Interviewee Chris Mayes

1
A Day at Frito-Lay

• Interviewee Chris Mayes
• Interviewer Demetrius Jordan

2
Meet Chris Mayes

• Employment PepsiCo Frito-Lay(Perry, Ga)
• Occupation Operations Research Manager
• Frito-Lay North America (FLNA) is a division of
  PepsiCo, Inc. which manufactures, markets and
  sells a variety of corn chips, potato chips and
  other snack foods.
• FLNA is headquartered in Plano, Texas
• The company's current form is the result of a
  1965 merger of Frito-Lay, Inc. and the Pepsi-Cola
  Company, which resulted in the formation of
  PepsiCo, Inc. Products sold under the Frito-Lay
  name are now recorded by two PepsiCo divisions
  Frito-Lay North America (North American sales)
  and PepsiCo International (international sales).
• Originally, Frito Lay started in Mexico, after
  buying Sabritas.

3
Educational Information

• Degree in Industrial Management Engineering
• Graduated From Mercer University in 2008
• Plans to pursue a Masters degree

4
Internships/ Co-Ops at Mercer Univ.

• Milliken
• Where he created an electronic inventory database
  for their used parts supply room
• Helped reduce costs of ordering new parts
• Savings estimated to be 10,000

Demetrius A. Jordan interview of Chris Mayes
5
Work Environment

• Normal day routine at work
• Check notes from the previous day and resolve any
  outstanding issues. Make sure shifts are staffed
  properly before they begin
• Attend a turnover meeting in which the previous
  shift describes their major outages and whether
  or not they were resolved.
• Check the production schedule to ensure the right
  things are being made. Check payroll to make sure
  my team is getting paid correctly. Then I check
  my email to see if there any items from my boss
  that I need to focus or follow up on.
• Attend service meetings in which representatives
  from each department show up and we ensure that
  everyone is aligned with what we are producing,
  not producing, and shipping out.
• Then I start to wrap things up and prepare for my
  turnover meeting with the oncoming shift.
  Complete my end of shift report (which summarizes
  what and how much we produced and how efficiently
  we produced it) and call it day.

6
Skills Essential to the Job

• Communication
• Team Work
• Technical Competency (Understanding the equipment
  you work with)
• Forward Thinking (Be Proactive)
• Integrity

7
Work Recreation

• Works 50-60 hours per week
• About 6 hours of free time
• Usually has to work a weekend every other month
• How often do you interact with people outside of
  the engineering world?
• Everydayyou have to be able to communicate in
  detail to a project engineer as well as explain
  things to the common individual
• Writes reports everyday and occasionally makes
  presentations.

8
Expectations

• How would you compare your job experience so far
  to what you expected before you actually started
  to work is your job experience what you expected
  or is the experience completely different?
• Coming out of school I really didnt know what
  to expect. I remember going through the
  strenuous interview process and at the moment I
  realized everyone meant business and this was
  time for me to be serious. At that same instance,
  I also realized this job was going to be
  difficult and a lot of responsibility was going
  to be pushed my way if I were to be hired. To
  directly answer the question, I knew this job was
  going to be a challenge beforehand and it
  continues to remain challenge today, but its a
  challenge that I welcome and accept.

9
On The Job

• Mostly works in groups as the group leader 
• The work environment is the most stressful
  aspect of the job
• Learning to adapt to the constant pressure of
  performing well helps to ease some of the on the
  job stress. And watching the camaraderie among
  the team members and how they support each other
• Have you had any mentors who were influential in
  helping you grow in your profession?
• An older, more experienced manager was working
  the same shift I was when I first began with the
  company. He ended up serving as a mentor in my
  career with the company. He always offered
  advice when I needed and was always there to help
  when I asked for it. Having someone you can
  trust and depend on is an invaluable asset that I
  was very thankful for.

10
Career Choice/Career Path

•  
• Since graduation Engineering Management  has been
  his career path
• Parents influenced him to enroll in engineering
  school he chose to continue down the engineering
  path 
• What made you choose your specialty in the
  engineering field?
• Industrial engineering and management offered a
  balance of technical and people aspects which I
  felt was valuable for the longevity of my working
  career. I felt this would allow me to apply for
  a variety of jobs rather it be traditional
  engineering roles or non-engineering, more
  business like roles.  
• If given the opportunity, would you could go back
  in time and change your major or specialization?
  Why or why not?
• No I wouldnt change anything. I am satisfied
  with my engineering degree.
•  
• Where do you see yourself 5 to 10 years from now?
• Managing the Frito Lay Atlanta Zone Operations
  and pursuing a family life/marriage

11
Advancement and Travel

• Advancement
• Advancement and promotion is widely available.
  Frito Lay is owned by Pepsi. Pepsi owns PepsiCo
  Bottling, Pepsi International, Gatorade, Quaker,
  Tropicana, etc After 18 months of your first job
  assignment you are then eligible for transfers to
  different locations across the U.S. and abroad.
• Traveling
• Traveling is a very minor requirement, but I
  often travel to Atlanta to discuss community
  involvement initiatives with Frito Lay managers
  from throughout the South. Every quarter we have
  an offsite meeting that typically requires
  traveling. Depending on what department you work
  in you may be asked to travel to different Frito
  Lay plants for training or learning best business
  practices to bring back to the site

12
The Mercer Experience

• IDM classes helpful especially (case studies),
  Business Law, Economics, Marketing, TCO,
  Strategic Management
• My Mercer education and experiences have
  prepared me quite well

13
Questions??????