Supply Chain Blog
Welcome to our Supply Chain blog page!
Feel free to post comments and come back to share more experiences with our Supply Chain graduates.
Blog Time!
Posted by Will on 07 Oct 08
Having just looked at the website it is over a year since I last wrote a blog, writing more blogs just made it onto my list of 'development areas', we're very keen on them here in Cadbury as they sound much better than weaknesses!
Since my last blog I have become the very proud father of two boys who turn one tomorrow. Cadbury have been fantastically supportive of me this last year, and the fact that I have been working in Bournville for that whole time, which is about 200 yards from where I live, has been a huge bonus. Upon my return from Ireland I successfully applied for a job in Demand Management which involved running a team of people who looked after all of our standard products (anything that isn't for Christmas or Easter basically). This was a great challenge and a huge learning curve, especially with things like the first Wispa launch and Crème Egg Twisted falling into my remit. Over the last year we have taken big strides as a business in how we communicate and operate our major launches and it has been great to be a part of that.
Earlier this year Customer Logistics (the area of Supply Chain in which I work) was restructured. This is very much a part of working for a major global business that has to constantly change to stay ahead and its important to see these changes as opportunities. My job changed and for the last three months I have been heading up our new Event Management team, which has responsibility for all our seasonal products (Easter eggs, advent calendars etc), all our new products (the Wispa relaunch and plenty more in 2009) and changes to our existing products (noticed that the packaging on all Dairy Milk bars changed a few months ago? That was us). I now have a team of six people and we are currently very busy with Halloween and Christmas just around the corner, not to mention Easter and all the new products we have lined up for 2009. I chose to take this job as maternity cover so will be moving on in late summer next year. Watch this space to find out where I end up next, it could be Uxbridge or Australia!!
From Roses to Resourcing…
Posted by Natasha on 04 Jul 08
A lot has happened since my last blog:
• I have changed roles - no longer is my world filled with Hazel in Caramel or Golden Barrels. Instead, my mind is swimming with project code names, colourful graphs and manhours.
• I have moved to London – who knew the Circle line went round in a circle?
• Finally, we have finished the graduate community project – I would have never imagined myself sitting with inner city kids painting sunflowers.
In May, I moved to London to work on Resourcing in the Programme Management Office. Sound vague?
That’s because it is. I have started a brand new role in an equally new department. The Programme Management Office (PMO) was created in January and it oversees all business projects. In Cadbury, this can range from the launch of a new product, right through to the installation of a new machine to improve efficiency on a production line.
My role (I think…) is to measure how much of our resource (people) is needed in order to deliver these projects. This is something Cadbury has never done before so it’s a new process for everyone. What’s really exciting is that I get to look at improvements in the process make recommendations based on my findings. Hopefully I’ll play an active role in implementing the new system. The whole project is something I’m really eager to contribute in order to help make it a success, because if it is, I would have contributed to a project that has changed the business for the better.
The only problem with this? My role changes each week. I now have basic tasks that need to be carried out each month. However, much of my role is based on the direction of the resource project. Sometimes I find this a little daunting because the scale and scope of what I need to do is forever changing, which constantly makes me question if I’m doing a good job.
I think this is a direct result of changing placements. I didn’t anticipate the difficulty that lies in moving from something you’ve become good at to something that makes you feel as if you are new to the company again. I’m sure this will improve though – it’s easy to forget how little I knew when I started in August last year.
However, that’s only one small downside of my new job. Working for the PMO has put me in a really privileged position; it’s not often that someone knows all of the projects in the pipeline for the next two years. I am also working closely with some departments I have never had contact with before such as Science & Technology or the Design Studio.
On a different note, each year the new graduates are asked to carry out a Community Project. This can involve anything we choose as long as it benefits the community. This year, we decided to keep it local, we worked in Birmingham for three days with children with learning difficulties. It was a massive success and the conclusion to months of hard work from everyone involved.
As for the obsession with checking there are enough tins on shelves? It’s got worse, I now check for all Cadbury products (still tins & cartons first) and have taken to rearranging them, especially when waiting in a queue – there, I have admitted it, now I just need to get help…
Hello!
Posted by Hayley on 17 Jun 08
My name is Hayley, I studied International Management and Modern Languages and have just been offered a graduate job with Cadbury!!!
For my first blog entry, I thought I would just give a brief overview of the reasons I applied to Cadbury and quickly run through the application process. Hope it’s useful!
The reason that I applied for a position within Cadbury was simple: I wanted to work for the largest confectionery company in the world. I have always been interested in the food industry and, as with most people, I have a passion for chocolate.
Working for Cadbury would combine my love for chocolate with a desire to work for a blue chip company who would invest in my development and see me as an individual. The other factor that was really important for me was the reputation that Cadbury has, acting responsibly towards the environment, its surrounding community, its employees and consumers.
Now, I’ll cut to the chase, as I’m sure you want to read about the application process… Firstly there is an online application form, along with a few online tests. These are not unlike other application forms and do take a while to fill out. If I can give one piece of advice it would be to take your time and be honest. When you get past this stage you will have your first interview. I found my interview quite an enjoyable one. It definitely wasn’t how I imagined it… I had images of a quick fire mastermind style grilling under a bright light!
In both the first and second interviews the assessors are not there to catch you out, just there to try to get the best from you.
The assessment period took place over two days at Aston Villa Football Club.I found this quite draining but some of this was down to the adrenalin of wanting to do well. We didn’t stop talking, reading, analysing, adding, packing… In the evening we had dinner with a dozen or so current employees. This was probably the most useful part of the assessment centre for me as I really got a feel for Cadbury culture. I knew then that Cadbury would provide the right environment for me to develop and enjoy my work. I chatted with people from several different departments within logistics, including my now bosses bosses boss (can’t remember exactly what I said now, I hope I didn’t make a fool of myself!).
A week or so after the assessment centre I was offered a graduate job with Cadbury as the Logistics Graduate J
I’ll post again in my first few weeks to let you all know whether my expectations have been met!
Christmas is over
Posted by Natasha on 15 Jan 08
Well I have officially made it through my first Christmas season at Cadbury unscathed! Considering I started thinking about Christmas on August, it seemed to whiz past!
For my team and in my role in particular, Christmas is a very busy time. As a programmer for Roses and Heroes Tins I have to ensure that we have enough production to match the demand. Something that seems relatively simple is in fact a minefield of material lead times, unit manufacturing and constantly changing customer demand! It is also something that forces you to learn a lot about the business in such a short space of time!
As tins drive the biggest volume of our Christmas sales their service levels are being constantly monitored by all areas of the business. This year we had a good season by smashing our target volume and in some weeks gaining record service levels thanks to all of the hard work of everyone involved.
Coming back after Christmas, the pace has slowed down which has made me realise how much I have learnt, I am by no means at the top of the steep learning curve that is my job but I feel a lot more comfortable making decisions. Hopefully this is something that will keep improving as my confidence grows!
Well now back to planning tins for next Christmas…
Bunny hopping to Easter 2009
Posted by Victoria on 02 Oct 07
So I've been in PBS team for over 2 months. It's been a huge learning curve which doesn't seem to have an end at the moment.
I'm now fully in charge of my two categories; composites and cartons and dealing with the day to day issues that they throw up. I also have project meetings that I'm involved with for various new products and alterations to current products. There is also Christmas and Easter to think about - it amazes me that we are already planning Easter 09!
I've been out of the office quite a bit too. All of the suppliers I deal with seem to be everywhere but Birmingham which involves a lot of travel around the country to visit them, hear any issues they have, voice any that we have and get a thorough understanding of the categories that I am manager for.
My biggest challenge so far has to be a tender that I'm carrying out which will (if all goes well) save Cadburys hundreds of thousands of pounds. Quite a big project to be responsible for.
One of the scariest things for me is the thought of doing negotiations before I've been officially trained. Things do not always pan out in a logical order - one of the things you have to be flexible about. I just have to remember if I wasn't ready for it then I wouldn't be trusted with doing it.
On a lighter note, meeting up with fellow graduates has been great fun and reassuring to know that other people are experiencing the same and different challenges.
I'm looking forward to the next few months to see what new challenges are thrown my way.
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