Case studies: Operations manager: Dominic

Dominic graduated with a degree in biology from Newcastle University. Before going to university he took a gap year, during which time he worked for a logistics company...

He continued doing this in vacations, being involved with administration, telephones, multi-drop driving and vehicle maintenance. By the time he graduated he was actually running a depot.

On graduating, he wanted to use his scientific knowledge and began work at a pharmaceutical company in the Midlands. However, despite being happy there, he found himself missing the logistics sector and, after a year, applied for some graduate schemes in logistics. He was successful in his application to Wincanton and began there in August 2007.

He started on two contracts in the 'Emerging Solutions' section, which involves home deliveries of a wide range of products to homes and some businesses. This is a relatively new area for Wincanton. It involves receiving goods from the manufacturer, checking them and then dispatching them to homes via a fleet of vans.

In the last year, Dominic has worked in distribution centres in Milton Keynes, London and is currently based in Darlington. He is mainly involved with Homebase kitchens and bathrooms. As operations manager, he oversees three main sections:

• Call Centre: this books new orders onto the system, deals with delivery queries and customer satisfaction and monitors response times to calls.
• Warehouse: takes receipt of the goods and checks they are the right order. In the case of kitchens there may be up to 150 different items. Accuracy is vital. A new scanning system has been introduced.
• Transport: organises deliveries, checks items and deals with queries about compliance, service and maintenance of vans.

Contracts with organisations such as Homebase come up for renewal periodically and at that time Dominic has to re-apply for the contract. In addition to the Homebase contract, Dominic also oversees a secondary home delivery network, which deals with a variety of other suppliers.

Dominic says the main skill he uses is communication, both oral and written. Historically, communication channels within the logistics sector have been patchy, made more difficult by having to communicate with all the different parties involved. His presentation skills from university have come to the fore, along with his training in accuracy and clarity as a scientist. He also believes that it is vital to get involved and throw yourself into the whole process.

Dominic is not currently working shifts, although he has in the past, but he does have to work long hours when necessary to get the work done. He likes the variety of his work and the fact that at Wincanton there is no set timing for placements, as there is in some logistics schemes.

He is able to follow continuing professional development (CPD) via The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (UK)  and was able to go to Hong Kong in summer 2008 for a conference. There is certainly scope to move about, even overseas, but the timing of this is fluid. He is happy within his role and the opportunities for responsibility and financial reward after five or so years are very promising.