Managing production partners in China and Porto from the rural town of Deurne

From a modest beginning, Lotte Osinga, who has been with Ebusco for over two years, has become an essential part of the Foreign Production department. This department is responsible for managing our external production partners in China and Portugal. All of this is coordinated from the headquarters in Deurne!

Lotte’s responsibilities

Her tasks vary greatly: “From the moment we receive an order until the bus arrives at the customer, we bear a lot of responsibility. This includes project planning for the production line, determining the production location for each bus, negotiating contracts, and ensuring a smooth handover when the buses arrive at our PDI department in Venray.”

Remote collaboration

Remote collaboration sometimes poses challenges, especially because you can’t physically be present on the production floor to take a look. “To keep each other as informed as possible, we have weekly online meetings about the production status and we conduct an online bus inspection at project closures. During these inspections, we observe live footage as someone on-site examines the bus. Additionally, we regularly schedule site visits to maintain direct involvement and strengthen the collaboration.”

A linguistic connection

A unique fact about Lotte is that she speaks fluent Chinese! This skill proves convenient in her communication with our Chinese production partner. “During my studies in ‘Oriental Languages and Communication’, I chose to learn the Chinese language in which I also learned about their culture. My goal has always been to work in an environment where I could collaborate with people from other cultures, which I found at Ebusco. Every time I get to go on a site visit and see firsthand what we’re doing, I realise that this is what I’m doing it for; delivering a bus and maintaining relationships with the people there.”

Collaborating in a multicultural environment

Do you also like to work with people from other cultures, or maybe you already do? Lotte offers a tip: “It is very important to adopt an open attitude and be receptive to their culture. Dive into it. If you invest in building a relationship with them, they will gradually share more with you.”

Collaborating with diverse cultural people is not only a focus with our external partners, but also within Ebusco itself. Talented colleagues from 42 different nationalities – both within and outside Europe – collaborate on the innovation and growth of Ebusco. We are proud of this! Do you want to be part of our diverse and dynamic team? Explore the possibilities and check out our current vacancies.