Supply Chain Planning Engineer Review

At the start work was slow and it took a while for my management to find suitable projects for me to get involved with and stuck into. Once this had been done I enjoyed my job quite a lot as it was challenging but rewarding as I was working on projects important to the launch process of the new Astra.

I felt valued by my colleagues who treated me as one of their own. We have supported each other through a very busy time and I have met some good colleagues but as well, friends. Also my work has been appreciated by management who gave me work directly related to the launch of the new car.

My manager has supported me throughout my year and is always trying to give me tips and guidance whenever he can to help me develop as a young professional and as a person in general. All management have been supportive and understanding that I am young and that I am learning.

At the start I didn't have much to do for a couple of months, the work came sporadically so at times I did get a bit bored. This changed towards Christmas time where I was given a massive project and from there on in I was busy almost every day.

I have been given a great deal of responsbility. I was tasked with, a long with the planning co-ordinator, planning and facilitating the implementation of changes to all of the sequencing cells ready for the launch of the new car. The sequencing cells are a very important aspect of the operation as around 200-300 parts are sequenced. The deadline was also strict as it was directly related to the master schedule of the launch process so deadlines could not be missed.

As I was in the supply chain department I didn't learn much towards my actual degree content. However the skills that I have learnt towards becoming a better professional make up for this ten fold. I have improved vastly in 'soft skills' such as communication, time management, presentation skills etc. I have also learnt a great deal of management techniques through observing how my managers function and deal with tasks ahead, techniques that I have taken note of and will apply when hopefully I am in a management position in the future.

The atmosphere in the office was nice and relaxed which provided a happy medium to work in. Not too intense but not too laid back. If you felt that you needed a break you didn't feel like you had to wait for a specific time and could go get a coffee or some food etc.. whenever you liked. All in all this helped you settle in and feel comfortable within the job role.

The organisation was pretty good as one of the undergrads within the HR department is tasked with producing a schedule for a welcome period at the start of the placement designed to help you settle in. Although from my department it was a little unorganised as they didn't have anything for me at the start. However the situation wasn't ideal as my first day was the first day of the new 3rd party service providers so it was quite chaotic, and also my previous undergrad, who should have been there to give me a 2 week induction, unfortunately wasn't at work for this period.

I was lucky enough to take part in a week long trial training program that was being designed for the 300 or so new starters that we were taking on. From this I received a qualification in continuous improvement in the business place. On the whole though I would say I didn't have as much opportunity for training as some of the other undergrads did, some got sent for CAD training and training in Redex problem solving and more. I didn't get this opportunity.

For me personally not too appealing. This is bec

No. Most people lived at home so were not very interested in socialising much as they already had their friends around here. Although I did make a few good friends a long the way, overall my social life has not been brilliant over the year so I have had to go home/ go visit friends at uni a lot to make up for this.

I shared a house with 3 other people who were on placement here also, but it had to be a student house as it was all we could find that was suitable so it was very expensive. Although the wage more than covered this cheaper accommodation would have been nice. The house was next to an Aldi supermarket though so this helped with costs.

In Chester it was very average and I have only been out there a few times because of this. Although with Liverpool a 40 minute train ride away it was quite easy to go there instead as luckily I had friend at uni there.

No. The only activity outside of work that I have participating in occasionally was 5 a side football with some of the other undergrads. This was only a few times though.