Martina Picello
The first time Martina Picello heard the word logistics, she had no idea what it entailed. But when she realised it was about being organised and analytical, it clicked. Her decision to study Logistics Management at NHL Stenden felt right. And thanks to her internship working with the merchandise and logistics teams at Hunkemöller, she’s more certain than ever: logistics is her place.
“I think I got lucky with my internship. My team was one of the kindest I’ve ever been in. It meant going to the office every morning wasn't hard at all. Apart from the fun of everything being so girly pink, the atmosphere was all just so comfortable. One of the first things I was told was that it didn't matter what exact time I arrived at work, as long as I did my hours. That was a relief, but as an introvert I still felt pressure not to mess up. At least until my supervisor approached me and said: “Martina, this isn’t a hospital. You’re not here to save lives. It's okay to make mistakes because that’s how you grow, how you learn.” That advice stuck with me. It reminded me of our DBE projects at NHL Stenden where mistakes are part of the process and you learn by trying things out. But an internship is work and I was aware that I had responsibilities. You’re part of a team and you’re there for the company, and I wanted to make sure I was doing my best.”
Taking stock of the business
“My two main tasks were updating the stock list first thing in the morning and checking the file that tracked what had come in. The stock list allows us to see what's in stock, what's available to send to the stores and what stock isn't moving. For my internship report, I used these lists combined with data from other sources to try and understand why certain stock wasn’t moving. Before I could even get started on that, my supervisor said I needed to get to know how the company worked. They were absolutely right and, to be honest, it was a really fun process. We’d have training sessions every day and I felt I was constantly learning new skills.”
The warehouse tour was one of the highlights. The entrance hall has spiral staircases and it feels like it's a Disney castle. It’s a perfect imagery for a company like Hunkemöller. And inside the warehouse itself, it’s almost fully automated. Exactly like you see in Amazon videos, but this was real!"
Solving problems under pressure
“When I started my internship, I kept asking my supervisor what task I could do next. She taught me to take more initiative myself and it might actually have led to the moment that I realised I really was where I belonged. It was the day after the software had been updated. It turned out that the cross-referencing wasn’t working properly so we couldn’t see what stock still needed allocating. The figures just weren’t adding up and I figured I was the only one with the time to fix it. It was a great chance for me to use my analytical skills to pull the problem apart and work out where the issue was. Although it took a while, I figured it out.
Moving on
“What I’m really taking with me from this internship are the ideas about how to make a project successful, for me, for the team, for the company. I want my team to feel comfortable to say if something's going wrong, like I did at Hunkemöller. One thing I grew to understand during my internship is that working as a group means if one day I'm not at my 100%, that's still okay. You can’t be at your best every day. What matters is that you still do something. I hope other people can feel that way too."
More information about Logistics Management can be found on the programme page.