CB People: Supporting Our customers through the product lifecycle

Written by Graeme Robertson

25 November 2020

Name: Graeme Meiklejohn
Job title: Technical Support Engineer

Describe your role
I work as the primary technical interface with the customer base; this includes management of projects, technical queries and product launches, providing a value add service right from the initial point of engagement.

How would you explain your job to a member of the public?
My role is to really become an extension of the customers engineering team supporting aspects from product design for manufacturability, through optimising the build process, to ensuring we are building quality into the product from the outset. 

What could you not do your job without?
The team around me. This industry relies on collaboration and teamwork. Our front end support team covers all aspect of customers’ technical, materials and commercial requirements and that team helps us create the right balanced solution for our customers.

What is the most important skill you need for your job?
Communication is key. Part of what I do is engage new customers in detailed workshops to fully understand the customer and their requirements. This interaction leads on to the next most important skill - problem solving and solutioning. Most customers have challenges somewhere and often don’t even realise they are there – it is my role to tease the technical issues out and create a solution to eliminate the problem.

Describe how your role relates to others/fits with the end to end solution at CB Technology.
As a customer interface, I act as the technical voice of the customer within the business. My roles can be seen as a conduit for technical information flow into and out of the company ensuring our engineers clearly understand and execute the technical requirements for that specific customer.

How do you add value to the customer?
Responsiveness, openness, act as a conduit to implementation, identifying quality, design and cost reduction improvements.

What advice would you give your 21 year old self? (assuming you are over 21!)
Never lose your integrity. Developing strong relationships with the customer; it is a key driver in delivering successful business outcomes.

How do you relax?
Getting outdoors; enjoy running, cycling and walking the dog.

What superpower would be most useful in doing your job at CB?
In the very busy world of subcontracting, time is precious and needs to be managed. The speed of “Flash” from the Incredibles would give me a few more hours as there are always an opportunities for improvement waiting to be found and executed.