Whit Lee: Collaboration candy

Whit Lee, Körber site: Richmond, USA

My job is actually quite simple. 

Together with my team in Richmond, Virginia,
we make sure our customers’ machines keep running. 
All the time. 

When machines run 24 hours a day, five days a week, one thing is certain: 
Sooner or later, something breaks down. 

That’s not the exception. 
That’s reality. 

The question is not whether something breaks. 
It’s: How quickly can we fix it – and make it better next time? 

After a while we started noticing something. 
Some breakdowns kept repeating.  

So we asked ourselves a simple question: 
Why do we do it this way? How can we do it better?  

Sometimes, those are the most powerful questions. 
Not because you already know the answer. 
But because they force you to think differently.  

So we brought the team together.  

Logistics. 
Technicians. 
People with 30 years of experience.  

Suddenly, the room was full of perspectives. 

 One person said: 
“Great idea – but what about the supply chain?” 

Another added: 
“That won’t work for this particular machine.” 

In moments like these, something becomes clear: 
The best ideas rarely come from one person. 
They emerge through collaboration. 

We came up with a simple solution.  

Instead of fixing the same issue over and over again, we started analyzing the data: 
Which parts fail? 
How long do repairs take? 
What is needed again and again? 

Then we put together repair kits. 

When a specific breakdown happens, everything needed to fix it is already prepared. 

No searching. 
No guessing. 
No delays.  

The right solution – immediately. 
For the customer. 
For our team. 

For everyone involved. 

And here’s the real benefit. 

When machines run around the clock, nobody wants a phone call at 2 a.m. 
If we can prevent that call — or solve the problem faster — everyone wins. 

That’s the real goal. 
Not big speeches.  

Just making work a little easier. 
Faster.
Less stressful. 

If you ask me what the big decision behind all this was,
I honestly don’t have a single answer. 
Because in reality we make thousands of decisions every day. 
Some small. 
Some bigger.  

What matters is not one big moment. 
It’s how we approach things. 

By talking to people. 
By asking questions. 
By challenging routines. 

And most importantly: 
Trust that the person sitting across from you wants the same thing you do. 
A better solution.