The week-long event looked at sharing data as well as the latest techniques and research.

The TSM School was created in response to increasing demand, with Aviagen staff keen to engage in the incredibly popular school system that is offered to customers. This inaugural meeting aimed to ensure everyone left the Scottish capital with new insights to ‘provide effective technical service’ to the Aviagen global customer base.

Just like the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) School run by Aviagen, the TSM School was very much a case study of real live situations. With many nationalities and countries represented, it was a good chance to look at how similar events often play out in different markets, adding invaluable experience for all. Additional subjects included financial benchmarking and data handling along with various specialised briefings and case studies. The course also provided the participants with many hours of practical workshop tasks where they were challenged with tackling issues such as replicating a company technical audit, something that Aviagen are often asked to perform for their customers.

Nick Spenceley, Course Director, said:

“Whilst we understand that the chickens we provide are the basis of our customers’ business we also recognise that people are really at the core of what we do. We have the largest network of technical staff in the world speaking a multitude of languages and advising many customers on a personal basis day in, day out. This could be in the form of seminars, workshops, developing literature and personal visits.

“That said it is not sufficient on its own to be highly knowledgeable in poultry management to be an effective Technical Service Manager for Aviagen. Other skills are required to enable our customers to have confidence in both our technical competence, and, most importantly, an understanding of their business and the poultry value chain.

“We work in an industry which, through the application of innovative technology, has dramatically increased the amount of data available to enable us to do our jobs. The challenge now lies in analysing this data to identify the core issues of concern to our customers’ own businesses and the poultry value chain. Our advice must add to the customers’ bottom line and be financially viable. We have some brilliant minds at Aviagen and it makes our teams much more effective if we can show our customers that we understand the commercial implications of our technical advice.“

Nine tutors, all specialists with extensive experience in the field, were on hand to work with 20 Aviagen ‘students’, giving them personalised tuition on a wide range of topics critical to customer success. The Technical Service Managers group was a mix of well recognised faces across the Aviagen customer network with a few new recruits as the company continues to expand support teams.

Nick Spenceley added:

“While there was a large volume of information to be learned and exchanged over the week long course, the participants also benefitted greatly from discussing and sharing ideas on best practice with one another. They each brought a unique perspective and background to the table.

“A good example would be the heat wave enveloping Europe this July. What better way than for our European managers to speak to people from warmer climes who live with them all the time? The technical managers greatly enjoyed the opportunity to share experiences and there are clear benefits from these insights for our customers.”