Your question is very good. If I remember correctly, you were the first person to ask me about supply chain and patent agency. There is indeed a lot to share with you in these two aspects.
Before answering these two questions, let me talk about my views on your previous job description.
I think when you just graduated, your choice was too hasty and your decision was not mature enough. Of course, I don't think the choice is appropriate, but it is reasonable. Because most graduates will have the same thoughts and confusion as you. From your description, you didn't waste that time, at least you learned a lot of basic knowledge, which is good. You know, many buyers and sellers don't really understand the true meaning and practical application of FOB.
Here I want to correct an idea. In fact, the real top 500 companies will not directly recruit so-called management trainees. This position emerged because many foreign investors copied foreign processes and common practices when they entered China, hoping to copy them in China. But the problems encountered, because of different national conditions, can not be pushed down at all. Therefore, we have to send foreigners to visit the town in person. There are many reasons why China people can't become managers directly, including quality problems and concept problems. More often, it is because we only have working people, but not a qualified leader. In the eyes of foreigners, it doesn't mean that a person who has been skilled for many years must have the ability to be a boss.
In the same way, as a newly graduated employee, it is unrealistic for you to take a management position directly. Although many occupations are called management trainees, they are actually just a way for companies to reserve talents. In the end, they rarely become managers, and most of them eventually become ordinary employees.
So please don't be depressed by such things.
And the listener you mentioned is very important. In a mature team, there should be not only leaders, but also listeners, executors, recorders, improvers and. ...
In fact, a complete team needs many different roles. This doesn't mean that you have to be an excellent leader. You are also an indispensable role in a team. I suggest you read some books about team building, which will be of great help not only to your work but also to your life.
Now let's share some questions about the supply chain:
I want to say that you missed a good opportunity. You have completely misunderstood the definition of supply chain management. Real supply chain management doesn't need much entertainment. You know, in China, it's still a buyer's market, and purchasing is much easier than selling, so it's not you who need to be entertained, it's your supplier. Different roles and positions determine that you also occupy different functions in the whole process, so in fact, your worry is unnecessary.
The so-called supply chain management is to meet all the supply activities of the company's product production, including production supply management and supplier management.
For the management of production and supply, we should manage from the initial raw materials, purchase channels, quality and inspection to the later warehousing and logistics. These links are the responsibility of the corresponding departments, and supply chain management is to ensure the smooth and effective connection of these links and ensure that products can be produced and delivered on schedule.
For supplier management, it is relatively simple, which is something that needs to be done in the traditional sense, including supplier audit, delivery control, a series of tracking activities related to supplier quality, and of course some special agreements and contracts with suppliers.
I thought you were a boy, but later I knew you were a girl, so I'll give you some advice on supply chain management:
1. Supply chain management is very complicated, but girls can also be competent. There will definitely be things like entertainment that you are worried about, but it will never be an obstacle to your work, because the quantity should be small and there will never be so many sales.
2. Supply chain management needs strong communication skills, which may be what you lack at present. Because in the supply chain, whenever something goes wrong, you need to play this role. As you can imagine, there are people involved in every department, and they can't solve it, so they need supply chain management. Then you really want a bowl of plain and harmonious water. This is where you need to study hard.
3. The development prospect of supply chain management is very good. Not only what you said, but also how to optimize resources. At the same time, supply chain management needs to communicate and contact with all aspects of supply and marketing. Then it will have a great effect on your exercise, and you can understand all aspects of the company's operation, and these are common skills. Even if you change jobs in the future, it will be very popular.
4. Supply chain management has been paid more and more attention in China. Because almost 90% of the project problems are in the supply chain, if you use the minimum configuration to describe a company, you only need a product engineer, a supply chain purchaser and a salesperson to sing a play. Almost all companies are gradually aware of this. Therefore, traditional procurement is gradually developing to the whole supply chain management. If you have a chance to get ahead, it will definitely help you a lot.
Let's briefly share some questions about patent agency:
In fact, from your description, although supply chain management is very attractive, patent agency is more suitable for you. Because in supply chain management, you have to overcome your immature personality, but the patent agency plays your role as a listener well.
I have my own patent, but my patent is also an agent. As we all know, there is a publicity period of 18 months from the formal application to the entry into force of a patent. In the meantime, there are many documents to fill in and many functions to elaborate. At the same time, the scope of patent application should be covered as much as possible to obtain the greatest protection benefits.
It is not easy for designers to turn a good idea into a new design. But I believe that few designers are skilled in filling out patent documents themselves. At this time, a good patent agent is needed.
Patent agents must first understand this industry, so if you have a mechanical background, it is very, very advantageous. You should give full play to your listening skills, because you don't understand each other's design intentions. You must find the core content of the technology through the limited words of the other party, which are generally recorded in the technical disclosure book and in the process of communicating with the other party. Only by fully understanding the technical core of this patent can you effectively organize the language and protect the design as much as possible.
I can give you an example. Of course, this example is inappropriate because it violates the basic principles of patent application, but it can be used as a reference:
If you design a table, four legs and a desktop. If you are the first person to design a table, then you can apply for a patent. You write down the appearance and function of the table in the technical disclosure book and then give it to the agent. What does the agent want? To protect your design.
How to protect, the simplest one, the agent will not say that your product is called a four-legged table, but should say:
"The designer's products cover products that support a plane with four legs and realize the function of a table."
Then once it is successful, others will not be able to design a four-legged table in the future.
A more successful agent would write:
"The designer's products cover products that support a plane with a bracket and realize the function of a table."
Then once it is successful (of course, the patent office will not pass this description), the table designed by others will have no legs in the future.
It can be seen that a good agent, after fully understanding the design, can bring huge benefits to the patent inventor, while a poor agent, the patent is written and not written. Almost all large companies have a person or team responsible for patent evasion. A good agent will not easily let others evade patents.
And I personally think this job is a clerical job, which is very suitable for girls. Besides, it won't be boring. You can often see all kinds of strange things, which should be very interesting, and the work intensity is not great, so you won't be very tired. You can have a try.
Supply chain management and patent agency are two professions. If you want to compare income, supply chain management may be slightly higher, but for girls, especially you, patent agency is definitely more affordable.
Finally, add some previous ones:
Your concept of supply chain management stays in traditional procurement, but these things need more SQC (supplier quality control) to solve. In this process, some 6 sigma content will be applied. Six Sigma is extensive and profound. If it has anything to do with supply chain management, it certainly has a lot to do with it. However, in the actual work process, the content directly applied to the supply chain can be ignored, mainly in the management concept, at least for most companies, so you can not care too much about this connection.
This comes first.