DHL's Ondre Ondru 2009

*this is not a post on food, but 'adventure'/events

Date: 11 May 2009, Monday
Venue: DHL Express, Glenmarie Shah Alam
Occasion: Ondre Ondru 2009
Overall comment: Interesting!

"Ondre Ondru is a Tamil phrase which literally translates as 'One With The DHL Team/ One With The DHL Business'. The spirit behind the Ondre Ondru programme is to enhance cross functional know-how among employees and foster greater teamwork through participation in this programme. You will have an opportunity to experience either a half day (AM/PM) or full day at the host functions - Operations, Sales and Customer Service in the various areas as follows: the life of a courier / warehouse assistant / customs broker / sales personnel / customer service agent."

Ondre Ondru was on again (from 11-12 May 2009) & thanks to my project manager & HR, I was selected to participate in this event! This is my 1st time in the annual Ondre Ondru event & I had an interesting experience as a participant. I chose to participate in a day with the Sales department out of the many departments cos 1. Glenmarie is near my house & 2. It's a whole day event from 8:30am - 5:30pm, which means I don't need to rush back to Cyberjaya that day! *yay*

I arrived at the Glenmarie office in time to 'start work' at 8:30am. Upon arrival, I was greeted by Shannon, one of the Account Managers for the Sales Department. He was my 'guru' for the morning ;)

I sat in the office & day-dreamt 'til around 9:30am *lol* I didn't have my laptop with me & what each sales personnel does each day is to check their emails first, before leaving the office to meet the clients. I left with Shannon for a quick breakfast at a coffeeshop nearby (the loh mai kai's nice!), then headed off towards Sunway, where our 1st client is based.

His phone practically didn't stop ringing 'til he was SO irritated *kakaka*, & while he was on the phone & driving, suddenly the car went wonky *wergh* Tyre punctured....*kwang kwang kwang*

Great, isn't it? We ended up postponing the appointment to some other day, while we stopped aside to change the tyre. Bummer. He was even more irritated, but shared that no matter how bad the day is or how unkind the clients are, you will still have to smile & treat them nice. Our next destination was to PJ Old Town area.

This time around, we managed to meet the sales managers & discussed with them on the services & products that our company could offer. Pretty interesting though I just sat there & listened. I learned quite a bit on our products & services from the discussion cum meeting, & also witnessed the communication styles & ettiquettes used in doing a sales job.

I found out that my Ondre Ondru event was only for half a day. Bah. So I asked Shannon to help me arrange for another session in the Ondre Ondru, but this time to follow the courier guys in the afternoon. I got my wish! *yes!*




After having a quick lunch nearby, I waited in the Courier office for around 45minutes to an hour before being called to follow one of the Team Leaders to go for his pickups :D

"Ah moi...hari ini, kita takda naik van ar....kita naik lori tu..." (translated as: Girl, we'll not ride on the van today, but those trucks) as he points to the trucks... *gasp* I wanted to drive a truck...it's like some weird wish of mine...& I got part of the wish! Ahahaha...to sit on a truck & go pickup goods! Woohoo!



Our destination was to the Subang Industrial area & we went to 2 warehouses to pickup the shipments.


After picking up the shipment, this scanner will be used to scan the barcode on the airway bill to track that the shipment has been collected.


This is like the only photo taken with my face in it...*lol* I was in the truck while the driver, Vassu, was out loading the boxes onto the truck. Notice that I was in office-wear, while following the courier truck around Subang...bummer...SO hot!


The photos below are taken at the 2nd warehouse. This is a huge logistics warehouse, where many courier companies will stop by to pick up the shipments to be distributed to the respective destinations.

I had to come down to help Vassu carry the boxes & stack them accordingly onto the pallets. *wergh...rolls up sleeves & got to work* I was wearing slightly high-heels & office-wear, carrying the shipment & stacking them...like some dispatch girl...hahaha...all the courier guys who were there to pick up the goods were looking at me & asking Vassu who I am & a girl like me is doing in a warehouse. *lol* I felt a little out of place....

Below are pics of the boxes (at least 80 boxes!!) that I had to carry & arrange onto the pallets...



After stacking them according to the AWB, Vassu taped the boxes together with gladwrap, before using the forklift to lift them onto the truck.





Last photo taken...the huge warehouse in Subang (not our warehouse)


It was indeed an interesting Monday. The experience gained from this event is priceless, although somehow I feel that I will never get myself into Sales nor Courier after seeing their day's work. *lol* Such an experience made me feel thankful for my current workplace, the culture, lifestyle, taks, & people. If Ondre Ondru is on again next year & if I'm still working in the same company, I may apply to participate in some other department ;)

- Ruth