Campbell’s Internship Summer 2018
CAMPBELL SOUP COMPANY INTERNSHIP SUMMER 2018
I was very lucky to have the chance to intern at Campbell’s in summer ’18. This was my first exposure to a corporate setting, and I can’t say enough good things about the experience I had at Campbell’s.
I. WORK HARD
During the three months of summer, I was put on 5 projects, which gave me a wide range of skills and experience:
1. Commercialization Digitalization Project
This project’s focus is on using digital interventions (Robotic Process Automation, Business Process Orchestration, Enhanced User Experience, Data Driven Actionable Insights) to create ONE commercialization portal that harmonizes the process – do away with Excel, OneNote, SharePoint, Clarity (PPM platform). Process optimization will reduce time-to-market by 30% and generate millions of additional revenue in return.
My role in this project was documentation, communication with many different stakeholders and meeting attendance. This project was an amazing opportunity to be exposed to the leadership of the company: one highlight was one critical meeting with IT directors, CTO and VP of Global Supply Chain of Campbells!
2. LIMS Implementation (LIMS = Lab Information Management System)
This project’s goal is to replace a decade old, out-of-support LIMS with a new one that is FDA approved, better user interface and better system performance – no more data loss due to frequent outages.
I was the lead PM of this project – I have learned so much about project management, ownership as well as business processes (work order, purchase order, etc.) from this project – and I will stay on part-time in my senior year to drive the project to completion.
3. NFP (Nutrition Fact Panel):
Due to the FDA regulation changes, all food companies are required to format the nutrition fact panel in the new format:
This was a particularly challenging project because it touched all brands of Campbells (there are 8 that needed the new NFP label) and literally thousands of products – moreover, the deadline was set by FDA so this was one of the priorities.
I was handed off this project in not-the-best condition: the project has been 8 months overdue and there seemed to be a lack of ownership. As a PM, I needed to be aggressively active in driving accountability and visibility. After three months of my internship, the project was almost completed with only one block left in development (out of 5 outstanding blocks when I was given the project).
4. OutPerform App
This project is different from the other four because I was given web developer responsibilities in this one. My co-worker and I were in charge of creating a leadership education app using WordPress and SurveyPro for the HR team of Campbells Arnotts – which is based in Australia.
This project gave me exposure to a wide range of technologies – WordPress, survey platforms, etc. More importantly, I learned about the power of leveraging platforms which save tons of development time, and luckily, there is a platform out there for virtually everything we need.
5. WordPress Upgrade Project
The goal of this one was to upgrade Campbell’s websites – which are all in WordPress – from PHP 5.5 to PHP 7. I was given the PM responsibility in this project to manage our development partner and manage project timeline.
6. Professional Development:
I was encouraged by my manager to set up meetings with senior leaders in IT department. At first, I was hesitant – I am just an intern and these people are VPs, SVPs, and the CIO! However, I was very surprised by how friendly and helpful everyone was. Working at Campbell’s made me feel much more confident about networking with people in senior roles.
Moreover, there were so many things I didn’t know and whenever I had a question, although everyone was super busy, people really took the time to explain to me in detail. I really appreciate the friendly and supportive mentoring and guidance from everyone, especially my manager.
II. PLAY HARD
1. Golf
Although I never golfed before, I still signed up for Campbell’s Ladies’ Golf League (because I was told there were a lot of beginners like myself!). Every Wednesday, another intern and I drove to Riverwinds course to play and go to happy hour afterwards – it was one of the highlights of my summer!
2. Plant tour
We got the chance to visit the Pepperidge Farm plant in Denver, PA and it was amazing! This was the first time I’ve been inside of a plant and it was so educational to learn how cookies were produced!
Also, it smells so good in the plant – the whole place smelled like Milano cookies!
c. Volunteer
We spent a morning to help the local Vietnamese/Southeast Asian community in Camden beautify their community garden! It was sweaty and dirty but we all had a great time!