Product – Page 5 – understand-culture

Warranty, guaranty not the same

Two-year warranty: Set by law in Germany allowing customers to return a defective product. The seller is obligated to either repair or replace the product.

Garantie. Guaranty. The promise, security that something is correct, right, works; a promise by the maker of a product that it functions as advertized; a contractual promise.

Worst Case Scenario. An English phrase used in Germany. The German consumer expects a product to always work as advertised, last long, meet fully their expectations.

German consumers often confuse warranty and guaranty, believing that they can return the product for repair or replacement during the two-year period regardless of the cause of the defect. The law, however, requires the maker/seller of the product to repair or replace a product based only on defects at the time of purchase. Misuse of the product or normal wear and tear are not covered.

If for example a television does not work perfectly after a year, the German consumer typically will return it to the store and demand repair, replacement or their money back. The retailer, however, is permitted to repair the product as often as he chooses without obligation to return the purchase price. Nor is the retailer obligated to supply a replacement product during the time of repair.

The mere returning of a product angers the German consumer. They expect near 100% reliability. Good customer service – friendly, fast, uncomplicated – can help things, but is seldom seen by the German consumer as an excuse for a technical defect. If the problems reoccur, the German consumer will quickly switch to a competitive product. Good technical service is best when it‘s not needed.

Markenprodukte

Markenprodukte. Brand name products: Products which are immediately recognized as excellent based on the name of its producer; often products which are of average quality but remain in the minds of consumers due to constant advertising.

German companies have been exporting high quality products consistently since the end of the Second World War. Their products have gained an international reputation for being very good, often better than their competitors. The Germans view reliability as one of the key characteristics of a well-known brand.

Qualität ist, wenn der Kunde wiederkommt, nicht das Produkt. Quality is when the customer returns, not the product. This well-known saying indicates the importance quality plays in the German product philosophy. A product which does not function perfectly and therefore needs to be returned is an embarrassment to the producer.

Air conditioning

Air conditioning in the U.S. is present in almost every home and building. It is often run 24 hours a day in commercial buildings. Large airports are air-conditioned 24 hours a day throughout the entire year. Americans often use substantial amounts of money during hot summer months and cold winter months to keep the temperature in their home around 70 degrees Farenheit. These practices represent a focus on the output – comfort – over other considerations such as environmental toll, cost, etc.

The U.S. Department of Energy recently passed increased standards for heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment used in homes. These new standards will gradually take effect over the next several years and will require newly installed heating and cooling equipment to be higher efficiency equipment. Although this act shows that the government is serious about curbing energy use in American homes, enforcement will be difficult.

Some companies have realized that they spend large amounts of money heating, cooling, and lighting empty offices during nights and weekends. Many have adopted technologies that program equipment to automatically switch off at certain times of the day.

Used cars

According to DEKRA’s 2014 report German automobiles scored very highly in terms of reliability, ranking first in six of nine categories.

The overall winner was the Mercedes E-Class, followed by the Audi Q5 and the Audi A5. Car of the Year was the Mercedes B-Class. As reported by the Kölner Stadtanzeiger on February 19, 2014.

Reliability is in Germany one of the essential characteristics of any product, and at the same time a key element of the German brand.

Mechanicians. Musicians. Metaphysicians.

“The Yankees, the first mechanicians in the world, are engineers – just as the Italians are musicians and the Germans metaphysicians – by right of birth. Nothing is more natural, therefore, than to perceive them applying their audacious ingenuity to the science of gunnery.” Jules Verne

Does Verne mean with gunnery the making of weapons? And does he mean with them the Yankees (Americans) or the Germans?

Verne (1828–1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwrite best known for is adventure novels and his great influence on the literary genre of science fiction.

Business travel

Business travel via airplane or automobile remains extremely common in America despite rising airline ticket and gasoline prices. Businesses remain committed to approving business travel, appreciating the importance of face-to-face contact.

Although companies often work to cut costs, they are increasingly thinking about travel in terms of its carbon footprint. These companies are responding to customers’ increasing demands for sustainable business practices. Some companies are scheduling longer, less frequent business trips to cut down on air travel or using communications technology to decrease the need for frequent air travel.

Embarrassing clichés

This video is full of rather embarrassing clichés. And those clichés say more about the people repeating them than they do about the people they purport to describe.

Germany has the third-largest economy on the planet with only ca. eighty-five million people. Many of their companies dominate their markets. As if the German people did not know how to solve problems.

As one German commenter wrote: “I really don’t get how we are one of the most productive and powerful economies in the world while having to agree with this 100% at the same time.”

Oh wait, maybe because the maker of the video, Daniel-Ryan Spaulding, is an American comedian based in Berlin, and not, for example, an engineer working in any of the many world-class German companies.

Quality is key

When it comes to the so-called magic triangle – schedule, budget, quality – Germans will almost always sacrifice one of the first two, or both, before reducing quality. The German customer, whether internal or external, expects nothing less. They will wait, and might even pay more if necessary, as long as they receive what they have ordered, or better. Germans expect completeness and quality.

Germans respect – and enjoy – work completed properly and presented in good form. For they are critical people always looking for what is not quite right, even if it has little to no effect on the purpose of the work: Spelling mistakes, scratches, inconsistent file formats, unclear graphics, creaky joints, unnecessarily sharp edges, dripping faucets. A job completed and well done requires no rework, no improvement, deserves only praise, is a work of art. Satisfaction.

Aus einem Guss

Germans like to work on problems, whole, not half problems. Work results handed off to the next colleague or department should be complete results. The closer to complete, the greater the level of respect the Germans show.

Products and services aus einem Guss – from one mold – are near-perfect, durable, reliable, innovative, consistent, no surprises, do not require finishing off, polishing, rework. They are the result of individual work steps which flow together into a whole, an entirety. German politicians refer to their legislative proposals as coming aus einem Guss. German companies do the same, especially those who develop and produce complex, sophisticated products.

Church bell chimes are made from the same cast iron mold. Otherwise they don‘t sound right. When Germans say something is aus einem Guss – from one mold – they mean it has been well thought out and executed. It is the opposite of thrown, tied, glued, patched, bolted, copy and pasted, together.

Figures of speech: Etwas dem letzten Schliff geben. To give it that extra polish. Ohne Kratzer. Without a scratch. Das ist eine runde Sache. That is well-rounded, meaning good job. Etwas abrunden. To round something off, in the sense of complete it. Der Ball ist noch nicht rund. The ball is not yet round, meaning incomplete. Flickenteppich. Hodgepodge. Pfusch. Botched, fumbled, fudged. Zusammen geschustert. Cobbled together.

German Engineers – Quotes

“The way in which one handles risk distinguishes between a serious engineer and a speculator and gambler.” Adolf Münzinger, agricultural economist, 1876 – 1962.

“Every person is an artist, whether trashman, nurse, medical physician, engineer or farmer.” Joseph Beuys, German sculptor, 1921 – 1986.

“A German engineer strolls into a primeval forest with a few tin cans and comes out later with a locomotive.” Felix Wankel, inventor of the rotary engine, 1902 – 1988.

“Engineers are the camels on which the business people ride.” Author unknown