Well, I've arrived in Texas for the next stage of my American Adventure......
The beverages team is even more pushed for resources, in fact there is only me and one other working with the Regional Director to try and complete a unit audit of a very large bottling plant! This area is completely new to me too (confectionery girl through and through up until now) and it's always a challenge to try and come in half-way through an audit and understand everything that the others have seen!
The people we're working with here have been incredibly friendly, although they do usually struggle with my accent, so I'm finding myself being forced to go against my (very proud Geordie) nature and use THE MOST stereotypical British accent. I'm beginning to get to grips with the Americanisms too, it's amazing how difficult it can sometimes be to understand people speaking the same language as you!!! But I've started to adopt a few sayings, though I haven't quite got as far as using "y'all" yet.
It's different working hours in Texas - most of the plant do 7.30am to around 5pm so that's the time we keep too, meaning lunch here is about 2 hours earlier than in Mexico - an important audit skill is learning to adjust your body clock to fit the working hours of those around you as quickly as possible, at least if you want to eat that is.......
Being my first audit incorporating supply chain and a review of the plant, the work is very hands on. Last Friday I got to do a ride along with a bulk delivery driver, and despite the 3.30am start, meaning by midday I was acting more than a little ditzy due to lack of sleep, was really good fun and taught me a lot about what it takes to get our products onto the shelves. We've also been in the factory so many times that we've been given a special present - our own pair of very fetching safety glasses. Even better though, is that in a very male dominated environment, our willingness to "get our hands dirty" and actually experience the process, rather than just look at the books, is winning us a lot of respect.
So, we've got another 2 weeks here in Texas, and then it's on to the slightly colder city of Chicago, and another bottling plant, another market with different tastes and preferences, and probably a whole new set of procedures........Just enough time to get my cowgirl boots and hat and get to a rodeo before I leave!
Comments are forwarded to the author and those that we think will be useful to other readers will be posted on the site.