A Day in the Life — Production Manager

At the beginning of the day, I first take a look at the production schedule. The schedule tells us what flavors to produce today. After consulting the production schedule, I check my email to make sure there are no urgent requests for expedited productions. I will then order raw materials and take in new invoices for the day. People will email and call me for requests throughout the day for upcoming productions and I will file invoices and order forms for their raw materials.

I really enjoy the fact that my job is not the same every day. We are always producing different flavors throughout the week, and there is always something new and challenging that makes the work interesting. How is this job different than previous jobs? Before working for Flavorman, I went to film school and acquired a degree in film studies. I worked in a different form of production for about twelve years. I did both grip work and second Assistant Director work in my previous production job. Grip work deals with setting up lighting equipment for the set. When I first started grip work, I flew in lighting for different sets and made sure they were set up in the proper section. I climbed up the ladder as the second Assistant Director and first Assistant Director and eventually went on to do editing.

Often times, our production schedule does not match when flavors and ingredients come in. Some beverages can end up having up to 30 raw materials and making sure all of them come in on time can be a major challenge we experience.

When I first started here at Flavorman, I was surprised to find how important client interaction is. As long as you communicate with clients effectively and efficiently, even large issues can be worked through if they are discussed enough ahead of time. This was my biggest challenge to overcome at the beginning – making sure there is enough upfront knowledge with the client about the production of their product.

This actually happened recently, but one of the products that we make flavors for was on the shelves at the grocery store. That moment was really rewarding for me; this was a product that I helped create and put on shelves, and that was a gratifying moment. We not only help them with the inception but also getting them to the point of putting their product on the shelf. It is a great feeling when you get to say, ‘wow, I helped make that.’

Hands down – Go Fast Energy Drink.