I started at Chelsea in July 2003 as the Production Planner in the supply chain team. This was a good introduction to the company as I got to learn all the products, production lines and customers as well interacting with most parts of the organisation including Sales, Finance, Operations and Logistics.
I then moved to “the dark side” and joined the operations team as a Packing Team Leader. Over time I have been in charge of the Syrup house, Hesser floor (now Fawema), IBC’s and Packing hall 2. This was my first experience in a leadership role and gave me to opportunity to work alongside a lot of different people and equipment.
I then took over the continuous improvement programme, TPM3. This was really interesting and I go to be involved in many many different team projects and improvements. I really enjoyed seeing the difference that people working as a team could make to their areas.
I then moved into the Refinery as the Process Coordinator and then Process Manager before taking over as Production Manager. This has been a steep learning curve as the Refinery has so many different processes and equipment and a small thing can cause big problems.
Chelsea has through all of this provided me with the appropriate training and resources to develop in my roles. This includes internal and external training. They have given external training in things such as leadership and also provided mentoring.
Chelsea has been great place to develop my career as there is so much variety. I have a degree in manufacturing and so I love to see how things get made. We have everything from large industrial boilers and vacuum pans to electronic robots. We have processes that range from highly automated to specialist manual skills and everything in between. It is also small enough that you can get to know everyone and get to experience many different areas. There isn’t much of a silo
I have had many achievements through my career and it is hard to single out one but probably the highlight has been taking on the Production Manager role. This is a big job with huge boots to fill as Tony has left such a big legacy in his time in the role. There are so many skilled and dedicated people in the refinery team and I see my job as making it easier for them to be able to come to work and be proud of the contribution they have made.
My biggest learning I made has been in dealing with problems. Early in my career I felt that my role as a leader was to try to take away all the problems of my team. I soon learned that this is an impossible task as I don’t have the knowledge or the time to be able to do justice to all these issues. I came to realise that my job as a leader should be to give my team the skills, opportunity and permission to solve their own problems. That is often easier said than done but it is something I strive for.
- Aaron Jacobs , Production Manager
