A Day In The Life Of A New Product Introduction Global Supply Manager At A Leading Technology Company
Kyle, a global supply manager at a Fortune 100 tech company, manages materials for contract-manufactured server hardware, acting as a "liaison between the program management office, the engineering office, and the contract manufacturer." A key aspect of the role, especially within new product introduction, involves directly collaborating with suppliers to ensure timely part delivery, even working on "part development" when dealing with new components.
Global Supply Chain Management, Contract Manufacturing, Material Program Management, Cross-functional Collaboration, New Product Introduction (NPI)
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Kyle Worth
NPI Global Supply Manager
Fortune 100 Technology Company
Arizona State University (ASU) - W. P. Carey
Industrial, Supply Chain Management
Technology
Operations and Project Management
Worked 20+ Hours in School, Greek Life Member
Video Highlights
1. Kyle manages the materials for server hardware manufacturing, working with contract manufacturers. He acts as a liaison between different teams (program management, engineering, sourcing) to ensure parts are delivered on time.
2. He handles challenges like parts shortages, working to expedite schedules and resolve quality issues with suppliers.
3. Kyle's role involves significant collaboration with suppliers, especially during new product introductions (NPI), often working directly with them on part development and ensuring timely availability to meet project deadlines.
Transcript
What are your main responsibilities within your current role?
My current role is a global supply manager. We also go by material management or material program manager. We manage materials for different server hardware manufacturing builds.
We don't manufacture anything ourselves; it's all contract manufactured. We handle the design, engineering, and bill of material structuring. We also manage all the part ordering.
Our contract manufacturer handles the tactical procurement and actually receives the parts because they are doing the manufacturing. My job is to manage a specific contract manufacturer, who is my main stakeholder. I ensure they have all their materials on time.
If they inform me about a supplier shortage for a part, it's my responsibility to work with that supplier to expedite their schedule or address any issues. I investigate why parts might not be on time, such as quality problems.
We act as a liaison between the program management office, the engineering office, and our contract manufacturer. We bring these teams together and collaborate with the sourcing team and others to ensure parts arrive on time.
Working in new product introduction means parts are often short because everything is under development. We design new racks with parts that aren't even on the market yet. This often leads to us working directly with suppliers on their development.
Sometimes, our schedules are driven by when a committed part will be ready from the supplier. We drive material readiness at our contract manufacturer, which is the core of our job.