Associate Profile
Name: Jugal Desai
Background: University of Warwick (MSc Engineering Business Management)
Brief description of project
To develop and implement an innovative product design process, fully integrated into the supply chain, to deliver competitive, modular products for new and established markets.
Highlights from the project
Personal highlights:
This project was an eye opening opportunity for me. Working on this project has helped me to realise my hidden potentials. My key personal highlights from the KTP include;
1) Presenting a paper at the KTP Associate’s Conference 2013.
2) Achieving certified status of Managing Successful Programmes ® Practitioner.
3) Delivering a motivational marketing presentation for UoB members of staff.
4) Presenting as a key note speaker at the KTP Associate’s Conference 2014.
5) Becoming a finalist for “Business Leader of Tomorrow” Awards.
6) Identifying my hidden managerial and leader potential along with business acumen that led me to an Operations Manager role post KTP.
Project highlights:
The project has fundamentally changed the way that Dando’s operations are performed. The most effective aspect has been the integration of the information between various departments and key supply chain links. Any queries are now being flagged in real time, enabling Dando to be more flexible, proactive, economic and responsive.
The project has also provided strategic benefits for the University. It has been able to document and understand the impact of this work in a real manufacturing environment and has been able to apply this to relevant teaching materials. The project also generated a significant number of student placements, and two of these students were recruited by Dando after graduation.
This project has helped me to build an engineering managerial career as I have since been employed by the company as Operations Manager.
The best thing about being a KTP Associate
There are infinite benefits to this role but of all, I believe following to be the best thing about being a KTP Associate;
“You own your success”. There is no better thing feeling you have been successful. I was a strategic partner in this Partnership and my career dream is to achieve a key corporate leadership position within a global organisation. This is a long term dream that could take more than 10 years of learning and experience, however KTP has been a driving force to help me achieve this dream sooner by giving me the opportunity to lead a corporate strategic project.
Challenges overcome during partnership
Mine was a two year long project with high level strategic aims and significant outputs, so maintaining enthusiasm throughout the project was a key challenge. Some say, “Success consists of going from failure to failure but without the loss of enthusiasm”. The success of the KTP project depends on the enthusiasm, patience and motivation of the Associate. I treated KTP Project as a business in itself and KTP Associate (myself) as its Business Director. Hence, all the challenges were to be faced with passion to make this business successful – enthusiasm is the catalyst that will make a KTP Project shine to the stars.
What I am doing now
I am currently employed as Operations Manager at Dando Drilling International. I oversee Supply Chain, Planning, Product Development and Production functions. My work includes managing day-to-day activities as well as coming up with new processes and strategies, so potential applicants must be able to see both the big picture and the minute details. Daily tasks may include: reading, writing, and analysing reports and statistics; presenting to stakeholders and members of upper management; establishing and tracking budgets; researching new technologies or methods of efficiency; and managing employees, manage inventory, facility layouts, product distribution, and many more tasks.
Working as a KTP Associate, I gathered a good strategic insight of the company’s operations, the challenges it faced and its vision. This provided a strong foundation that led me to Operations Manager role.
I would recommend a KTP because…
In today’s world, the fact is that being different is the first step to success. I have found KTP to be the only programme that is truly different compared to others and which adds great value to your career dreams. I believe that “Leading a successful team and leading a successful dream are two different things”; KTP is the only programme that will fuel both.