Agfa Graphics Reviews

Pros

Challenging technical systems - interesting product lines.

Cons

Environment is not conducive to risk and reward.

Advice to Senior Management

Out of the meetings - interface with the floor

Pros

laid back working environment, not very stressful;
good employee relations
higher pay than market average
the office facilities need to update

Cons

lack of manager supervision
the workforce is relatively old
the business is relatively out of date, and not very lucrative.

Advice to Senior Management

managers need to pay more attention to monitor and follow up their workers' work. Make meetings more concise and effective.

Pros

Co-workers are people to work with

Cons

Poor upper management support for workers

Pros

Compensation
Benefits
Technical Staff
Full Service Infrastructure
Tools provided to complete job.

Cons

Future direction
Quality of Agfa produced non-consumable products
Products released before testing completed
Consistent reductions in force

Advice to Senior Management

Clean out old HQ guard
Flatten new Sales Org
Tighten OEM contracts, quality etc.

Pros

Best printing products.
Very supportive technical staff.
Top notch customer service department.
Company car and expenses all paid by company.
Great service department.
Company contribution to 401 (k).

Cons

When Agfa bought its largest distributor and merged the businesses in Jan 2011 it fired many Agfa sales people and technicians. At the same time Agfa created 5 new VP positions and filled them with mostly people outside of Agfa. Each VP has its own product group and field staff. This created product "silos." There was no "dotted line" created connecting the silos resulting in confusion and poor cooperation at the sales and distribution levels. As sales dropped and quotas were not met Agfa management improved the bottom line by firing more sales people. With fewer sales people sales continued to drop and Agfa fired more salespeople, etc. etc.

Advice to Senior Management

Agfa will continue to lose market share if it maintains its current course. National accounts and large commercial accounts will switch brands because they are accustomed to onsite sales and tech support that is no longer available. Dealer reps are stretched too thin to be effective and will leave voluntarily or get fired as regions are consolidated.

Pros

Cutting edge technology, international exposure, highly regarded presence in the industry, strong and stable company, motivated upper management with a keen eye to the future.

Cons

Compensation not the greatest compared to competition employee compensation for the same type of work, inconsistent review process for employee advancement.

Advice to Senior Management

People are the most advanced technology that you possess. Don't let friendship and cronyism drive out good employees who aren't willing to play the corporate game.

Pros

The people are friendly are the best and in some departments very family like environments....Benefts are fair..Good place to get started...but for motivated career driven folks not a whole lot of opportunities.

Cons

Very large goals, not enough people to do the work in some cases... Very sales and bottom line focussed. If you are not in a sales role, god bless you as there is very little hope of getting a raise or substantial promotion. HR dept is unsophisticated for a company of this size...Very conservative with regards to marketing itself, which is a shame because Agfa makes extremely good products

Advice to Senior Management

Promote and reward results in all departments not just sales. Give credit where its due...

Pros

The scope of work and opportunities exist if you want them

Cons

Some areas in dark ages.

Pros

Management really understands if comes to requesting a day off.
Easiest job ever, but is frustrating that goals are never met.
Co-workers are easy going.

Cons

Job is really boring.
Working in a red light for 12 hours.
12 hours shifts.
Co-workers complain all the time.
No solid training got hired for one thing but ends up working on different projects instead.

Advice to Senior Management

Assign a target that you want for each machine. People are tired of going home with an image of failing at work on daily bases. We need an honest target not an abstract that is impossible to reach or infinite numbers; also we need tools to reach our targets.