Supply Chain Management - Continuous Improvement Department Review

I thoroughly enjoyed the work when I was given and the projects I contributed towards however, I feel many times I had no work to do because often there was not enough CI support available due to the change in the management structure.

I felt the majority of people that I worked with and needed help from were perfectly helpful and supportive however there were occasions when some of the shop floor staff were very hesitant having new faces around making changes therefore sometime would act almost negatively and slightly rudely to me.

The support whenever we needed it during projects etc was extremely helpful. My manager was very patient, good at explaining and build in time for us so our projects could progress. However situations out of his control meant he took on the role of department manager as well as being the only CI support in the department therefore at times, I felt the placement students were slightly neglected as we were obviously not the priority.

I think in the start when I spent 3 months in Planning, I completed tasks quickly and many times was bored or given "busy work". On my return to CI, the work was never consistent I felt and I recall weeks when I spent at least a few hours doing university work as there was actually no work for me. This was before I had began a proper project. Towards the end I was doing 3 projects which I felt was good as I enjoyed being constantly busy with something to always do.

I feel I was not given any responsibilities on my own. Most of my main projects throughout the year was jointly led with a colleague which we did mention on numerous occasions we needed to be separated for university purposes. However, there was only one project which I led myself however I felt I did not get a chance to really take control as the colleague who was the support, took over my project and decided what was going to be the end result before the project had even started. Only towards the end of the year I also found out the manager did not want me carrying out what the proposed result was anyway which I feel was a massive time waste in a practical sense.

I definitely took away a lot of skills which I did not have when I started including not only academically but life and work skills including confidence, public speaking, ability to give presentations, improving communication, working with different people and many others. I also learnt a lot related to my degree in terms of Lean and Six sigma techniques.

It was a fantastic atmosphere. Everyone in the department got on extremely well and supported each other whenever we needed.

I feel this because I was amongst 4 in our department of placement students but it was the first year they had had IP's and I feel we were almost a trial run where mistakes will be made and learnt from. I feel we could have got trained in a structured way at the start and started on projects much earlier as I was not doing a proper project until almost 7 months into my work which I feel was unorganized and left less time for us complete the projects. I also felt that the department should have had specific projects to look at when we started to get us working but I felt it more went along with the flow and we waited until something came up.

I was glad we had internal yellow belt training early on, however considering of the department we were in, I think if we had been trained earlier we should have been put on the green belt course which is what a lot of the site do. This would have meant we would have completed a project, write up and seen the cost benefits at the end.

I would definitely consider a career within GSK as I did gain a lot from the year, however to be on another scheme I would just like to know the department would be prepared for students and look into what training they provided etc.

Made very good friends with the other placement students and even went traveling with one after the year.

The cost of living was very cheap as I lived with another girl from my course who got the same job therefore it was very reasonable. The only downfall was availability of public transport if you do not drive which was a massive problem.

Absolutely no nightlife in the actual town as it was a very small town and it was in the Forest. However there are many places to go which is only a train ride away (however again need to get a cab to the train station).

The forest is a rather limited place as it is what is states, a forest! Therefore there were many outdoor activities such as bike riding, canoeing, local gym, forest trails, puzzle wood etc however not much else.