What's your job about?
I work for Diageo, one of the world’s largest producers of spirits and beers as the APAC Scheduling Manager. In the role, I manage a team of 10 productions, material, and distribution schedulers across the multiple Diageo sites within the APAC region. The scheduling team is responsible for supporting both the Diageo production and warehousing teams by setting the production sequence (what we are producing that week) to meet our demand requirements (what our customers are going to buy) and ensuring we have the right materials and ingredients to run our production facilities.
My work week is pretty varied but at the crux of it, my role is making sure we have stock to sell to our customers. If we don’t have stock to sell, we don’t make any money!
So, a lot of what I do is working with our suppliers and overseas sites to ensure that the products and materials we have been promised are on their way to us and arriving when they’re expected to. If something is delayed or is required earlier than expected, I could be organising airfreight or negotiating with a supplier to rethink their delivery plans. If a machine on a production site breaks down, we may have to look for an alternate source or usage for the labour we have allocated to the production line.
Diageo also has a lot of New Product Development (NPD) so as a planner we organise all of the sourcing and ordering for the packaging and ingredients for these products and perform the analysis on how much we will need to meet the expected demand from our customers.
What's your background?
I grew up on the South Coast of NSW and attended the UOW Shoalhaven Campus to undertake my undergraduate degree in Commerce. I originally chose a major in logistics because I thought it was a little bit niche and would separate me from many other students who were focusing on more mainstream commerce degrees like marketing, finance, and accounting.
My first role out of university was with a small freight forwarding company which taught me a lot about importing & exporting and global freight requirements. It also really highlighted for me the importance of an effective supply chain to any business that is relying on sourcing or selling products from overseas (which Diageo does a lot of).
After that, I moved into a supply role with a company that was in pharmaceuticals and that is where I started to learn about manufacturing and the FMCG industry.
From there I was lucky enough to meet a great recruiter who got me an opportunity to apply for a junior role with Diageo as a Supply Analyst. Fortune has it that I got the gig and have now been with Diageo for 7 years. In that time, I’ve been able to grow and experience several roles across multiple countries within the Diageo supply chain, manufacturing, and plan functions. It’s this breadth of knowledge and skill set that I’ve developed within Diageo that has got me to where I am today.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
100%! A role in Diageo Supply is a great fit for anyone who is interested in manufacturing, enjoys problem-solving and finding solutions, or is just passionate about the industry we work in. In supply, no two days are ever the same so resilience and fast thinking are key to being successful. The majority of what I have learned has been from on-the-job experience and mentoring from some amazing internal business leaders. If the above sounds like you then I’d absolutely say look at joining supply as it gives a great transferrable skill set that is useful wherever you go in your working life.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
The best thing about my role would have to be the global scope and reach of my remit. I do a lot of travelling through Asia to the multiple productions and rework sites that Diageo has throughout the region. I get a lot of energy and enjoyment working with people so getting the opportunity to travel and experience other cultures while working on improving our supply function is something I really value. Additionally, being a part of an industry that brings so much enjoyment to people’s lives is really rewarding. To walk into a bottle shop or be at a festival and see someone buying or consuming something that I’ve had a hand in producing is a great feeling.
What are the limitations of your job?
I guess the biggest limitation of the role is that I’m always on call. Diageo production facilities often run 24hrs a day and if a critical material or ingredient has not arrived on site then I’m the one who is responsible to find a solution. Having this responsibility can mean I often have to work some long hours, get on some late-night calls or make some high-pressure decisions but the learnings and experiences that I take out of each of these prepared me for the next time I come across a similar problem.
3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student