mechatronics

“THE ENGINEER’S ROLE
IN THE MODERN INDUSTRY” by Dipl. Ing. Stefanos Tziritis
Chairman and Managing Director of ISOMAT S.A.
Secretary General of the
Federation of Industries of Northern Greece (FING)

Traditional Sectors of Engineering
- Civil Engineers
- Mechanical Engineers
- Electrical Engineers
- Chemical Engineers
- Shipbuilders
- Aerospace Engineers

Additional engineering degree programmes
- Computer Engineering
- Software Engineering
- Nanotechnology
- Molecular Engineering, etc.
- Wirtschaftsingenieur = Economic Engineer or Industrial Engineer
Its concept is based on an integration of technical know-how (such as Mechanical,
Civil, Chemical Engineer, etc.) with studies of Economics, Business Administration and Marketing.

ISOMAT S.A.
ISOMAT S.A. is an industrial company producing building chemicals and mortars, whose products address mainly to construction and the works of civil engineering in general.
Departments of ISOMAT that absorb engineers are the following:

- Production
- R&D
- Quality Control & Assurance
- Technical Support
- Sales
- Purchasing
- General Management

Production Department
There are employed 4 engineers in total, namely:
1 Chemical Engineer (Production Manager)
2 Electrical Engineers
1 Mechanical Engineer
The engineers’ main activities in this department are:
Planning and supervising the production procedure.
Scheduling the production procedure.
Improving the existing machinery and taking decisions for new ones.
Organizing and administrating the production staff.
Training the production staff.
Selecting new production staff.
Searching for new production and packaging technologies.
Ensuring safety of work and improvement of working conditions.
Considering sustainable development through environmental protection.
Organizing and supervising the maintenance department.

Production Department (contn’d)
Regarding their training and education, the engineers of the Production Department:
Visit trade fairs that demonstrate mechanical equipment suitable for production of building chemicals and mortars.
Participate in training seminars.
Take part in conferences and meetings with relevant subjects.
The Chemical Engineer has completed with success his postgraduate studies for industrial management, along with his work in ISOMAT.
The Electrical Engineer is currently taking part in a postgraduate education program.

R&D Department
It comprises 3 laboratories, and employs:
4 Chemical Engineers
3 Chemists
Their main responsibilities are:
Research and development of new products.
Improvement of already existing products.
Testing alternative raw materials for possible substitution, in case needed.
Handling any client complaints.
Getting in contact with the technical departments of suppliers.
Management and training assistants.

R&D Department (contn’d)
In order to improve and update their training and education, the Chemical Engineers and Chemists:
Take part in conferences and meetings with relevant subjects, wherever and whenever this is advisable, worldwide.
Visit the research centers of suppliers or accept visits from the suppliers, in order to maintain direct access to information concerning anything new or innovative that is being developed within their sector.
One chemist has a doctorate.
Two chemical engineers have completed their postgraduate studies.

Quality Control & Assurance Department
There are employed:
2 Chemical Engineers, of which one is the head of the department.
Their main responsibilities are to:
Control the quality of the manufactured products.
Audit the quality control system of the company and secure its harmonization with the requirements of the ISO 9001 standard.
Determine the performance indicators in the main company’s processes and implement corresponding corrective acts that deviate from their objectives.
Supervise the proper operation of the production facilities and of the quality control systems through verification software programs and internal auditing.
Select and purchase the relevant equipment that is used for the verification of the above-mentioned equipment.
Follow up the degree of satisfaction of the company’s clients through relevant surveys and through controlling the processes related to that.
Management and training of the assistant personnel of the department.

Quality Control & Assurance Department (contn’d)
The engineers of the Quality Control & Assurance Department, in regard to their training and education:
Take part in conferences and meetings with subjects relevant to their field.
Are permanently informed by the Hellenic Organization for Standardization (ELOT) and by other European institutions in reference to the products’ specifications and the corresponding requirements of the E.U. for quality, environment, etc.

Technical Support Department
In this department there are employed:
7 Civil Engineers (The Head of the department is a Civil Engineer)
1 Mechanical Engineer
Their main responsibilities are to:
Provide technical support using various means (by phone, on-site visits, etc.) by pointing out the most appropriate solution to construction problems that are relevant to our expertise, together with the most suitable method of application of our products.
Formulate the technical texts that are listed in the technical data sheets, on the products’ packages, etc.

Technical Support Department (contn’d)
Organize and make technical seminars about our products and their respective fields of application, addressing:
- Engineers who are involved in construction works.
- Shop employees who resell our products.
- Contractors and applicators of our products.
- Newly hired employees of our company (engineers, salesmen, etc.).
Organize and make periodical internal seminars in order to train engineers and salesmen on new products or on solutions’ systems.
Participate in the development process of new products (in collaboration with the R&D).
Control and follow up the certification and conformity of our products according to European Directives.
Formulate quotations.

Technical Support Department (contn’d)
In regard to their training and education, the engineers of the Technical Support department attend conferences that are related to their field, either as speakers or listeners, as for instance:
Conferences for concrete organized by the Technical Chamber of Greece.
Conferences for structural materials organized by the Technical Chamber of Greece.
International conferences.
Seminars related to concrete technology, internal company seminars, etc.
Meetings related to the energy saving and efficiency of buildings, etc.

Sales Department
The Sales Department is organized by region as follows:
A. Sales Department of Greece
Sales to the Network (shops):
There is employed 1 Civil Engineer, who is the Sales Director for sales within
Greece. He manages in total 4 Sales Supervisors and 20 Salesmen in Thessaloniki and Athens.
Direct Sales to big construction projects or big contracting companies:
There are employed 3 Civil Engineers: 2 in Athens and 1 in Thessaloniki.

Sales Department (contn’d)
•

Export Department (International Sales Department)

There are employed 4 engineers (Export Managers):
3 Mechanical Engineers
1 Chemist
C. Sales Departments of the subsidiaries in Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia
There are employed in total 11 engineers. In detail:
In Romania:

5 Civil Engineers

In Bulgaria:

4 Civil Engineers

In Serbia:

3 engineers (1 Civil, 1 Chemical and 1 Mechanical Engineer)

Sales Department (contn’d)
The engineers that are involved in sales combine both commercial and technical knowhow. By offering solutions to construction problems, they usually manage to develop sales. They must consequently have deep technical knowledge in regard to ISOMAT products as well as good communication skills, combined with good techniques in sales. The training and education of the engineers involved in sales takes place as follows:
For their technical training, they take part in 2 internal seminars, organized by
ISOMAT twice per year, with duration of 2 days each.
For their commercial training, they attend seminars that are also organized internally.
External instructors with high sales expertise hold these seminars, once or twice a year. Purchasing Department
There are employed:
2 Chemical Engineers
Their main activities are to:
Search and identify appropriate raw materials and trading products worldwide
(in collaboration with the R&D).
Negotiate purchasing prices and payment terms.
Control the prices for the transportation and delivery of raw materials and trading products.
Prepare all necessary documents for the issuance of credit by the suppliers.
Set and follow up minimum stock quantities for every raw material and trading products in order to forward necessary orders on time by keeping also the inventory as low as possible.
Search and identify alternative suppliers for the same kind of raw materials.

Purchasing Department (contn’d)
Regarding training and education, the engineers of the Purchasing Department:
Visit trade fairs for chemicals (especially raw materials).
Visit the suppliers or appoint and accept visits from them.

General Management
There are 2 engineers employed, namely:
• 1 Civil Engineer (today’s speaker, who is ISOMAT’s Chairman and Managing Director)
• 1 Economic Engineer (Wirtschaftsing.), with a specialization in civil engineering
The Economic Engineer is the Executive Vice President of the company.
His competences are versatile and include:
The coordination and management of R&D.
The supervision and coordination of the Purchasing Department, when addressing key suppliers towards building strategic cooperation.
Supporting the export managers for any issue needed
Advising the technical support department of any issue needed
Communicating with law firms for registering and securing the company’s trade marks in various countries.
Involvement in any area of the company’s operations, either on his own initiative or when asked by the Managing Director or any other manager.

In total, there are 41 engineers out of the 260 employees of ISOMAT
(including its 3 subsidiaries in Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia).
These represent approx. 16% of the total employees in the company.

Thank you for your kind attention.