Martin Brall – Quality Management Representative extraordinaire
Martin Brall has a good eye for detail. And high standards: “For me personally, quality is the measure of all things.” He started working for the company in January 2022 and handled special processes in the Alliance HUB system. The core task is to get shipments that had to be stopped at the Hub for various reasons back on their way. In the case of so-called non-identifiable (NI) shipments, for example, barcodes or address labels are illegible or missing; the team then goes on a search for clues. “This is already a very quality-related topic – after all, there is a customer behind every package,” explains Martin Brall.
It was therefore a logical step to take on the new field of responsibility in order to transfer relevant processes into a structured quality management system. Martin Brall is expanding the quality management for System Alliance Hub Betriebsgesellschaft with the aim of achieving certification according to DIN standard ISO 9001. Before the unbundling in early 2022, the HUB was tied to the quality management of the former System Alliance general cargo partnership. Independent certification represents an important next step for the independent service provider. “We want to constantly improve our quality. This means delivering with absolute reliability so that our customers can continue to rely on us one hundred per cent in the future,” explains Brall. “The certification is accompanied by audits, which provide us with independent feedback. Results become measurable, you get support from external experts, you can streamline processes in a targeted manner and, above all, increase customer satisfaction."
The training
In July of this year, Martin Brall completed his part-time training as a Quality Management Representative. However, Managing Director Gudrun Raabe had already proposed him for the role at the end of 2022. “I was very pleased about the trust shown by senior management. As you would expect, however, I was also a little nervous because of the additional responsibility,” recalls Brall. "But things settled down and I was happy when I finally started!"
In a two-week full-time course, Brall learned the basics of quality management and what it means to work as an internal auditor and quality management representative. The development of a quality management system quickly turned out to be a highly complex task. “Organisational processes and systems need to be planned and established, for example in the form of working groups. KPIs need to be identified and results measured. This helps to check the success of measures,” explains Brall. "All in all, it was much more challenging than I thought, but I also had a lot of fun."
Martin Brall particularly liked the practical nature of the course. “Everything became clear after a few days. You develop a new way of thinking and then actually work on problems according to a pattern specified in the standard,” he reports. In discussions with the trainers and other participants, he also gained insights into other areas: “The tasks and discussions were always very job-related and the industries represented in the course were very different.” But regardless of the area of application, everyone had the central question in common: “How do I bring theory and practice together? First of all, the standard consists of a huge amount of paper, the contents of which must be converted into concrete processes. There is a suitable version that can be implemented for every company."
The exam
At the end of the course, an exam awaited Martin Brall. And it was “a freebie”. “You have to earn the certificate,” he explains. “The trainer is certified, so the examination is a real test. It wasn't about learning by rote, but about really understanding the topic – and applying this knowledge."
Brall is now even more proud of his own certification. He started at the HUB straight away and is currently working on a comprehensive inventory: “Now we first need to determine where we are. We know where we want to go.” He has already done some of the preparatory work over the last six months to pool knowledge from the team and create process diagrams. Information was recorded and processed digitally. Brall also determines important key performance indicators and prepares their documentation. He approaches these tasks using the “Plan-Do-Check-Action” method and is gradually developing HUB’s own quality management system.
The projects
One of Martin Brall’s first actual projects was reporting on the arrival times of shipping partners. He programmed a monitoring tool to do this. Since the beginning of September, the quality data has been evaluated in this way and automatically reported to the partners. Next, Brall plans to further expand the HUB’s portfolio of quality reports for partners in the spirit of transparency and proactivity.
Brall knows from his operational experience that every day brings new challenges. Accordingly, quality management is designed in such a way that process analyses and adjustments can be implemented quickly. “We need to be able to respond to customer requirements as quickly as possible and, if necessary, implement new processes practically immediately. My job is also to constantly check and optimise system effectiveness. I am also responsible for the area of quality measurement and result documentation.” Of course, he is not alone: “I can always rely on our team spirit. I also trust in the cooperation of the process specialists in all areas. We complement each other and create synergies for ourselves and our customers."
As Quality Management Representative, Martin Brall has a very real influence on the success of the logistics service provider. It doesn't get too much for him. “How do I deal with responsibility? "I dodge it!" he laughs. “No, of course I do my best and I am aware of my responsibility. But I feel I am up to the challenge and am looking forward to future challenges!” Martin Brall has also already been able to celebrate his first small successes in his new role thanks to the support of his colleagues. Since the beginning of September, he has been using automated statistics on the arrival times of shipping companies, which he programmed.
But he never strays too far away from the hall: “The company is structured in such a way that I will continue to be actively involved, including in the hall. You're never too far away, it never gets too abstract and you don't get lost on the meta level. That’s really good: it is impossible to avoid always being in the thick of things.” For example, in the NI store again. Then as a Quality Management Representative, on the hunt for clues.
