‘Planning & Prediction Is Key to Problem Solving’
We’re excited to introduce to you the first of our 2019 Rainmakers, Daniel Marti, senior EMEA manufacturing financial analyst. Daniel has worked with our company for over 15 years!
And now his hard work has paid off with PPG’s highest employee recognition in EMEA region. It’s safe to say Daniel was not expecting the Rainmaker honor but takes such pride in the accolade:
There are 600 finance colleagues and they’re all really hard-workers and very customer-orientated. To be recognized among such a great number of professionals made me very proud, but I was also very surprised!
He values this nomination as a great recognition of his years of hard work. But Daniel also believes that no man is an island and attributes some of his success to his colleagues.
The Rainmaker Award is not only a great recognition just for myself but also to all the colleagues who work with alongside me.
Pictured: Daniel with Emmanuelle Guerin, PPG general manager, Industrial Coatings and Alessandro Borzino, PPG general manager, Packaging Coatings, EMEA
A Fifteen Year Journey
Daniel started his PPG journey as a junior costing analyst in Spain, in the Cost & Budgeting Department. He rose through the ranks and used his experience to build on his responsibilities and gain seniority. Daniel’s outlook is one of the reasons for his success:
I love working at PPG and there really are a significant number of opportunities, just make sure you’re open to new experiences!
Daniel works with all seven businesses to improve costing and manufacturing control across EMEA. This gives him a unique, view point of our company and appreciation of the ‘One PPG’ mindset.
Using Creativity to Technical Implementation
There’s a real technical element to Daniel’s job as he’s helped to implement several Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems across the region. But Daniel describes the creative angle to the application of new processes:
It’s a big challenge and requires technical creativity and coordination. The aim is to improve harmony across the region and the key is through the standardization of processes.
There’s a lot of satisfaction to be taken when a plan comes together, and you can tell this is a driving force for Daniel’s strive for perfection at work.
When a process is causing difficulties for internal stakeholders, it’s always gratifying to implement significant improvements and see their satisfaction, as a result.
Daniel with 2019 Rainmakers
Advice, Motivation and Challenges
Daniel reflects on his journey so far and gives some sage advice on problem solving and working to get the very best results.
I believe that accurate task planning and anticipation of potential issues is absolutely key when problem solving.
The Rainmaker also looks back on his first days in the job and shares guidance from his experience.
Always be open to the new challenges. At the beginning it can be a little frightening, but once you start to learn and assimilate new topics, it’s a very motivating and enriching experience. We should never stop learning.
A Family Man
Daniel strikes a very healthy work/life balance and takes time out from his career to spend with his young family.
I try to spend as much time with my children as possible, playing with them and supporting them to grow up is my current “hobby”. In the future I would like to resume some activities as reading, travelling or walking.
It’s not easy having a young family but I honestly think that it gives me more patience and improves my capacity to deal with stressful situations.