Steven Shen: Powered by teamwork

Steven Shen, Körber site: Kunming, China 

When I first looked at the project, my initial instinct was clear: 
This is too complex.  

The customer in Shanghai asked us to upgrade two production lines —  
including a format change, major maintenance and multiple technical upgrades.  

It was a huge project. 
And the truth was: 
our team had never done something like this before.  

As the project leader, I felt the responsibility immediately. 
Could we really deliver this? 

One day, while we were discussing the challenges ahead, one of our electricians, Mr. Zhao, said something very straight forward. 

He looked at me and said: 
“Steven, don’t worry. We are one team.” 

At first it sounded like a small sentence. 
But in that moment it meant something much bigger. 

He reminded me that we were not alone. 

If we faced a problem we couldn’t solve, we would get support 
– from other departments and colleagues across the company. 

Suddenly the project didn’t feel like my challenge anymore. 

It became our challenge. 

And yet, there was another reason why this project mattered. 

The customer had more than twenty machines in the factory. 
If this first upgrade works, many more would follow. 
So this wasn’t just about solving one technical problem. 
It was about building trust.  

Sometimes I think a company is comparable to a machine. 

Every component has its role. 
Every component needs to fit and work together. 
Only then the whole system performs at its best.  

The same is true for a team.  

As a service engineer, my responsibility is clear: 
deliver solutions and support the customer. 
But projects like this remind you that success is never built by one person alone. 
It is built by a strong team.  

Step by step, we solved the challenges together.  

With the support of colleagues and project managers from across the company,
we successfully completed the upgrade 

After the handover, the machines immediately went into production. 

They ran stable. Reliable. 

And soon after, the customer placed additional orders. 

That was the moment when we knew: 
The effort had been worth it.  

And when you trust your team, things start to change.

Solutions appear. 
Confidence grows.  

And suddenly even the biggest challenge becomes manageable. 
All because of one simple reminder. 
“We are one team.”