Name: Fiona Little
Job Title: Purchasing Manager, Hallmark Cards
University attended: University of Northumbria
Degree: Business Administration

Career history

I started as a Production Planner at Hallmark Cards and then became the company’s first Buyer, concentrating on buying packaging materials. As Purchasing Manager I now lead a team of five, purchasing specialist production materials.

Range of projects

Hallmark Cards produce greetings cards, gift wrap, bows and Xmas crackers, and also sources materials from the Far East such as decorations and stationery. My average working week is about 45-50 hours and involves some international travel, mainly to Scandinavia, the US and Italy, so an understanding of different cultures is an important aspect of my role. I deal with lots of different people, both internally and externally, and within a purchasing team you can really see the value you are adding to the company.

Responsibility

The purchasing team’s performance is regularly reviewed against the projections agreed with Finance at the beginning of the year. It’s a constant monitoring role to forecast and track savings against the various projects we’re responsible for.

Supplier reviews are vital to the effective running of a purchasing function. We have about 40/50 core suppliers worldwide, together with several ad hoc contracts, and I regularly meet our contacts to measure their performance and address any quality issues which may have arisen.

Flexibility

All roles within business require a degree of flexibility. If, for example, a major supplier of a key production component fails to deliver I need to source an alternative who can provide the product required for the job and within the original production deadline to avoid the manufacturing plant grinding to a halt. This type of crisis-management brings into play all my negotiating skills with suppliers.

Also, if a potential customer likes the product but is unhappy with the price it’s my job to see how the product can possibly be re-engineered using different materials but with the same quality finish. I’m able to look at all aspects of a job from sourcing the raw materials to the final costings and can make suggestions as to how better to come up with a suitable product which meets that customer’s needs.