth, motivated, responsible, stubborn, hardworking… Ellie claims to be all of the above. Still, she has an infectious ability to remain positive and optimistic. “Smiling is a kind of professional ethics, but it’s also a kind of temperament, grace and strength. If you bring a smile to work, you become less frustrated and confused, and more happy and determined. Life is a mirror. You laugh, he laughs. You cry, he cries too. So I keep on smiling.”