Today marks the end of the closing process of Kellogg. While a relief to Kellogg’s numerous administrative/financial employees, it also marks the beginning of fiscal projections! Additionally, I met a man with an Industrial Systems and Engineering Ph.D. and 20 years in the IT department who solidified my career choice.
After submitting the remaining JEs to Deepak (the Kellogg correspondent for the Cary Plant) and ensuring they were all correctly winshuttled, Rick (the plant controller) and I reviewed the current margins of favorability in the budget. From these projections, Rick and I discussed the changes needed for the 5+7 forecast we were about to begin; what happens if we changed the production standard numbers? What happens if we allot more money for plant expenses? How will depreciability affect next month’s budget allotment? Etc. This project will take until Friday to complete, as it’s diverse and multi-faceted, and will require further discussion among other team leaders.
The 2 o’clock meeting (reviewing safety procedures for various product lines and the listing of productivity/energy efficiency/etc.) allowed me to explore the factory further. Although I covered most of the ground yesterday, today allowed me to see the peanut butter fillings tanks, the Austin sandwich cracker product lines/storage areas, and I learned the top-secret recipe for a white cheddar cheez
it (yum!).
The 3 o’clock meeting introduced me to other factory controllers and allowed me to understand the insights of Kellogg’s top management and plans.
Noland, the man with the IE background, happily adopted me for thirty minutes, explaining the intricacies of his job (and his soon-to-be-delivered solutions). It confirmed my suspicion that IE is “paid problem solving for adults,” and his background jazzed me for my (hopefully) future career!
— Peyton
