Working at Kiwa: Accelerating innovative support services

Kiwa globally offers a variety of Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC) services in the field of renewable energy solutions. Luca Votta is International Business Manager Solar and Wind at Kiwa. The Covid-19 pandemic forces him to work from home, but that doesn’t prevent him from staying in touch with colleagues and customers all over the world. Luca tells how he experiences working in corona times and what he states as a positive effect of physical distancing: ‘We are now even faster changing our working practices and support services in a smarter and more technological way.’

International Solar and Wind business

‘Our clients are PV Solar Manufacturers and Inverters Manufacturers. In close collaboration with highly qualified colleagues all over the world, I am working on business development in the Solar and Wind energy area. We are initiating and stimulating international growth and harmonization of our global business. Kiwa is a well-established company in Europe; we have several labs for solar related testing services. Our main target is to expand in other parts of the world, including South East Asia and North America.’

Working in times of corona

‘Unfortunately, I live one of the areas most affected by Covid-19; Italy and specifically the area around Milan have been and are still strongly affected by the epidemic. Now I am working from home, like almost all of our colleagues in Italy do. Only a few test engineers are working in the labs to make sure that our laboratory test activities continue as planned. They have been provided with the required protection tools, they apply appropriate hygiene measures and keep enough distance to each other.’

‘Many of the activities I deal with continue just like before the outbreak. Staying in touch with colleagues and customers around the world now mainly is managed remotely, for example by online video conferencing. Being unable to travel and meet people physically, the remote activity has intensified considerably.’

Helping customers in best possible way

‘For many of our customers, business continues, and we are happy to help them with our TIC services. At Kiwa we try to continue offering them services such as laboratory tests or issuing their certificates. Physical auditing activities are not possible in countries where a severe lockdown is set. In some cases, remote auditing unfortunately is not an option either; then, we just need to wait and postpone. We have noticed that the webinars we’ve set up are highly appreciated by our customers – an excellent way to keep them updated and stay connected in these difficult times.’

Smart working practices

‘A positive effect of this corona crisis is that we are now changing our working practices into smarter and more technological ways of getting things done. For example, we will be able to provide our customers with some innovative business support in the field of new and customized remote services that we would otherwise have developed many years from now. So, we’re actually speeding things up where possible.’