Irene Nkgadmina is the production manager on the largest assembly line of technology products in the southern hemisphere. Her story is one of inspiration and proof that anyone can better themselves with a little bit of effort and time. Irene works for Mustek Limited (the guys who bring you Mecer products) and started out at the company in 2000 as a contractor to assemble various technology products on the assembly line. A year later the company hired her full time to work on the line. Irene says she spent much of her “down time” watching what others were doing on the assembly line and learning about their various roles. After 3 years on the line she moved up to testing and quality control. Her hard work paid off and she soon became a PC Technician before, in 2010, she was moved into production supervision. In 2013 she was made the production manager and has held the position ever since.
Irene recently took me on a tour of the Mustek assembly line. It is clear that Irene is not only passionate about her job but understands how each cog contributes to the large wheel. A wheel that makes 400 units a day and operates 40 stations. Irene manages the 43 people who all work on the largest semi-automated computer assembly line in South Africa.
For me, Irene is an inspiration to South African women everywhere and proof that success can be self made, no matter your background or experience. Since the start of Tech Girl one year ago, Mecer has wanted to be involved and give back to local women. They were the headline sponsor behind our #TGSavvy talks last year and run training programmes at the Mustek Limited headquarters for young people and disabled workers looking to gain skills in the technology industry.
This week, as part of our first birthday giveaways (we’re a year old this month!) Mecer would like to gift you with a little birthday present. It’s the A801 Mecer tablet. The tablet runs on 8.1 Windows and includes a one year subscription to Microsoft Office 365 Personal with 1TB Cloud Storage. There’s a case and anti-scratch screen protector included with the tablet and it also includes a 1 year warranty!
To win this awesome Tech Girl Mecer birthday present all you need to do is tell us, in the comments below, which woman in tech inspires you? For a bonus entry drop us a birthday tweet! This competition is only open to South African residents.
