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Foram Pandya - Supply Chain Planner Position at Benteler
Email: fbpandya@gmail.com | Phone: +1 669 281 6704 | LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/fbpandya | CSC Hackathon: csc.com/hackathon | My Talent: mytalent.com/fbpandya
Job Description
Benteler is looking for a highly motivated supply chain planner with experience in project management, process improvements, and optimizing inventory and operations. The successful candidate will have a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and be responsible for planning production, optimizing purchase requests and workflows, and collaborating with teams to enhance inventory accuracy and cut waste. The candidate will also be expected to procure raw materials, manage scheduling, MOQs and dispatch logistics, and have an eye for cost savings through strategic initiatives.
Interview Rounds
- Round 1: Behavioral Round
- Round 2: Technical Round
- Round 3: Design Round
- Round 4: Coding Round
- Round 5: HR Round
Behavioral Round
This round assesses the candidate's past behavior and how it relates to the job. Answering in the STAR format is preferred (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
Questions | Answers |
|---|---|
Can you give an example of a time when you had to work on a project with a tight deadline? | Situation: In my previous role, we had an urgent project to deliver on time. The deadline was tight, and we had to work long hours to complete it. Task: I was responsible for managing the inventory and ensuring that all materials arrived on time. I collaborated with the procurement team, monitored shipments and communicated with suppliers to ensure timely delivery. Action: I created a schedule for all inventory-related activities, delegated responsibilities, and monitored progress closely. Result: We were able to deliver the project on time and received positive feedback from the client for our quick response. |
Have you ever faced a challenging situation with a difficult stakeholder? How did you handle it? | Situation: In my previous role, I had a stakeholder who was constantly changing requirements, causing delays and confusion. Task: My task was to secure necessary supplies from them so that my team could continue the project without any delays. Action: I scheduled a meeting with the stakeholder and clearly communicated the impact of their actions on the project timeline. We iterated an agreement to ensure consistency and timely delivery. Result: The updated agreement resulted in a smooth collaboration with the stakeholder, resulting in timely deliveries, allowing us to complete the project as scheduled. |
Can you describe a situation where you had to lead a team and experienced a conflict? | Situation: In my previous role, my team and I had a disagreement regarding the best approach for a new project. Task: I was tasked with leading the project successfully and ensuring that the team was aligned on a common approach. Action: I listened to each team member's perspective and facilitated open communication to arrive at a mutually beneficial decision. I recognized the strengths of each individual and delegated work responsibilities accordingly. Result: By involving everyone's insights, we were able to come up with an approach that everyone agreed upon and successfully completed the project ahead of schedule. |
Have you ever faced a challenge in implementing a new process or system? How did you address it? | Situation: In my previous role, we needed to implement a new inventory management system, but the team was skeptical of its success rate. Task: My responsibility was to convince the team to embrace this new technology and ensure the implementation was successful. Action: I organized a few training sessions in-house, explaining the new process and addressing everyone's concerns. I provided additional resources to my team and provided feedback and tutoring to them in case of any issues. Result: The system was seamlessly incorporated and resulted in a streamlined inventory process. My team embraced the new technology, and as a result, we completed projects with even greater efficiency. |
Describe a situation where you failed to achieve the desired outcome. What did you learn from it? | Situation: In my previous role, I was working on a project involving a large-scale supplier onboard and negotiations of a contract with them. Ultimately, the negotiations failed despite all of my efforts. Task: I was tasked with successfully negotiating the terms of the contract and securing them, ultimately resulting in a partnership. Action: I had done my research and studied the details of the contract and history to address issues that may arise. But, negotiations broke down, and we could not achieve the expected outcome. Result: Though the desired outcome wasn't achieved, I had learned through this experience that preparedness guaranteed success. |
Can you provide an example of an innovative solution you came up with to a problem? | Situation: In my previous role, the logistics team was struggling with long delivery times for equipment and high costs associated with it. Task: I was responsible for exploring an innovative solution to minimize these costs while not compromising on the delivery timelines and equipment quality. Action: After multiple brainstorming sessions with the team and research on equipment transportation, we sourced regional suppliers and coordinated daily deliveries, reducing delivery times and cutting down on transportation costs,ed heightening a strong vendor relationship. Result: We managed to cut down transportation costs, improved delivery times, and saw satisfaction from our clients due to faster and reliable equipment delivery. |
Describe a situation where you faced resistance from your team while implementing a new process or policy. How did you handle it? | Situation: In my previous role, we needed to implement a new process for inventory management. Some of my team members were resistant to the change and were not willing to make the switch to a different system. Task: My task was to make sure that everyone accepted the change, ensuring efficient inventory management. Action: I arranged team meetings, including all team members for a detailed process review and redesign. We then shared the benefits of the new process and explained how it would save time and streamline our work processes. We addressed everyone's concerns, including process complexities, and explained how it could be simplified. Result: The new inventory system was implemented, and with time, team members began to see its benefits, allowing us to perform efficiently, with minimal errors and more time in the day to focus on other projects. |
Can you recall a time when you had to manage conflicts with different teams or team members? What was your approach? | Situation: In my previous role, we had a contentious conflict between two teams with differing views on how processes should be executed. Task: As a member of both teams, my responsibility was to solve this conflict and reach a definite conclusion that would be acceptable to both parties. Action: I conducted a meeting with both teams and discovered that the conflict mainly arose from poor communication, and both sides had valid reasons. We further discussed alternative solutions and collaborated with each team to find a common ground that would work well for both groups. Result: The conflict was resolved, and both teams were able to complete their work products while working cohesively as a team. The resulting agreement ultimately improved communication and understanding between both teams, increasing productivity and efficiency. |
Can you describe a situation where you had to take a calculated risk in your career? | Situation: In my previous job search, I took a calculated risk to switch to another department to gain more diverse exposure to supply chain operations. Task: My goal was to acquire hands-on knowledge and skills in managing production, inventory, and demand planning, and ultimately contribute more to the company. Action: I researched more on what the department required and how I could better align myself with the skills required. I reviewed the experience to-date on the resume and prioritized the roles that involved supply chain planning roles. I accepted a role which I believed was a great fit and provided the opportunity to develop a wider domain understanding. Result: The risk of starting afresh and acclimatizing to a new team was worthwhile due to the experience gained and skills acquired. The new role has equipped me with the critical skills to manage material planning and inventory controls, enhance process efficiency, and support clients, including working in sales interaction and proposal proposing. |
Technical Round
The technical round will assess the candidate's technical skills related to supply chain and logistics. The questions mainly focus on the job description and are geared towards the applicant's working experience and expertise in supply chain and logistics.
- What are some methods for improving inventory management?
- What's the role of process improvement in supply chain management?
- What is demand forecasting and what methods would you use?
- What's MRP (Material Requirement Planning) and how does it work?
- What has been your experience working with an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system? How would you rate your proficiency with the same?
- What's the difference between MPS (Master Production Schedule) and MRP (Material Requirement Planning)?
- How do you ensure that you schedule production in an optimal way?
- Can you explain the concept of lean supply chain management in detail?
- What's the importance of sustainability in supply chain management?
- What's the PDCA cycle and how would you apply it to process improvement in supply chain management?
Design Round
The design round will assess the candidate's overall supply chain management problem-solving and planning skills for the company. This round will focus on how effectively a candidate can plan and implement supply chain solutions to enhance efficiency, cost savings, and productivity. The questions in this round range from small scale production planning questions to larger production operations with multiple facilities and complex production lines. Each question will contain high-level details and low-level details as well.
- How would you design a supply chain management system for a warehouse which has dedicated inbound and outbound docks?
High-Level Details:
- Understand the operations and goals of the warehouse.
- Identify inbound and outbound docks.
- Discuss warehouse management software to manage inventory and orders.
- Low-Level Details:
- Determine the size of each dock, the number of trucks that can load or unload, and the required space inventory for loading materials.
- Schedule daily loading and unloading routes based on delivery schedules.
- Assess the order volume and design the appropriate order picking and management system for the warehouse.
- How would you plan and optimize a cross-dock supply chain system for an e-commerce company?
High-Level Details:
- Understand the company's logistics and e-commerce model.
- Gather information about the company's inventory levels.
- Design a cross-dock model for supply chain management.
Low-Level Details:
- Create a flowchart of the end-to-end supply chain process.
- Analyze the order processing time and the timing of inbound shipments to determine the appropriate staging area and process flow for products.
- Design the packaging and sorting process for products that enter and leave the cross-dock.
- Define the role of technology in reducing cross-docking times and enhancing supply chain efficiency.
Coding Round
The coding round will assess the candidate's programming and analytical skills related to supply chain and logistics. The questions will mainly focus on the job descriptions and how to optimize supply chain processes.
- What is the time and space complexity of a program to count the number of items in an array?
- Write a program in Python to determine the safety stock level for a given inventory item and lead time based on past demand and supplier lead time data.
- What is the time and space complexity of an algorithm for finding the shortest path in a supply chain network?
- Create a program that optimizes the scheduling of deliveries to minimize transportation costs for a company.
- Design a program that analyzes production data to determine the best time for material replenishment. What is the time and space complexity of the algorithm?
Indented Code For One of the Solutions:
function safety_stock_level(demand, lead_time, service_level, standard_deviation) { var z_value = standardNormalDistributionInverse(1 - (1 - service_level) / 2) var lead_time_demand = demand * lead_time var lead_time_std_deviation = standard_deviation * sqrt(lead_time) return roundUpToNearestInteger(z_value * lead_time_std_deviation + lead_time_demand)}function standardNormalDistributionInverse(p) { const a1 = -39.6968302866538; const a2 = 220.946098424521; const a3 = -275.928510446969; const a4 = 138.357751867269; const a5 = -30.6647980661472; const a6 = 2.50662827745924; let sign, x; if (p === 0.5) return 0; sign = p < 0.5 ? -1 : 1; p = p < 0.5 ? p : 1 - p; x = Math.log(1 / (p * p)); return sign * ( x <= 5 ? (((((a6 * x + a1) * x + a2) * x + a3) * x + a4) * x + a5) / ((((b3 * x + b2) * x + b1) * x + b0) * x + 1) : x > 5 ? norminv_approximation(p) : undefined );}function roundUpToNearestInteger(number) { return Math.ceil(Number(number));}function norminv_approximation(q) { var b0 = 0.2316419; var b1 = 0.319381530; var b2 = -0.356563782; var b3 = 1.781477937; var p = 0.0; var t = Math.sqrt(Math.log(1.0 / (q * q))); if (t >= 5.0) { p = -1.72588e-07 * Math.pow(t - 5.0, 3.0) - 4.387e-05 * Math.pow(t - 5.0, 2.0) + 0.0008 * (t - 5.0) + 0.0034; } else { p = b3 * Math.pow(t, 3.0) + b2 * Math.pow(t, 2.0) + b1 * t + b0; } return p;} Time and Space Complexity for the Algorithm:
- The time complexity of the algorithm is O(1).
- The space complexity of the algorithm is O(1).
HR Round
The HR round assesses the candidate's overall personality and ability to work in a team environment. This one is usually conducted by the HR department of the company. The interviewer will discuss the company's mission, work culture, and the hiring process. The questions will focus on personal