Gunnar Jans: Genchi Genbutsu

Gunnar Jans, Körber site: Hamburg-Bergedorf

I started at Körber in 1984. 
Back then, Hamburger SV was the reigning European Cup champion. 
A great era – and for me, the beginning of a very long journey.  

Today, I look back on more than 40 years with Körber – 
and on one decision that shaped everything.  

I was in my early twenties when I moved into Technical Customer Service.  

You have to picture that time: 

No internet. 
No Google Maps. 
No social networks.  

My horizon was limited. 
Family holidays in Denmark and Austria.  

Nice. But limited. 

I wanted more. 

To get out. 
To see the world. 
To learn fast. 
To grow fast.  

Technical Customer Service became my gateway. 

Suddenly, I found myself alone at customer sites. 

In front of machines. 
In front of problems. 
In front of expectations.  

Without a safety net. 

I have never learned more in any phase of my career than I did there – 
on the shop floors of international customers.  

You gain a direct view of reality: 

How factories operate. 
How customers think. 
How critical our contribution really is.  

A machine runs – or it doesn’t. 

That kind of clarity leaves a mark. 

My first major assignment took me to Portugal. 

Estoril. Two months. 
The beach just outside the door. 
A hotel room without a television, without a phone.  

Hard to imagine today. 

But that was exactly what made the experience so intense.  

I was constantly on the move. 

With colleagues. 
With different generations. 
With different perspectives.  

I grew – professionally and personally.

Later came my first solo assignment.

The plant manager looked at me and didn’t hide his surprise:

He had expected an experienced technician.
Not a young man in his early twenties.

You don’t forget moments like that.

But that is precisely where something essential develops:

Self-confidence.
A sense of responsibility.
Maturity.

You learn to swim in the water.
Not from the shore.

Looking back, I didn’t fully realise at the time
how deeply this direct customer contact would shape me.

Today, I know:

That experience still guides me.

In my role.
In my thinking.
In my attitude.

I now lead global service activities.

More than 400 service technicians.
On the road in more than 100 countries. Every year.

And I still tell younger colleagues:

If you get the opportunity — go out.

Not forever.
But for a while.

You won’t learn faster anywhere else.
You won’t gain deeper understanding anywhere else.
You won’t grow more sustainably anywhere else.

One principle has always stayed with me:

Genchi genbutsu.
Go and see for yourself.

Where it happens.
Where it matters.

Because “customers’ first choice” is not a slogan.

It is a decision.
Again and again.