Supply Chain - Material Planner Review

My role as a material planner involves managing the materials and inventory needed for the day to day production of the engines. The roles involves close coordination with other key departments in the business and also close contact with supplier to ensure on time delivery of orders. My aim is to balance the supply and demand of material and avoid excess or shortage of inventory through a process know as the expediate and de-expediate.

There many existing skills I would say I have developed including my organisational and time management skills. My role revolves greatly around getting parts in on time to ensure the plant runs smoothly without any shortages, this means that I have to be well organised to ensure I am prioritising parts that are needed sooner than others to ensure they arrive when needed. This has also helped to improve my problem-soling skills.

Yes - I would say from the start of my placement, I was given responsibility of roles which my managers believed I could handle in the beginning. Once I then gained more knowledge of the day-to-day tasks I was given more responsibility and increased my desk workload which meant I was give B-class parts which are higher in value and more crucial to get in on time. I am hoping to progress even further in the future.

At the beginning I spent 2/3 of my day training on the different processes and working out how to complete these effectively. Once my manager felt I had a good grasp of how it works I was free to do this by myself. However, if I ever came to an issue that I wasn't sure how to resolve there was also help available to guide me and show me how to resolve the issues.

As i was working in a hybrid role I was only in the office twice or three times a week, however I was still able to see how great the company culture was as there were numerous company days which provided all employees with benefits such as a free lunch as recognition for the hard work from the employees. This was nice to see as it meant everyone would come together as discuss the work they done and the impact it had on the business.

I enjoyed my placement very much - from the work I done inside the business to also the EEEC charity work which was encourage by the business, each year everyone would have the opportunity to spend a few hours of their day supporting the community and heling others. There are many lessons which I learnt during my time as a material planner which will be useful when applying it to my degree and future careers.

Yes

I would advise anyone applying for a role at Cummins to prepare well for the interview as this will set you of on the right foot, and also provide you with a more extensive knowledge of that the business if about and what it is they will be doing in their role. Also starting a new role is daunting and so I found having a network with other placement students working in the company was great as you can make great friends from it also.