Manufacturing Apprentice Review

Advanced Operators will work on our production lines within the manufacturing environment but may spend some time offline whilst working on activities such as new product development or continuous improvement. The aim is to have both knowledge and skills in preventative maintenance activities and Continuous Improvement (CI) techniques, which are essential to maintaining and improving productivity in food and drink manufacturing sites. Advanced Operators will develop an in-depth knowledge of food and drink products, health and safety systems, quality systems and Good Manufacturing Processes (GMP). They are trained to interrogate and interpret data to identify trends and carry out basic fault finding. This will help to avoid future faults and improve quality and productivity. Advanced Operators may be expected to lead others; as such they will develop skills in leadership and management.

So far I have earned a level 3 certificate in food safety amongst learning about health and safety procedures and guidelines in college. At work I have been learning about the processes involved in our product manufacturing and developed some line running skills. I have investigated and produced SOP's for the site as well as other supporting documentation.

I very much enjoy the ever changing environment of my workplace and the people that work there. On my programme I can interact with different departments and learn new ways of working. For me doing differing tasks each day/week is really refreshing and it helps develop relationships with many different people.

The programme can be tailored to however I need supporting. My Line Manager is there to help and have involvement if need be, however my time can be spent according to my own scheduling. I am ultimately responsible for my own learning and development, so I will structure my working time around completing my yearly objectives. College blocks are every few months at a time and I have enough time in between to complete any assigned tasks from my college tutors.

Support is there if needed. My line manager always makes himself available if I need to speak with him and the others members of the local site team are happy to answer any questions I might have and be a source of knowledge for myself. I am also well supported from a Nestle contact who I have scheduled meetings with every 6 weeks. They have made it clear that if I ever have any questions or need help that I am welcome to get in contact with them.

Again my mentors/tutors are available to be contacted via a shared platform online. We have a platform where all our tasks will be assigned and to us and we then complete them and upload any and all evidence back onto the platform to be looked at by a tutor. We have review meetings where any concerns I might have can be discussed and my overall progression can be monitored and supported if needed.

So far I have only been on just one college block which covered mainly the necessary health and safety aspects of working in a factory environment. This is still vital knowledge to have when working in manufacturing however moving forward I expect that my college training will provide me with more practical tools for methodologies such as Continuous Improvement.

There is a social club at work where once a member you will be entered into prize draws and be offered tickets to see live events. There may be a rare department outing for an occasion however there is nothing currently frequently scheduled in the yearly calendar. As an employee I'm allowed to have volunteering days where I can volunteer wherever I chose during normal working hours.

Yes

I would recommend Nestle to a friend as I feel like I'm being invested in and welcomed into a team. The environment is friendly and supportive and I enjoy doing the programme (Nestle Academy) along with my cohort from across the country. Nestle is the largest food and drink producer in the world and there are plenty of opportunities to work in many different places around the world in different roles.

I would encourage others to apply for roles in Nestle. From my overall experience I would say that any successful applicants would feel well supported and encouraged/pushed to achieve their own potential and have a successful career in (Nestle if so chosen).