Day in the life – Tim Winson
I’m usually the first person in the office when I arrive at eight to start work. I’ll open the office up and make myself a coffee to drink while I have a meeting with the production supervisor to chat through any issues and check that everything is running as it should.
Once I have caught up with production, I read through the shift supervisors' handover notes to ensure everything is on track and we haven’t had any problems and look at the production schedule to see if we are ahead or behind where we should be. I will take a walk over to the warehouse to check in with the team and discuss stock levels and what they have going on there. My final stop is with the engineering department to find out what work they have scheduled in for the day and how that will affect production.
This gives me a good idea of any challenges that the day may hold. I then head back to the office to look at the sales orders that have come in and see if the production schedule needs to be amended to accommodate those. This is where working closely with David, Chris and the sales team is so important as we can closely monitor stock levels against orders.
As the day goes on, I keep an eye on my emails. Being Manufacturing Manager, I deal with just about every department on a daily basis and I am even involved with the health and safety on site. I regularly get enquiries and queries on processes, schedules, and issues. These need to be dealt with promptly so as not to hold other processes up.
I work closely with NPD Manager, Julie Telfer, to schedule and run trials. It is always great to see the latest products that go into helping customers launch their own new products.
A large part of my day is taken up with planning for the future. I need to ensure that we have enough raw materials and staffing levels so we can fulfil the orders we have, as well as future ones. I want to get everything right first-time, so customers are happy.
Before finishing for the day, I always give my emails one last check for any new orders that the sales team have received and check orders against the stock sheet. I have one further check with the supervisors before closing my computer down and signing off for the day.