Supply Chain

 

What influenced you to join AkzoNobel?

Whilst I was in my final year of my degree course, I proactively applied for a number of different graduate schemes.  At the time AkzoNobel was just one of them.  I, very fortunately, ended up with multiple job offers, but I chose to join AkzoNobel after really looking into what each graduate scheme provides in terms of salary, training, support, range of experiences, career progression and so on.  In all of these areas, it was AkzoNobel which I felt had the edge over other companies.

How would you sum up AkzoNobel both as a company and as an employer?

AkzoNobel is the number one Coatings manufacturer in the world.  It is also number one in most of the markets it competes in.  This means that there is a lot of brand equity within the company, whether this is in marketing potential, supplier influence or media interest.  For these reasons, there is always an emphasis on doing things the right way, even if it isn’t necessarily the cheapest or the fastest way. 

What have your training experiences entailed?

During the first 2 years of the Graduate Development Programme, there are 4 courses specifically designed to teach you about the wider company, the core values which are used to run it and key skills that need to be deployed to run the business. 

These are especially useful from a cross-functional perspective.  As an engineer I now have a basic understanding of all other functions and the critical parts they play in creating a successful business.  In addition to this, I have received functional training that is required to do my job.  This ranges from a lot of quite detailed and technical safety training, to language training prior to the placement that I did in France!

What have been your experiences to date?

My experiences to date have covered different areas of the Supply Chain process.  I have ranged from front line detailed improvement activities, to strategic site development plans and have spent time at 4 different sites around the UK and France. 

I began with 12 months working in the Slough site as a Process Development Engineer.  This role was a great introduction as I quickly became involved in all kinds of site issues and worked with everyone from operators to the site management team.

I then moved to the headquarters where I worked in Distribution for 6 months, working with a third party logistics company to ensure delivery of products was on time and in full, and that improvement projects were implemented. 

After this, I moved to France as a Project Engineer where I was involved in multi-million Euro projects, the biggest challenge here was learning the language and the culture in order to do my job and live in France at the same time.

After 4 months, I was then seconded to a project team at a different site in France in order to conduct an intensive site review and improvement plan.  This was a great project for me as it gave me exposure to almost every aspect of the site and from a much higher level than I’d been used to.  The output was a vision for the site between now and 2012, and how the site could get there via strategic investment and restructuring.

So, now I’m in my current role as a Maintenance Manager at the Prudhoe site, near Newcastle. I’m responsible for the day to day maintenance and all work carried out on site.  Basically, it is my job to keep all equipment safe and reliable to provide my customers – the production team – with the ability to make their target volumes.  As my first management role, after 2 years on the Graduate Development Programme, I now have a team of 6 employees and full time contractors reporting into me, and a budget to manage.  I feel that the graduate scheme gave me the training and experiences necessary to succeed in this role and in future challenges too.

What does the future hold for you?

My goal is to not just keep maintenance levels on site the same, but to progress maintenance performance on site by strategic projects and policies and really deliver step change performance improvements compared to previous years.  Following this role, my aim is to continue in a line management route, hopefully to become a site manager in the mid-term future.

Do you have a work/life balance and what does “life” involve?

I think it is very important to maintain a work-life balance and I try to do this even in my current role, which can involve weekend working from time to time due to the nature of the work needing to be carried out when paint is not being manufactured.  I don’t expect to simply work a 9-5 day, but at the same time my managers do not expect me to do ridiculously long hours either.

In my spare time, I enjoy socialising down the pub and a number of sports including football, golf and triathlon.