Internship in Supply Chain Department in Escatec Mechatronics Sdn Bhd
During the 3th May 2010, I was fortunate to do my internship at Escatec Mechatronics Sdn Bhd at Johor Bahru, Malaysia. (www.escatec.com) I was assigned to do my internship in the Supply Chain Department.
The responsibilities of a Supply Chain Officer firstly receive the customer’s orders. The Supply Chain Officer wills then put the orders into the computer system. An order is complete after putting it into the computer system. The Supply Chain Officer starts to find the material from the supplier. Normally, there is a list of suppliers at the company and there are some specific suppliers for each type of product. If the specific suppliers are out of stock of the material which the Supply Chain Officer needed for orders to complete the finished goods, the Supply Chain Officer has to find a new supplier. After order the material that the Supply Chain Officer needed, it comes the receive level. The material from the supplier will be passing through IMA/ IMC which is under Quality Assurance Department. IMA/ IMC mean inspection material assurance/ checking. This process is to make sure the materials that receive is match the quality, quantity, color, size, and type that state in the order list. If the material is not match with the quality, it will not pass through the inspection material assurance and it will be reject and return to the supplier. While if the material can pass through the IMA/ IMC, it will be sent into the store department. The store is separate with the component and bulky store.
After all of the above, the materials are sent to the production department. The production department is responsible to transfer the material into the finished goods at this level. After the finished goods are done, it has to pass through the OMA/ OMC which is also under Quality Assurance Department. OMA/ OMC mean outgoing material assurance/ checking. The OMA/ OMC department has to make sure the finished goods match the quality and also the customers’ requirements. If the finished goods are matching and fulfill customers’ requirements, the finished goods will be sent to the warehouse. At this moment, the finished goods are waiting for shipment which the Supply Chain Officer already planned at the beginning. The shipment date and the shipment way (through sea/ air) are already planned by the Supply Chain Officer at the time that the customers place the orders.
Above are the responsibilities of a Supply Chain Officer. I had participated in the process. As a trainee of the Supply Chain Department, the daily tasks for me include updating the purchase orders. This is the most common task and the most random task for me when I having my industrial training at the Supply Chain Department. Purchase orders are the orders that place by a Supply Chain Officer. There are others tasks that related to purchase orders which I had did during my internship include outstanding summary of purchase orders. I group out the purchase orders follow by the suppliers in the Excel File. Follow by the outstanding summary of purchase orders, the continuous task is purchase orders confirmation. I send out the purchase orders summary that I did before using the company email and confirm the delivery and quantity of the material with the suppliers.
Besides that I also have another tasks include change the extra lead time for the inventory of company and pricing changes. Filing is another common job that I almost did everyday. After a short period I practice in the company, the Supply Chain Officer start to let me did the task that more complicated. It’s included placing the customers order in the customers order summary; generate enterprise planning, material checking and production orders. Production orders different with purchase orders. Purchase orders is the orders that place by a Supply Chain Officer from the suppliers; while production orders are the orders from a Supply Chain Officer to the Production Department within the company.
Next, the tasks like rescheduling of the customers’ orders, buyers changes, and as well as canceling the orders, I had give chance by the manager and colleagues and tried to do it during my internship. I gain a lot of extra knowledge towards the supply chain process and had a chance for trying to use the company system. After did all the tasks and completed the industrial training, I had a deeper understanding toward the academic study that I undergoing.