Production Control (Supply Chain) Industrial Placement Scheme 2025 - Deeside Engine Plant

The Engine Plant based in Deeside, North Wales is a high-tech manufacturing facility supplying premium quality hybrid engines to Toyota vehicle plants around the world with ambitions for the future. We are a compact organisation in which office members work alongside their manufacturing colleagues.

Everything starts and stops with Production Control and our Supply Chain. Join us here as we control, plan and continually kaizen our engine and parts flow and you'll be at the centre of our manufacturing operation bringing the world-famous Toyota Production System* (TPS) to life.

TPS is a lean manufacturing system designed to eliminate waste, reduce costs and keep lead times down - where Toyota has led the way, other manufacturers have followed.

You will have the opportunity to learn about concepts like just-in-time (JIT) first-hand from the company that pioneered them whilst empowering you to incorporate your innovative ideas and solutions in an ever-changing digital environment.

Your Time Here:

The Toyota Industrial Placement programme will stretch your problem-solving skills and introduce you to people at all levels, all over the business. It is designed to help you develop your professional and personal capabilities prior to your final year at university and give an opportunity to gain experience as an industry professional. It's a challenging scheme, but you’ll receive plenty of support from your mentor, managers, and colleagues.

Production Control is a varied department and there are many areas and projects which you could be involved in, including project management, logistics, supply chain management, parts-flow management and many more.

Working in Production Control you are key to our supply chain management, either operationally or in confirming supply chain readiness for project changepoints so you could be involved in a number of projects whereby you'll be working with external suppliers, head office functions, liaising with our members on the shop floor and overall ensuring that the plant functioning is in line with our key Toyota philosophies. It's a pivotal role within our manufacturing plant which requires students to show initiative, resilience and confidence.

Previous IP projects include:

• Inventory & Supplier management – daily operational management of our inbound supply chain
• Logistics Cost improvement – facilitation of project to redesign parts flow and packaging to improve logistics efficiency
• Supplier safety improvement – facilitation of training of our whole supply base to eliminate supplier caused safety concerns

Each specific role is diverse. You could be directing thousands of parts from hundreds of suppliers through the plant every day. Or, you might find yourself keeping production lines running smoothly by planning volumes, spotting issues and taking swift action to put things right. It will be challenging and fast-paced, but also invaluable in the skills it can give you. You’ll learn supplier and project management skills as well as developing as a communicator and a problem-solver.

What we look for:

Alongside having a consistently strong academic record, with a minimum 2:1 predicted degree result, we are looking for people who actively want to learn from others and are motivated to take on new challenges with a positive mindset. We believe that there's always a better way, therefore if you share our values and thrive on analysing problems from different angles to develop solutions, you could go a long way with us. Similarly, taking a practical approach to your work is important – you will need to be as comfortable on the shop floor as you are in the office.

Applications from all degree disciplines are welcome to ensure we create a diverse workforce.