Work!

Yesterday was certainly a busy day! Believe it or not, Ben and I worked...all day! Upon arriving at NCR, we were introduced to several engineers in the TSE department (testing system engineers). They explained several Kaizen projects that they had been involved with in the past, so we could get an idea of what we would be doing. The project that we were assigned was to find a more efficient way for factory workers testing ATM machines to communicate malfunctions to the testing engineers. The current system that was in place involved all of the employees using a shared computer to page the four testing engineers; however, the only english phrase they knew how to type was "test fail." This wasn't very helpful to the engineers, because they never really knew what the problem was. Thus, they were forced to waste time and energy going down to the factory to try and understand what the issue was. Ben and I brainstormed for a while with our "mentor engineer," and eventually came up with a solution. We decided that a numerical system listing the most common problems involved in the testing stages would simplify things for the factory workers. They would just have to associate a number with a problem, and click it on their computer screen at their workstation. The engineers would then get a pager message telling them which station had the problem, and what the problem was. There were a lot of kinks to work out, forcing us to go down to the factory about five times, but it eventually worked. We were excited to see that our plan was actually implemented! In the afternoon, we were introduced to another TSE engineer, who showed us NCR's newest ATM model, which was going through shipping tests (basically the ATM is exposed to weird temperatures and dropped a bunch of times). It was very interesting to see how thoroughly the machine was inspected after the test was completed. This morning, we worked on doing the write-up for our completed Kaizen project. While working on the write-up, Grant, the head engineer at NCR, pulled us aside to give us a little lecture about business. After playing some interesting games, including one that involved drawing a pig multiple times to demonstrate how to follow "standard procedure," he lectured us on time management. The explanations were definately entertaining, if not completely helpful. This afternoon, we will be teaching the factory workers how to use the program we've set up. They don't speak English, so it will definately be a challenge. Wish us luck!

Nothing out of the ordinary has happened with my host family, but something interesting happend last night that deserves mentioning. Upon arriving home from work yesterday, I noticed that the power was out (yes, including the air conditioning). I asked Gexin about it, and she told me that they hadn't paid enough to keep their electricity going. Apparently in China you have to put money on a card that then gives you electricity, and my family hadn't anticipated their electricity usage very well. My family went to go get money for their "electricity card," leaving me alone in the house. Soon it was 8:00, and very dark. The only light I had was a tiny portable reading light...it was a pretty funny sight. Thankfully the electricity came back on and my host family returned.

After today, Ben and I only have two work days left. Hopefully we can learn more about what the testing engineers do, and be able to contribute. We are really enjoying our new work, but we are also very excited to get back home on Sunday.

-Julie