Heather Williams – UK Supply Chain

Business Execution Planning - Fulfilment Manager

I’ve worked for Kellogg’s for over 25 years in many different teams and roles.

I initially joined as a temp in the Finance Department for 2 weeks. The role I was covering was vacant and within a few weeks I became a permanent member of the Treasury Department. After that I moved across to our internal Catering Department as Stock Controller & Buyer in the canteen, buying and maintaining stock levels and negotiating with suppliers. Our team generally oversaw anything to do with the running of the Department – it was like having our own small business. I then moved to our Wrexham plant within Production Scheduling, before working in Demand Planning where I had to ensure that all elements of demand were captured and built into forecasts for Manufacturing to see and produce against.

22 highly enjoyable and varied years later, I then transferred into the BEP (Business Execution Planning) Team to co-ordinate forecast to fulfilment with a full ‘End to End’ process of supply, from Manufacturing to our Customers. We work closely with our Demand Planning Teams to understand what’s driving the forecasts, what impact TV & Media campaigns are likely to have and what’s happening in innovation – such as new products due to be launched within the next 12 months. As there are so many different areas and challenges - no two days are the same. However, I do try to plan effectively to ensure that there aren’t too many surprises. This role gave me the opportunity to interact with a lot of different teams across the organisation.

I presented to the Sales team every week to keep them informed of supply risks, product concerns and service levels. Communication is the key here and we’re all constantly learning. We work closely with Supply Chain and Sales & Marketing to deliver their needs and maintain a high service level to our customers.

Following this role, I undertook a 15 month Secondment as Planning & Project Lead at our Portable Foods site in Wrexham where we make a range of bars for the snacks market before undertaking the role I’m in now.

In February 2009, I transferred to the Manchester plant to the role of Packing Area Co-ordinator and have since been seconded into a Practitioner role to train and support our Operators during the project initiative a number of our Plants are currently working through.

There is a real ‘can-do’ attitude at Kellogg’s and the benefits are great. You can move around Departments and locations and the opportunities are endless. I’ve enjoyed tremendous support from my managers over the years and they’ve been great at helping me to expand my knowledge of the business and identify which directions I should take throughout my career. I’m hoping to enjoy many more years here.