Nicholas Chin

What's your job about?

Bridgestone New Zealand is a part of the global Bridgestone Corporation and we are the world’s largest tyre and rubber company. Our primary business in New Zealand is in the tyre industry for passenger cars, trucks, buses, off-road mining, industrial and agricultural machinery. In parallel with supplying tyres, we also provide businesses with tyre-centric and mobility solutions to maximise their fleets’ performance by combining the use of telematics data and technology.

My role in the technical department consists of various core functions such as product planning, sales support and market quality management. This includes implementing and maintaining comprehensive testing programmes to assist new product development and to ensure they meet the requirements of our market. In addition, I provide technical support to our sales team and customers to promote the benefits of our products. This can be anything from fielding a technical query, writing inspection reports, issuing technical service bulletins to our store network, assisting with new product advice or analysing market surveys. My responsibilities also comprise managing our national warranty system and monitoring the market for product quality issues from the investigation phase until it is resolved.

A recent project I was involved in was to study and test various thicknesses of a tyre’s under-tread. The aim was to reduce and optimise a thickness level that did not compromise the tyre’s structural integrity or durability. This test enabled us to reduce rubber volume to deliver a significant production cost saving.

What's your background?

I was born in Malaysia but I’ve spent most of my life growing up here in New Zealand. From a young age, I’ve been interested in all things automotive whether it be toys or books. After passing my driver’s licence at 15 I was able to tinker and get a real feel of cars and motorcycles which grew my automotive passion even further. Being a hands-on type of person who enjoys building things and problem-solving, engineering was the path I wanted to pursue after high school. I would say the final year of high school was a critical stage in my life as those were the grades that determined if I could enrol in my chosen field at university.

My automotive passion stuck with me throughout university from undertaking automotive related projects to completing my engineering internship at a local business that built race cars. I am fortunate that I was able to secure an opportunity with Bridgestone after graduating. For the past two and half years, I’ve had the opportunity to progress through different stages of my role and learn a great variety of industry knowledge along the way.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

The must-have of this job would be a degree in engineering - preferably in mechanical or automotive due to the scope of this role. If you have this prerequisite, then yes you can do this job regardless of your background if you have the right attitude. I came into the role as a graduate. Bridgestone has been supportive throughout my journey by providing training, along with my welcoming colleagues who are always happy to answer any questions, which has made this experience seamless. Having a passion for the automotive field, enjoying practical work and being able to manage your time well are beneficial attributes to have for this job.

What's the coolest thing about your job?

The coolest thing is seeing changes being implemented in the final product as a result of the testing I do. Being able to improve a product’s performance and hearing positive feedback from the market motivates me to do my best regardless of how minute the task is as it may have a bigger impact on the business further down the line. Another aspect I enjoy the most of my job is not limiting my workspace to the office. Due to the varying scope of my tasks, I have a mixture of office and field-based work which means I can be at various places any day of the week including different parts of the country. This has enabled me to network with people across all aspects of the industry nationally.

What are the limitations of your job?

Like all jobs there are deadlines to meet, sometimes there can be urgent ad-hoc requests which take precedent over the array of projects which are happening and this can be overwhelming at times. Human resources and time are a challenge I face as my work covers our entire network in New Zealand. If you can work under pressure, prioritise your responsibilities and organise your time well, you’ll find the workload manageable.

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student:

• Make the most of your time at university, it is easy to just focus on the studying part of it, however, there is so much more outside of that such as the social and extracurricular activities you can partake in! It is important to have a balance between academic and recreational activities.
• Don’t burn your bridges. You never know as your colleague or acquaintance may end up being your boss one day!
• Don’t be afraid of a challenge, take it as an opportunity to grow. If you make a mistake, it is not the end of the world. Acknowledge and learn from it to improve yourself for the future.