In today’s episode of What the Duck?!, Sarah interviews Craig Campbell, who has extensive experience in supply chain and purchasing. They discuss various topics, including Craig's early career as a subcontract engineer, his transition to purchasing, his passion for direct materials in the supply chain, moving from the UK to the US, and his experiences with global freight issues. Tune into this episode if you want to hear Craig’s insights on the challenges faced in the nuclear valve manufacturing industry, the importance of adaptability in supply chain management, and the unexpected extent of the global freight problem during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Show Highlights
Craig, the Subcontract Engineer
The Starter Launchpad of Craig’s Career
Direct Materials > Indirect Materials
Nuclear Valve Manufacturing
You Have to be Adaptable
Contract Buyer for Manufacturers
Global Freight Issues
Advice for those Struggling with Global Freight
Career Learnings
MOMENTS TO DUCK AROUND
CRAIG: YOU HAVE TO BE ADAPTABLE
“So, the one thing I learned there is you have to be adaptable, right? Every single supply chain, purchasing, procurement, whatever you want to call it, problem is similar to one that you've experienced in the past, regardless of what the end-user is, regardless of what the industry is, regardless of what certification is. I find that you need to be able to have strong relationships with your vendors. You need to have stronger relationships with your internal customers: engineers, quality, manufacturing people. And so, yeah, I mean, like, I guess what I learned most from that job was just the adaptability requirements of a supply chain professional is one of the biggest assets you could possibly have, being very good at managing stress, very much so. Yes, absolutely.”
CRAIG: HOW TO IMPROVE FROM GLOBAL FREIGHT ISSUES
“Ensure that your planning lead times are current and have knowledge, have a total understanding of what your current freight times are, avoid air freight like the plague if you can. Partner with good logistics companies. There's nothing more important than that, and that's something that we found very valuable when we were going through that, making sure we had good relationships with the companies that we deal with in the logistics side to make sure that we were getting the best opportunities, the best situation in a bad situation, if you like. So, partnerships with excellent logistics companies is invaluable when it comes to handling these sort of issues. But overall, certainly planning is a big part of it.”
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