Perrigo is proud to partner with Western Michigan University (WMU) on a Supply Chain Co-Op. Our Ascend program enables WMU students to gain real life experience throughout an entire year. This not only benefits the students but also provides a pipeline of talented individuals for full time employment.
Griffin Fill is one of our most recent Co-Op Students who is studying Supply Chain Management, Business Analytics and General Business. Below he shares some insights into his time with Perrigo so far!
What type of work have you been undertaking with Perrigo? During my time here, I have worked in two different positions. Previously, I was on the Supply Chain Analytics team, where I was tasked with creating several different analytics reports through Power BI that assisted others with answering important business questions and that provided users with the data that they needed to see in an easy-to-read format. Ultimately, all of the reports that I built were well-received, and the users of my reports were thrilled to gain important insights easily. Currently, I am on the Scheduling and Planning team in Plant 7, and I will be in charge of scheduling the production of a few of the production lines in Plant 7. Also, I will be applying my Power BI skills to create some analytics reports that will be beneficial to the Scheduling and Planning team here at Plant 7. In all, I’ve done a lot and will be doing a lot here at Perrigo!
What do you think are the advantages of this Co-Op? My co-op at Perrigo has given me lots of important real-life experience that will serve me well in my career. Using Power BI outside of the classroom and building real analytics reports with real data has allowed me to gain extensive knowledge as to how analytics works in the real world. Also, learning how to schedule a real production line will give me extensive knowledge as to how planning and scheduling actually works at a plant and will expose me to the many challenges that a plant faces on a daily basis. In addition, applying skillsets gained in one area of the company to another will demonstrate to me how versatile I can be and will show me that skills gained can be applied to more than one position. Finally, strengthening my skills in communication, presentation, problem-solving, and critical thinking outside of the classroom has given me both the ability and confidence necessary to thrive in the working world. In all, Perrigo has allowed me to grow tremendously, and every day that I’ve spent here has been huge in developing me into a successful business professional.
What are your hopes after the Co-Op? Hopefully, I will be able to come back to Perrigo as a full-time employee. Given that Perrigo has an incredible culture that allows people to constantly learn and grow, I would be thrilled to have a career here and would love to stick around!
Interested in joining Perrigo? Take a look at our career site for all available opportunities!