Grenadier Spotted

Consultants can only configure what

• the customer has defined, including requirement engineered documentation
• he (the consultant) has understood
• is possible

The first part depends on how they work together. In most cases, an expert in the analysis of the respective business processes needs to find out how the customer's company works and then create documents for the system to be configured (requirement engineering). Some consultants (can) do both, but in more complex scenarios there is often a group of analysts and configuration engineers.

If there is even one single weak or faulty link in this chain, the entire “solution” can fail.

So it's not so easy to just refer to SAP or to the customer. It's a team job. But what I have often experienced is that the customer was simply unable to present a clear definition of their processes. Simply because these processes were not “designed” but have grown over the years.

And that’s why “garbage in, garbage out” applies.

I worked for German air traffic control. The software I worked on was the workstation software for air traffic controllers, the visualization of the radar echoes and the flight vectors that you so often see in films or documentaries.

I was amazed when I saw the configuration system. It contains around 100,000 (no typo) different parameters. With this concept you can control planes in the sky, planes and vehicles on the apron and, if desired, even city buses on their route through the city. The visualization looks completely different for each type of realization. But it's just a configuration matter, the software doesn't need to be changed.

But for a newbie, there is not the slightest chance of configuring even a single parameter without knowing the side effects that this will cause, because the dependencies are so diverse.

That's why the most important skill he needs is: experience.


Dubai Airport, approach and departure airspaces in a very basic configuration

@emax could not agree more on this. There are stories to be told in what can go wrong. My problem I am not permitted to tell anything about my experience so. One topic on experience, a former employer told me, the SAP consultants get a company car and some more benefits because I can charge almost double the amount of a normal software developer in SQL or C++ (one like me) At that time I did a lot in the very bottom of the systems - like writing special drivers to network cards, packets, and other stuff. - Noone will notice. As long as does the job. No Business Department, No Projects, - no Parties, was here there.. he kept pushing me.. then I was in a very special project in a large customer. There were a load of so called experts hired from a consulting company much larger than the one that I was employed at. But at an occasion I had a chat with one of those guys. The experts hat just a 6 weeks course in the product and sold as experts.
So that has happened often enough. But on the opposite - doing an IT project its quite a lot more than just download install and configure.
Most companies do not do proper master data quality, - process chain and impact and lineage analysis.
This has even effects - so improper calculation of weight.. may impact on freight papers or payload.. - Entire processes. And the push from management - Get it cheap.. But a proper project means define the capability first, - what is what I need, then how long does it take to get it und finally on what cost. QoS and liability.. - rather low. The problem if cheap one doesnt deliver, gets an indent, - oh we go out of business and create a new company... so.. that is software quality..

All well known things, I can confirm. That's why I decided work freelance.

When I worked for a large investment banking project, I had to fly to Geneva every week. On board there were often around a dozen software developers and consultants on the way to the same customer - which only became clear when we arrived there (located directly on Lac Geneve - with a great view of Mont Blanc) because we mostly didn't know each other.

It turned out that our daily rates fluctuated “somewhat”: from 1000 DM/day to over 3000 DM/day (which was a lot in the time). The higher rates were paid to KPMG employees, for example. I am allowed to say this here because I was not a KPMG employee and this information was not subject to a confidentiality agreement. Plus, that was almost 30 years ago.

In any case, as an example, one of these employees was a young woman of 28 years old. Her most striking attributes were hidden under her sweater. And she was a really beautiful woman.

But - sadly, sadly - she even got confused with the decimal places at percent and per mille. She regularly forgot her passwords, and her English was...well, funny.

One can only guess why she received her extraordinary daily rate. But it was nice to look at her.

But there were also really good people (developers, analysts) among them. You could almost tell by their appearance: the good ones had real three-day beards because they had to spend all night working hard to get ahead. And their shirts looked pitiful in the evening (it was a hot summer). The others, on the other hand, were just styled - with Alden shoes, ties from Hermès, and shirts from Montcler, Burberry, Zegna ... and, above all, had (very important) meetings, meetings, meetings...

I estimate that the whole thing cost the customer around 25,000 DM per day. I think it would have cost half as much if the duds had been left out. And somewhere in that chain is one or more link which makes for a good or not so good result: a broken configurator, invalid invoices, you name it.

In this industry it is no different than anywhere else. There is a difference however in what a zero-performance person costs compared to a tradesman.

Dear friends - this is a thread topic Grenadier Spotted.
However it has now moved to "IT issues and problems in Automotive Industry and elsewhere"

Perhaps we can move the part regarding IT into the general chatter area?
Unfortunately since the Grenadier is on the road I spotted only one.. my gun smith spotted already 2 in East Hesse, and another friend of mine who runs a construction and planning company spotted already a few more. He is indeed considering to purchase each a 2 seater and a quartermaster for professional use (surveyor / landscaping business ) So he is eager to see mine soon.

Spotted on 16/10 while on route to work in jebel ali freezone / port, Dubai, UAE.
Finally seeing them on the road !

I saw a Donny Grey or Black one with a roofrack this evening about 1.5 miles from my house; I was driving my wife's Fiat 500C, so waved with no obvious effect.

Jeremy996 said:

I saw a Donny Grey or Black one with a roofrack this evening about 1.5 miles from my house; I was driving my wife's Fiat 500C, so waved with no obvious effect.

Click to expand...

Jeremy, I don't think the driver ignored you at all. I think they couldn't see you because of the height difference between the Grenadier and the Fiat.

I had my first encounter with a dark one on B11 in Icking a few days ago. My first one from Grenadier to Grenadier. I don’t know if the other one was as excited as excited as I was. But we exchanged polite waves, of course.

Spotted my first one today, B29 near Weinstadt east of Stuttgart. Donny Grey, roof rack. Only had a few seconds. Drove my Passat for the first time today after >4500km in the Grenadier. Man, what a tiny nutshell, and what a limited view with my butt just a few mm above the blacktop....

TD5-90 said:

Spotted my first one today, B29 near Weinstadt east of Stuttgart. Donny Grey, roof rack. Only had a few seconds. Drove my Passat for the first time today after >4500km in the Grenadier. Man, what a tiny nutshell, and what a limited view with my butt just a few mm above the blacktop....

Click to expand...

I had the same impression with our T6 which I had not driven in a while. Seems like a toy car now.

Seen a very fancy Grey with mat black accents going South on the A1 towards Newry , was unfortunatley getting off at Applegreenn for a fill up ( in true Jean way i was running on fumes and could not follow ) .

Dark Blue one in Heathrow T2/3 Business parking on Tuesday afternoon

Half an hour ago in Stuttgart in front of the main station. One in mushroom and one in sela green. I was the green Discovery 4 that flashed its headlights at you a few times. I was standing on the hard shoulder with a police bus behind me. Maybe you are also here in the forum?

I spotted this one yesterday on my way to work.
Hang on a minute , that's mine.
But now I'm about to catch a plane to New Zealand , and am starting to suffer separation anxiety

Today saw the first red ig in vicenza with external sand plates with german licence plate.

ORSO said:

Today saw the first red ig in vicenza with external sand plates with german licence plate.

Click to expand...

I'm sure that was another one of those who thinks he's losing his grip in the urban jungle. You see this more often in Germany, because hardly any country roads are asphalted.

rovie said:

I'm sure that was another one of those who thinks he's losing his grip in the urban jungle. You see this more often in Germany, because hardly any country roads are asphalted.

Click to expand...

I think that in Germany hardly any country road is NOT asphalted, but probably I didn’t search enough

My first live view of Ineos Grenadier was on my trip to Tenerife.

On 5.8.2023, while driving south on the French A6 near Chalon-sur-Saône, a green Grenadier was driving north in the opposite lane.

Pfk said:

Spotted on 16/10 while on route to work in jebel ali freezone / port, Dubai, UAE.
Finally seeing them on the road !

Click to expand...

Ras Al Khamei investor visa, I applied and never heard back. If you know the King, please put in a word for me!!!

On the Belgium Highway - Hambach --> Brussels —> to the port of Zeebrugge.