People at ALPLA – Interview with Sahil Verma
Sahil joined ALPLA as a product-development trainee back in 2018. In our People at ALPLA interview, the 24-year-old packaging manager gives us an insight into his daily tasks at ALPLA’s technical centre in Atlanta and also into his private life.
Name: Sahil Verma
Location: Atlanta (US)
Position: Packaging manager
What do you do at ALPLA? What does a typical day at work look like for you?
A typical day involves a lot of emails, talking to customers, resolving potential or current issues with ongoing projects by brainstorming with colleagues, and, last but not the least, coffee!
What do you find the most interesting about working at ALPLA?
For me it’s the combination of great cultural diversity, eagerness to support each other and openness to new ideas without the traditional corporate dogma of rigid hierarchy. This is very appealing to someone in my position since I have been with ALPLA for just over a year. Also, ALPLA and the entire plastic packaging industry is in a phase of transition due to new sustainability standards and challenges and I’m eager to see how innovation will play an essential role in meeting those.
What has been your favourite task that you have worked on at ALPLA so far?
Directly interacting with customers to showcase ALPLA’s capabilities in order to be commissioned with new product-development projects was really exciting for me. This also gave me a lot of exposure to real time-critical problem solving. And it taught me to look at things from a customer’s perspective.
What is your biggest achievement to date – personal or professional?
I believe that securing a scholarship to go to college is definitely up there as it helped me in developing my personality and gave me a lot of opportunities to grow while allowing me to graduate debt-free.
Can you share a unique saying in your mother tongue?
In my mother tongue, Hindi, “Jugaad” refers to out-of-the-box thinking, smart improvisation and optimal engineering with minimal resources. I tried to find terms used in other countries that have a similar meaning and it closely resembles a more positive version of Trick 17 in Germany or gambiarra in Brazil.
If you had one more hour a day, what would you use it for?
I’m trying to learn German and could definitely use an additional hour to figure out German grammar.
If you had to eat one meal every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?
A fusion of paella and Indian spices!
Name a few things on your bucket list.
Explore Japan, file an innovation patent, learn to cook in San Sebastian, pursue industrial design and an MBA sometime in the near future.
What do you listen to in the car on the way to or from work?
The Airborne Toxic Event, Queen, The Killers, Post Malone, Coldplay, Muse and rock or rap music in general.
Please describe ALPLA in three words.
Multicultural, supportive and pioneering.
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