#Life@Bounty: Loyalty Award

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I embarked on my journey with Bounty immediately after graduating 20 years ago. Joining as a Junior Laboratory Analyst, I applied the theories and ideas acquired during my college days, transitioning from simple chemical and reagent preparation to the intricate analysis of feed and feed ingredients. As I continued my tenure, my knowledge and skills continued to evolve.

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, the company underwent a temporary shutdown. After three years of dedicated service, I made the decision to tender my resignation. In hindsight, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise, providing me with the opportunity to focus on self-review for the Chemist Licensure Exam. Balancing work and exam preparation had proven challenging, and the hiatus allowed me to dedicate more time to my studies. After three attempts, I successfully passed the board exam. Subsequently, I applied for a laboratory chemist position within the same company and was promptly rehired.

Returning to my corporate journey, I transitioned from the laboratory to operations, assuming the role of a Quality Assurance professional responsible for ensuring the quality of raw materials and finished products. My scope expanded from a single location to overseeing operations across Luzon, encompassing not only Quality Assurance but also managing other systems such as quality management and hygiene and food safety. Despite numerous challenges, I effectively managed and overcame them, with invaluable support from Mommy Maye.

On February 18, 2023, Mommy Maye and I were honored as loyalty awardees in the 15-year category. The award ceremony took place at the Metrotent Convention Center in Pasig City, with a theme of "Shine Bright Like a Diamond," requiring attendees, especially awardees, to don formal wear.

In addition to the loyalty awards, there were group presentations from various divisions. Fortunately, our division secured the 3rd place, marking our inaugural participation in the competition.

As I look ahead, the prospect of a 20-year Loyalty Award looms uncertain. The future holds unknown challenges and opportunities, and only time will reveal the course of my continued #Life@Bounty.

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How To Reduce Noise In Your Office Strategically

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An office is a place where noise is expected due to daily activities and interactions. However, loud voices and movements can distract employees who need to concentrate on completing a task. Insulation is a widespread practice intended to muffle noise, but the process can be tricky. If you manage multiple employees in a busy workspace, you most likely know how hectic the atmosphere can be.

Effective Soundproofing in the Workplace

When excessive chatter and constant maneuvering become bothersome, a reliable method should be implemented to resolve the issues. Productivity in a professional environment is one thing, but finding a strategy to minimize the noise is another. For example, glass walls for office interiors Kitchener ON are perfect for open areas such as cubicles or meeting rooms.

Why You Should Consider Wall Partitions

One advantage of a partition is that it can divide areas into multiple rooms. Not only do they restrict noise, but they’re also stylish and trendy. Among materials such as brick and ceramic, glass is the most popular choice in business establishments.

Durable and Contemporary

Despite the misconception that partitions are easily breakable, they can sustain minor damage due to their strength. Whether tempered or laminated, the chance of shattering or spidering is low. If you’re a fan of modern interior designs, then a contemporary style is an excellent choice as a partition.

Transparent Activity

Observation is crucial in an office setting. While some individuals may consider a see-through partition intrusive, remaining aware of the interaction can be beneficial. Furthermore, it allows professionals to gain a sense of awareness regarding their surroundings.

Economically Affordable

A partition can be cost-effective depending on its material. For example, fiberglass is ecological and also sustainable, which is beneficial to the environment. Not only is it worth using, but it also provides more for a lower price compared to other materials.

Overall, you can calm the noise in your office using an innovative technique that can decrease noise significantly. A moderated sound level can make a professional atmosphere more tolerable and comfortable.

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Bounty Fresh Group Held Its First Annual Technical Summit

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Last week, Bounty Fresh Group held the first annual technical summit on July 5-8, 2021. This is a four-half-day activity filled with information from various operations or division of Bounty Fresh Group. It is done via Zoom.

Some divisions discussed how their pest control takes place in their operations while others discussed few things-to-know like how the Bounty Fresh Eggs arrived from the farms to your table.

In our division, I was assigned to discuss or present about the sanitation and biosecurity protocols implemented in the feed milling operation.

At first, I don't know what will be the content of my presentation. After few days of thinking, I decided to present the difference between cleaning and sanitation where these two words commonly known to be similar.

The high risk areas where the growth of bacteria was indetified and how it should be cleaned and sanitized.

I also share few information on how bacteria grows accompanied with moving photos of bacteria under a Digital Microscope with camera attachment.

Furthermore, the different biosecurity protocols in the feed mill is also shown from the the entrance where hndwashing and foot dip is a must, spraying of trucks upon entering the compound, and personnel hygiene.

Though all of the presentations are limited to 45 mintues and another 15 minutes for question and answers, I am sure that all of the participants and viewers learned a lot.

The summit went well although there are some technical glitches during the first day.

Doing the presentation took me about 2 weeks to finish from creating draft to placing it into powerpoint with complete animations and other effects to attract the atterntion of the audience.

Thank you Mommy for this simple documentation.

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We are looking forward for the next year's technical summit.

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How to Explain an Employment Gap on Your Resume

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Having a gap in employment on your resume can be intimidating when it comes time to apply for new jobs. Hiring managers generally look for candidates who show they’re dedicated and consistent, and these gaps in your work history might leave your resume overlooked. The reality is that many of us take time off work for reasons that sometimes are out of our control or that are intended to better ourselves. Maybe you took a few years off to raise your child, or you decided to go back to school to actually improve yourself to be able to earn more with your next job.

Having a gap in your work history doesn’t have to mean you give up on the application process altogether. Learning how to explain this lapse in employment is the best way to ensure you don’t get passed up on a great opportunity. Taking time off doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It gives you a new perspective, and research even suggests you’ll come back more motivated to work than before. Let’s talk about the best ways to handle different situations, and the best way to navigate this tricky area during the application process.

Image via Pexels

When You Don't Need to Mention It

First, we need to talk about some situations where you don't need to bother explaining an employment gap on your resume. There is no formal requirement to include your entire history on your resume, and if your gap in employment was decades ago, feel empowered to leave it out completely. 

If you’ve been employed since your lapse in employment, you don’t need to formally call attention to it. While you should never lie on a resume, you don’t need to discuss any gaps in employment that happened years ago or after having worked elsewhere since this time.

Formatting Your Resume

If your employment gap is recent, you should include it on your resume to avoid getting called out during the verification process. You might also need to be specific on any job applications that ask about your work history. There are some resume formatting tricks that can make these gaps less noticeable to hiring managers, especially if they’re short gaps. 

First, don’t list the months you were employed if you were at a company for several years. Instead, just list the years. For example, instead of listing “Receptionist, May 2013 - August 2015” simply put “Receptionist, 2013 - 2015.” You can also use a resume format that doesn’t draw excessive attention to the dates of employment. Avoid bolding the dates or listing them on their own.

Image via Pexels

Another option is to skip some experience from your resume. As said before, you don’t need to list every single job you’ve had before applying for this position. After being in the workforce for many years, it’s acceptable to only put the most recent and applicable experience on your resume. Your college job waiting tables doesn’t mean much to hiring managers after years of working in an office!

Finally, consider including other experiences during the gap in your history. If you spent time freelancing, volunteering, or consulting professional, these are perfectly acceptable things to include on your resume to show you were active during this time you weren’t formally employed.

Addressing the Gap

No matter how you arrange your resume, sometimes it’s better to explain these personally to hiring managers. This is especially true if you weren’t active in your field or taking a class during your time of unemployment. Being forthright, honest, and clear with future employers is always a good idea. 

The first line of defense is to use your cover letter. You don't’ need to bring the situation to the employer’s attention if you don’t feel comfortable doing so, but a line about how you left to care for a family member, and you’re excited to jump into the field again can go along way. Be brief, and don’t let it overshadow your other experience. 

Image via Pexels

Finally, you might be addressed about the gap during your job interview. It’s best to practice your response in advance so you aren’t caught off guard. Be honest, but don’t feel pressured to go into detail. Sometimes life happens, and as long as you’re clear about wanting to do your best work, you shouldn’t burn any bridges. Always try to focus on the positives.

Returning to Work

It’s not impossible to return to your field after a break in your career. As long as you keep the focus on the positive things you accomplished during your gap in employment, you’ll be able to work the application in your favor. It’s always a smart idea to emphasize your commitment to this position, and how motivated you are to continue your career growth. If you’re the right fit for the job, your enthusiasm will speak for itself.

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Lead Auditor Course (Quality Management System)

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Last November 2018, I finally pursue my plan to take the Lead Auditor Course. This is a 5-day course which will determine if you can be certified auditor for Quality Management System or the ISO 9001. Sounds too technical?

A quality management system (QMS) is a collection of business processes focused on consistently meeting customer requirements and enhancing their satisfaction. It is aligned with an organization's purpose and strategic direction (ISO9001:2015) (Wikipedia)

Having the QMS certification for a company gives the impression that they have a system followed to meet the requirements of the customer as well as its satisfaction.

To continue, the course is composed of 4 days classroom lecture and 1 day or should I say 2 hours exam. The exam will determine if you can be an auditor or not.

First day, palang struggle na. Instead of having the car, I took the bus and MRT. See how I survive the MRT for 5 days.

I was 15 minutes late and I was already assigned to a group. The classroom session has a lecture, seat works, role playing, and individual works. We were graded or assessed for all of these as part of the evaluation. The lecture went well until the 4th day.

We were given the idea of how we should perform in the exam in order to pass and get the certification. After knowing the conditions, hindi na maipinta ang mga mukha namin. All of us were nervous and thinking of different strategies to pass the exam.

On the fifth day, we took the 2-hour exam. After the exam, most of us were discussing our answers and all of us have different opinions and point of views. We were advised not to talk about it and enjoy the rest of the day.

Although, the 5-day course were stressful, physically and mentally, the foods were great especially the desserts.

After two months, I got an email that I passed the exam and now a certified auditor. The release of results took that long since all of our progress during the course were sent to SOCOTEC Certification-Japan for further evaluation. The certificates came from Japan too.

What’s next? I am planning to apply as a part-time auditor with the same company that gave the course.

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Safety Gears in Manufacturing Industry

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I have been working in a manufacturing industry, feed milling to be exact, for almost 13 years. From the laboratory to, now, in the production.

Since I started, wearing protective gears are not a big issue, until last year, when the Department of Labor and Employment became strict with their requirements. Safety of the employees working in different industries are now being monitored and should align with the standards.

Photo Source: Worker Team

According to http://www.losangelespersonalinjuryattorney.net/personal-injury-law/workplace-injuries-numbers/, manufacturing industry is one of the common workplaces where injuries occur. Because of this, employees should also wear the necessary safety gear to prevent any untoward incidents that may risk someone.

Here are the common protective gear required by Occupational Safety and Health Administration by Department of Labor and Employment:

Eye and Face Protection

Eye protection should be worn in the process where flying objects, liquids, radiation, glare and/or combination of these hazards. These protective gear must adequate to the workplace hazards comfortable to use, fit snugly, durable, easy to clean and disinfect, and must be kept in good condition.

For a person wearing glasses, goggles are more appropriate to use.

Respiratory Protection

Respiratory protection is needed to protect any hazards from dust, fogs, fumes, mists, smoke and other gases including vapors and sprays.

Head Protection

The hard hat is the most common head protection used in manufacturing industry. This is to protect workers from penetration of falling and flying debris, electric shock, and burns. Hard hats must be made of non-combustible or slow-burning materials and for the electrical environment, it must be non-conductor. For excessive moisture, a water-proof material is recommended.

Hair Protection

This protective gear must be worn if the worker has long hair. It should be well-fit and made of non-flammable materials.

Hand and Arm Protection

Hand and arm protection must cover the forearm, if possible, and must close fit at the upper end. The fingers of the wearer must be moving freely.

Hand and arm protection must be suitable to the type of work. For example, if a person is working with hot metals, a heat-proof glove is needed. If working with a sharp or abrasive materials, the gloves or mittens must be made of tough materials with reinforcements if necessary. Rubber-made materials are required when handling corrosive, like acids and bases.

Hand and arm protection is not recommended for operators of drillers, punch presses, and the like machinery because this might be caught by moving parts and may cause injuries.

Belts, Life Lines, and Safety Nets

These safety gears are required for workers working in unguarded surface above pits, steep slopes and moving machinery or more meters above the ground. If safety belts and life lines are not feasible, safety nets can be used as an alternative.

Materials for belts must be made of chrome tanned leather, linen or cotton webbing or other  suitable materials with at least 4.5 inches width and 0.25 inches thickness. The strength should be enough to support 114 kgs without breaking. Buckles should securely hold without slippage or another failure.

Life lines, on the other hand, should be of good quality rope with at least 0.75 inches diameter and can support a weight of 1140 kgs without breaking.

For safety nets, 3/8 inches should be the least diameter mesh. This should be equipped with padded timber sockets or equivalent means of attachment. Anchorage and support must be sturdy to catch falling worker.

Ear Protection

In a working area where noise level is above the normal condition, an earplug or earmuff is needed to reduce the sound level to a permissible level.

Safety Shoes

Safety shoes must protect our feet from heavy objects like tools and barrels that might roll onto the foot. It must also protect from sharp objects like nails and spikes. Working in a metal industry must require safety shoes that can withstand any molten metals. It should be also slip-proof and can protect from electrical hazards.

Wearing these personal protective equipment maybe uncomfortable but it is better to put SAFETY FIRST than risking your life.

Do you wear protective gears at work?

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Wordless Wednesday: Leaving Office On Time

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I think I have to agree with this.

Photo not mine

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New Office

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There are only two of us in our department, my inspector and I. We were used to have our office in the Central Laboratory located in the same vicinity but it seems to be congested already (peace Mommy, LOL).

When I saw a vacant room that can be used as our new office, I requested the management if we can utilize it instead of just making it storage room for some unused stuffs. I was lucky since they granted my request and after few months of some repair, we finally moved to our new place.

The Door

Sample retention rack
(We are at the Quality Assurance,
we need to retain feeds and raw material samples)

The White Board
(we palced announcements, memos and some food for thought)

Our Tables

Production Site
(from our office, we can see the finished product packaging section
which is an advantage for us)

We are currently starting the 5S implementation in our workplace so I need to make my drawers organized too.

We really need to make our new office neat and organized since they are looking at us as an example because of the nature of our work - quality assurance.

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Feeds

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I've been working in thins manufacturing industry since 2003. I just want to share some inputs about  it. 

At first, I thought that feeds are the same as “darak” only to find out that “darak” or rice bran is just one of the “filler” ingredient in feeds, meaning this is not the major component of feeds. Sometimes, feeds are produced even without it. There are major group of feed ingredients according to their function. These are vegetable protein source, animal protein source, energy sources and fillers. Not to forget the vitamins, minerals and some medications. The percentage of inclusion was formulated by the animal nutritionists.

The feeds are produced by dosing, grinding into set particle size and mixing using the specified time. After mixing, it will undergo further process depending on the form of feeds that needed; mash, pellet or crumble. Mashed feeds do not undergo further process after mixing. Pellet-formed feeds continue to the process of pelleting where the mashed feeds pass conditioner (cooking thru addition of steam) before passing to pelletizer to produce the pelleted feeds. It will then undergo cooling process to lower the temperature from 70ºC or more to ambient temperature before bagging. Crumble-form feeds, on the other hand, will need to pass the crumbler to crack the pelleted feeds before bagging.

Mash-Formed Feeds

Crumble-Formed Feeds 

Pellet-Formed Feeds

Before the feeds are being released to the customers, it will undergo series of physical tests as part of our quality checking.

Here is a short video made by one of our colleagues in our Tarlac plant. This is shown during the awarding ceremony of our ISO Certification.

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How to be a Better Boss

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I am doing an outline for our upcoming Basic Supervisory Training presentation. 

Being a supervisor or boss in our company is good achievement that we can have in our working career. However, referring as good boss is much better, whether you are man or woman.

Communication is vital

You must be a good speaker but equally a good listener too. You should also speak to them your expectations, their duties and responsibilities. Employees will not succeed if they don’t know what to do. You must be completely aware of what you communicate with them either in written or verbal form. However, non-verbal language must be considered too. They can sense things from your body language. Furthermore, you must be also attentive on what your employees saying and not saying.

Motivate and Encourage

One way to create a good working environment is thru motivation and encouragement of employees. Try to look for their strengths and weaknesses. Highlight and utilize their strength while identify their weaknesses and correct them thru proper training. Show them that you believe in their skills and talents. Give them space to prove that they are worth it for your company.

Don't be a bully

Work well done does not equate with their fear on you but from their willingness to do well. Importantly, it does not mean that they respect you at all. Being intimidated reduces productivity and moral of your employees.

Be friendly and approachable

Regard them as your partners rather than subordinates but still, consider the thin line between you and your employees knowing that you are still their boss. Try to collaborate with them. Engaging into a small talk is a good practice. Good discussion can view you as believable, likable and trustworthy. Be open with everyone. Let them know that you can be approached anytime whenever problem arises.

Be unbiased

Don’t let them see that you are favouring someone. Favouritism makes the most damage to an organization. Be fair. Treat all your subordinates equally.

Practise what you preach

Do whatever you want your employee do. If you want them on time, be on time too. If you want them to be excited and exert efforts on their work, do the same.

Keep it fun

Let your people feel a fun at their work. You should have some recreational activities to lighten up the workloads. Organizing a party, team-building activities and sports fest can be a good example. 

Be kind and helpful

Show to your subordinates that you really care for them. Show them that you are always there when they need you. Whatever problems you are facing, always approach it with kindness. Sincere interest on your employee will give them impression that you respect them both on and off the job.

Being a better boss or supervisor is as easy as 1-2-3. It does not require too much training but a lot of sensitivity. Just keep on thinking that once in your life, you work as subordinates too.

Remember, being a good boss serves as an inspiration and provides guidance for hardworking employees rather than just telling them how to work.

Source: Yahoo

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