Profile: B&I Packaging Buyer – Victoria Loudon
"In my 9 month role as an operational packaging buyer in B&I I was responsible for the daily management of two sourcing groups. A sourcing group is a discrete area of spend such as cartons or tins. This involved a lot of relationship management with suppliers and understanding the financial data for each of my areas.
My biggest responsibility, was working on a tender project. This involved looking for the best supplier for the sourcing group, which meant understanding the business needs as well as negotiating and signing the all important contract. The aim of the tender was to ensure Cadbury was receiving the best quality products, with the best service levels, from the most innovative supplier, meeting all of our business needs at the most competitive prices.
In order to achieve this I followed a formal 8-step process: carrying out market research and analysis to find the most suitable suppliers; understanding the business needs of Cadbury and of the sourcing group; presenting my findings to key stakeholders and gaining their approval; negotiating with eligible suppliers to secure the best deal for Cadbury; implementing a change of supplier (from internal system changes, to trials at the factories); and managing the teething problems that ensue from such a change in business as usual.
Throughout these 8-steps, I lead a team of business colleagues (from Planning and Customer Logistics, Science & Technology, Manufacturing and Art and Design to name a few) through all the major milestones of the transition to a new supplier and reported the monthly progression of the project to senior managers.
This was my first project as a team leader and it was a huge challenge on it's own but more so with the number of issues that presented themselves along the way. I learned to work through the problems with the help of my team members and PBS colleagues and am very proud of the fact that my project unlocked value for the business. Quite an achievement for my first role!
This role has given me huge insight into the workings of the business and I have developed in all the key skill areas of procurement through my project which has given me a good grounding for moving onto my next placement."