Hi! My name is Frederick Tison. I’m 26 years old and this is my third year at QbD. I’m currently active as a raw material specialist for a client. Together with fellow QbD’er Tijs Van Den Berghe, I’m responsible for setting up specifications for the raw materials that are purchased by the client. We make sure that all raw materials meet performance characteristics and are safe to use (control on the levels of trace chemicals).
7h30: My alarm rings. I’m the rise and shine type, so I swiftly jump out of bed and have the most important meal of the day. After breakfast, I decide to run to the office, which is… three meters away. As I am in great shape, I have barely broken a sweat – no need for a shower!
9h00: At nine sharp, my team – consisting of my boss Daniel, QbD colleague Tijs, Karina, Annemie and Sabine – has its daily ‘corona call’. We talk about how everyone is feeling, physically and mentally, and we update each other on what we’ve done the day before and on our current plans.
Throughout the day, we also share some silly jokes or videos via email/Skype to keep the spirits high and to spread joy during these strange times.
10h00: As the client is producing essential personal hygiene products, our plants continue to produce to ensure we can deliver essential hygiene products to our customers, in particular hospitals and nursing homes in these volatile times. This also means that more of the other employees are working from home, with the positive consequence that they read and process my emails faster. A nice silver lining if you ask me.
11h00: Our physical meetings are replaced by Skype calls, so in between emails, I have a short call with Tijs to decide who’s going to pick up some of our project tasks. Tijs has just come back from holiday and is not allowed to leave the house – so his work computer is still at the office. Therefore, he doesn’t have access to all the files, so whenever he needs something from the server, I download the files and send them over! True partnership in difficult times.
12h30: I moved in with my girlfriend’s family before the start of the quarantine measures, to avoid being home alone for the entire isolation period. This also means I don’t have to eat alone! Time for the second most important meal of the day: lunch.
13h30: Tijs and I have a call with one of our client’s production plants to discuss their raw material problems. We try to solve the biggest raw material problems by setting up new specifications or altering existing raw material specifications.
14h30: I make some drafts for specifications that are to be sent to a supplier, which they need to fill in. Later this week, we’re all having a call with the supplier to discuss any questions that might arise from their side.
17h00: Time for some physical activity! Since only the Belgian Olympic team – which I am not (yet) part of – is allowed to row outside, I’ve come up with an alternative workout. I’ve got the choice between a workout on the rowing machine or cycling outside.
As the weather is really nice, cycling it is! (alone of course) This way, I also accumulate kilometres for our QbD Cycling Team leaderboard on Strava. And I’ve just noticed that Bart, our boss, completed a 60k ride yesterday, so I’m making it 70 – literally going the extra mile(s)!
19h15: After an enjoyable ride, I’m completely famished. Luckily, it’s finally time for the thirds most important meal of the day: dinner. The rest of the evening is spent skyping with my family and friends to catch up on how they are filling their days in isolation mode.
- Want to know more about working at QbD? Then check out jobs.qbd.eu, where you’ll read about what our job looks like, all the fun stuff we do together, and what our current employees have to say about all of that. And of course, how you can apply…
- Check out our previous ‘A Day in the QbD Life of…’ editions