Most Important Skills for an NPI Global Supply Manager at a Leading Tech Firm
Kyle's role as an NPI Global Supply Manager is dynamic, with "no day ever look[ing] the same," involving a mix of urgent "firefighting" to resolve supply chain issues and proactive process improvement to streamline operations and create standard operating procedures for future efficiency. This constant variety, a mix of immediate problem-solving and long-term process optimization, is what makes the job both challenging and rewarding.
Problem-solving, Process improvement, Global collaboration, Communication, Project Management
Advizer Information
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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. No two days are alike, making the job exciting and challenging.
2. Problem-solving and firefighting are key aspects, involving resolving quality and supply issues.
3. Continuous process improvement is a significant focus, aiming to streamline operations and create standard procedures for better team functionality.
Transcript
What does a day in the life of an NPI global supply manager look like?
One of the things I love about supply chain and materials management is that no day ever looks the same. That is the beauty of it, but it's also the challenge. We often call ourselves firefighters because what we're doing is constant.
If there's a quality issue, a supply issue in development, or anything that will prevent parts from arriving on time, our number one responsibility is to resolve that issue that specific day. We need to ensure we are driving the material readiness we require.
If a specific part will hold us up, that becomes priority number one. Of course, there are still corporate meetings and all that goes with them, but really, every day is different.
That is what keeps it interesting because there's always something new, always a new challenge to face. If we're not dealing with fires, then a lot of our focus is on process improvement.
We constantly try to streamline what we do. If there's ambiguity, or something we're doing that hasn't been done before or doesn't have a consistent process, we record it as we go. We make a record, and then we can turn that into a process.
In supply chain, if one person does something, there's a very good chance another person will do it in the future. When you have standard operating procedures and streamlined processes, it makes your whole team's job, and everything, function better and smoother. So, a lot of firefighting, but if we're not doing that, we're usually focusing on process improvement.