Experience feedback: Michel Teixeira, graduate of the MAI programme in continuing education at KEDGE

A graduate of the MAI program in Continuing Education, Michel Teixeira looks back on his career path, his training at KEDGE and what it has enabled him to achieve in his career. An inspiring journey resulting from a successful step back thanks to his training.

I joined MAI in Continuing Education while I was working as Purchasing Manager France in the Chryso company.

Chryso, which joined the Saint-Gobain group in September 2021, is one of the major players in the Construction Chemicals, on the concrete and cement admixture market.

The main mission of the job was very classical but nevertheless very challenging these last years: managing the Production Purchases (MP, Packaging mainly) for the plants based in France (x5). I was lucky enough to be able to rely on a close-knit and agile Purchasing team, which enabled us to get through the various crises.

The will to always learn!

And we can always learn, even at 43 years old, the age I was when I started the training. 

I didn't have the chance to study hard when I was younger, so I learned on the job, working my way up from production operator to scheduling technician to production manager to the manager of a small industrial site.
This last position, which was very multifunctional, allowed me to see the world of Purchasing at first hand. I then had the opportunity to move to a position 100% Purchasing (Buyer within Chryso France) then Purchasing Manager France.

I wanted to consolidate my experience in the field with a recognized Purchasing training. To consolidate but also to check if what was learned in school corresponded to the reality in the field. I also wanted to learn about new purchasing tools and methods that could help me on a daily basis.
Finally, I must admit that it was also a meeting with myself .... Am I able to go and get a  Master II when I am still working, 25 years after leaving school ?

Confidence in myself. The daily life of Purchasing, especially during the period 2020-2022, has been very anxiety-provoking (Will I find materials? How can I stop these infernal price increases? Is my supplier going to get through this crisis? When will I be able to work on innovation or decarbonization instead of always trying to lower prices or be delivered?)

Well, the fact of crossing our experiences, with all the other members of the MAI, including the professors and speakers, we realize that we have almost all the same problems and that, in the end, we are not doing so bad. Even better, we exchange on our practices, on  the solutions we have put in place to overcome the various problems.

This is one of the great strengths of the MAI in Continuing Education at Kedge: the network. It is a real breeding ground for Purchasing culture which can help us to quickly gain experience and skills .
My objective in doing the MAI in Continuing Education was not to evolve professionally as I explained earlier, but I was forced to note that this training course reinforced my profile in the eyes of recruiters. I had the opportunity to realize this during recent meetings  in the context of a reorganization of the Purchasing function within the Group for which I work. 

In the post-Covid 2020-2021 context, we were lucky enough to do almost the entire course in person. This is essential! Once again, the network, the discussions at the coffee machine are sometimes as instructive as the courses.

Beyond the courses, therichness of the exchanges between students, the demanding group work, the evenings after the courses .... are precious moments that I already miss. More than a course, this year was a life experience that embraces you but also, in my case, our close friends and family.

Not everything has been easy. Some periods of the year were very busy with work and some teachers knew how to make us go out of our comfort zone, and with good reason, and yes, if I had to do it again, I would do it without hesitation.

Yes, living with the times is key!

Today's Purchasing is no longer the Purchasing of the 80s. Expectations, missions and challenges are changing (Compliance, Sustainability, Markets, Methods ....).
I don't think there is a typical profile expected to join Kedge's continuing education program.

It's all about the desire to learn, curiosity and humanity. Learn and exchange! You're bound to grow from it.