Haruka Nakamura

Engineering is not Just a Science Job

As an engineer, I am in charge of a product that visualizes data logs generated from mobile devices, servers, and network devices and sensors. As a technical staff, I support companies that have introduced products, and when problems occur at installation sites, I investigate the cause from a technical perspective and lead to solutions, and give lectures to customers on how to operate the product. , is my job.

When I was a student, I had the image of an engineering job as a job where you worked silently alone, but that's not the case with Macnica 's network engineers. I personally respond to inquiries from customers, and sometimes work with sales staff to visit customer sites to make product proposals. We work closely with our customers to solve their problems from a technical perspective. I think that's the characteristic of Macnica 's network engineers, and what makes them interesting.

Some people may think that only people with science backgrounds can become engineers, but when I was a student, I majored in humanities and studied language and culture. I myself thought that engineers were only made by people with science backgrounds who studied networks and semiconductors, so I initially applied to Macnica for a sales position, but during the interview, I was told by the HR person, ``Mr. Nakamura is an engineer. I was intrigued when he suggested that I might be suitable for the job. I originally thought, ``If I'm going to do this job, I want to become thoroughly knowledgeable about the product!'', so an engineer position that requires me to know everything about a product and propose products to customers from a technical perspective was the perfect fit for me. There are also people in the company who went from a liberal arts background to become engineers, and I thought it would be interesting to hear directly from those seniors, so I was selected for an engineer position, and here I am today.

Thorough Fact-Checking is a Shortcut to Problem Solving

There is something I am particular about in my work. That is, "clarifying the facts." As engineers, we must make decisions based on facts and come up with solutions. If we were to become a "messenger" that simply conveys what the customer is saying to the supplier, we may waste time trying to solve the problem, and Macnica 's value would be almost nonexistent. Therefore, I always try to unravel each and every event from an objective perspective. In fact, we often receive inquiries from customers about products saying, "I can't do this operation," but when we investigate, there are many cases where the cause is different. For example, even if a customer says, "I can't get log information for XX," when we investigate, we may find that the log itself is obtained on the application, and the search method to find that information is incorrect.

The person who knows the most about the products we offer is the manufacturer that develops them. However, Macnica 's engineers are the first to be consulted by customers regarding product defects or problems. If you don't understand the facts correctly, no matter how much support you get from your supplier manufacturer, you won't be able to solve the problem. While dealing with customers sincerely, we thoroughly examine them from various angles in order to clarify what is actually happening and whether there is any error in what the customer is saying. We are listening to the customer's situation. We believe that this is the first step towards solving the problem that our customers require from our technical support.

Dealing with Customers Sincerely and Honestly

Last year, a customer using our product reported an issue. ``Even if I use the product provided by Macnica, I cannot check the log data stored in the cloud.Maybe the product's application is not working properly.'' Therefore, I conducted a hearing on the current situation to clarify the problem, created the same error environment internally, and tried to find the cause, but no matter how much I reproduced the environment, the error did not occur and I could not find the cause. It was. Since Macnica has completed all possible verifications, we have asked our supplier manufacturer to find out the cause of the problem and are waiting for a response. From then on, since I had completed my own tasks, I thought all I had to do was wait, so I just waited for the update. This is where the customer says something harsh. "What is Macnica doing now? I can't see the latest situation at all. Please resolve the problem quickly." Before I knew it, more than a month had passed since I received the request from the customer.

We had to wait for updates from our supplier manufacturers, but from the perspective of customers who are facing problems and are in trouble, they don't know what Macnica or their supplier manufacturers are doing, and it's just a matter of time passing. It ended up looking like it was. At that time, I realized that being a network engineer is not just about handling technical Q&As.
After that, we consider the customer's feelings and discuss the current situation, such as ``How far has the investigation been completed?'' ``What kind of verification will we conduct next?'' ``How long is the verification expected to be completed?'' We frequently share information with our customers about our upcoming plans. Even if the time it takes to resolve the issue remains the same, sharing the facts and communicating to the customer that you are working in good faith will make a huge difference in customer satisfaction. I feel very sorry for the customer who scolded me, but I will always remember this case as one that helped me grow as a person in my future work.