Episode Transcript
00:00 Natalie Frauenheim: I got to shadow the supply chain team at Maxim Integrated this summer as well and they were more on the logistics side, and so they dealt with customer escalations and SQL databases and Tableau and all that. And pulling that information into charts to share with the customers that we're providing products for.
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00:31 Brian Fugate: So we're here with Natalie Frauenheim who is a supply chain major graduating in 2021. Natalie interned this last summer near Dallas with Maxim Integrated. Natalie, thank you for taking the time.
00:46 Natalie Frauenheim: Yeah, absolutely.
00:47 Brian Fugate: Can you tell us a little bit about your internship?
00:49 Natalie Frauenheim: So this summer, I worked with Maxim Integrated. They're a semi-conductor company. We make computer chips, and so this summer I worked as the Scheduling Analyst intern. And essentially what that is, is we get a group of engineers together, and we use this thing called The Project Success Method. And so, to start the project success method you gather a team of engineers, so you'll have test engineers, design engineers, apps engineers, then you have project managers, and all that. So it's a big group of people and you get together and you have a planning session. And at this planning session you basically edit templates to fit whatever product you're working on. And so you put all that in a software called Primavera, which is basically what I ran the whole time. And so you put that in the software, and from there you host by weekly control meetings, and you just meet every two weeks, and the engineers will update you on their progress, and where they're at with the chips, with their designs, with the testing, all that.
01:42 Natalie Frauenheim: And so what I did is I got to run the software for all the meetings, so we had a project manager and I worked close with him, and he'd be like, "Okay we need to look at this critical path. What is going to push this data out, and what can we pull in to make this data more accurate and all that?" And so basically, the Project Success Method is relatively new. My supervisor used to work for Project Success Incorporated, which is the company that uses this method. And so it's like, you can learn it in five days, there's a book, it's super easy and it's really effective. So I worked underneath the automobile unit, and just since... We've used it for seven years now, seven years or nine years. And the increase of the sales and the automobiles and the time that it takes to get things done is just more accurate now that we use this method. So, and there are six business units, three of them use this method, and so we're trying to implement that into all of them, so everything could be rolled up more efficiently and effectively.
02:34 Brian Fugate: That is so cool. So you learned project management...
02:36 Natalie Frauenheim: Yes.
02:37 Brian Fugate: Which is huge for the rest of your career. You can apply it to anything.
02:40 Natalie Frauenheim: Yeah.
02:40 Brian Fugate: 'Cause everything is a project that you're gonna work on, when you go study, work on a project for class.
02:44 Natalie Frauenheim: Yes.
02:45 Brian Fugate: So that's cool. You also learned how to work across different areas. And the one thing that you said that jumped out at me. I'm an engineer, so you had to work with engineers. You got to work with engineers.
02:54 Natalie Frauenheim: Yes, I did have to work with engineers. I got to work with engineers. It was a big learning curve, especially 'cause my first day, I sat down and I was with my mentor and I sat in a meeting and they're going off about all these different engineering acronyms, literally such easy things like, GBD, for example, is Guaranteed by Design. You could just say "Guaranteed by design," and I know what you mean, but instead, Maxim had this exclusive glossary that would take forever to learn, but it was fine. And I would have to go through and figure out acronym after acronym. And so that was a really big learning curve, 'cause I didn't understand engineering jargon.
03:28 Brian Fugate: Thinking through your summer and maybe the structure of it, what were some of the cool things that you did? I know you told me about a trip you'd take...
03:34 Natalie Frauenheim: Yes, yes. My fourth week, I believe it was, they sent me to San Jose, which is Silicon Valley pretty much, and so the main reason I got to go was we had a planning session there, and so I got to shadow the first day of the planning session. 'cause typically a planning session can last anywhere from two to three days. And you're there from 8:00 to 8:00. It's a long day, but it's a very productive day. And you need to just get this down and ready to go because our projects typically will last two years, so it'll take two years to roll out something that we're working on. I got to do that for three days and I got to see the office, I got to meet the Vice President of the central engineering group, and we got along really well. And it was just nice to me all the other people in the project management group also. 'cause there's only three in Dallas, and there's 10 in San Jose, so it was a great experience.
04:17 Brian Fugate: Awesome so and you had a mentor?
04:19 Natalie Frauenheim: I did have a mentor. My mentor, she was great, especially 'cause the whole company was engineers, and so she wasn't an engineer she was a marketing student at Baylor. But she just turned 25, and so it was nice to have somebody young, and somebody just relatable to deal with. And she was brilliant, she just knew what she was doing, and she was extremely patient. 'Cause when I'd get on the computer and run the software for these meetings, I'm just like... It's daunting, 'cause it's so many people watching every action that you're conducting or whatever. And so it was just nice for her to be like, "Okay, do this and then do that." And I just, she never got mad at me. It was really, it was nice.
04:54 Brian Fugate: Going into the summer, what were some of the things that you wanted to accomplish?
04:58 Natalie Frauenheim: I wanted to learn how to deal with other business people, and just how to grow in a business environment. 'Cause like I said, I've never been there. In college it's so different, 'cause I went from a class sporadically to having a full 11-hour day, just 'cause my drive was long I clocked out for lunch. And you get 40 hours a week kind of thing. So just that in general, even though I loved project management, and I loved what I did, this summer, I think just learning how to be a business person and be a business woman in the business industry was definitely the most valuable thing I learned this summer.
05:29 Brian Fugate: So I know you're heavily involved in WISE, and engage, could you talk some about that?
05:35 Natalie Frauenheim: Yeah, so I am involved in a group called WISE, Women Impacting Supply Chain Excellence, and luckily this year I get the opportunity to serve as Vice President of communication. So basically, I will help with the LinkedIn, we have a website, and I'll work with other people on the marketing team. So, it's been really great, and Professor Thomas has so much up her sleeve, we're having a future symposium where all these other schools are coming in, and we can show them how we do supply chain and all that. And so with my experience this summer, and with WISE, I know that I will be able to be successful, 'cause I'm not afraid to just be myself in a work environment, even as a woman.
06:13 Brian Fugate: I think I know what you're gonna answer given that you're a Junior, but what was your favorite course?
06:17 Natalie Frauenheim: So as I was saying earlier, I haven't had the opportunity to take that many, but so far Intro to Supply Chain is my favorite just because Professor Thomas, she's involved in WISE, but she's not just involved in WISE, she's involved in you. She cares about what you do and how you do it. And I... Supply chain is still relatively new and I didn't know even what it was. I just was like business, accounting, finance, whatever, and then I was like, walked into this Into to Supply Chain, and I was like, "Why is nobody talking about this?" This is a phenomenal degree. There's so many routes you can go in that. And so, yeah, just hearing about it, and getting the whole broad view of it, I just really enjoyed it, so.
06:56 Brian Fugate: Fantastic. So what part of supply chain do you think you may enjoy the most?
07:01 Natalie Frauenheim: That's a tough one, just because I honestly still, I'm really young, I don't know yet. But I...
07:06 Brian Fugate: Yeah, that's fair, that's fair, yeah.
07:08 Natalie Frauenheim: I got to shadow the supply chain team at Maxim Integrated this summer as well. And they were more on the logistics side, and so they dealt with customer escalations and SQL databases and Tableau and all that. And pulling that information into charts to share with the customers that we're providing products for. And so honestly, I see that as very interesting, and I'm also getting a minor in Business Analytics, and so I'm hoping that that can catapult me into something more technology-focused, as long as I can get there 'cause Excel is definitely, it's a feat, but we're getting there, so.
07:41 Brian Fugate: And then you'll be able to connect it to the finances because I know you're also a double major in finance.
07:46 Natalie Frauenheim: Yes.
07:46 Brian Fugate: And I appreciate you taking the time here...
07:48 Natalie Frauenheim: Yeah, absolutely.
07:49 Brian Fugate: At the Greek Theater, the very first day of class. And so thank you for that. I know you're busy and...
07:54 Natalie Frauenheim: Thank you.
07:55 Brian Fugate: You gotta get back to class.
07:57 Natalie Frauenheim: Yes, I am. Thank you. I'll see you later.
