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SHARMILA GOVENDER LOGISTICS DIRECTOR, MCLAREN AUTOMOTIVE LTD
Her first job out of university was with Coca-Cola Southern Africa; “Though more on the brand marketing side than manufacturing,” she told me. Rapidly rising up the soft drink giant’s ranks over three years, a move from Johannesburg to Durban offered Govender the opportunity to try her hand at something slightly different.
career move, joining Toyota South Africa as a business manager for Exports, took her further down the industrial rabbit hole. An anticipated three-year spell at Toyota became six years, and saw Govender rapidly move to head up the company’s parts export division.
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I look back now and laugh at myself for ever doubting entering supply chain and manufacturing
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To say that Sharmila Govender has led an interesting life to date would be an understatement. Growing up in apartheid South Africa, Govender deviated from her intended career in economics to work for some of the world’s largest and most recognised manufacturing brands.
Having successfully applied for an unspecified management role at multinational consumer goods company, Unilever, Govender was “horrified” to discover that she would be working in supply chain.
Govender was ultimately responsible for keeping other Toyota production lines running, a position she noted as “incredibly stressful”. However, in less than five years she had fine-turned the division’s efficiency and doubled turnover to more than $1.8bn.
“I’d so far been involved in the glamorous, glitzy world of marketing,” she said. “I had no idea about manufacturing or logistics, and I was to be in charge of the company’s regional warehousing and distribution.”
“It was such a rich and defining learning experience that has changed the way I approach and resolve problems to this day. I look back now and laugh at myself for ever doubting entering supply chain and manufacturing” she said.
Her doubts proved unfounded, with Govender describing her time there as a “fantastic learning experience”. Her next
Her decision to live and work abroad saw the Govender family move to the UK in 2009. Again, an initial three-year spell
has morphed into six years, with no plans to relocate anytime soon. McLaren was setting up its automotive company at the time, so the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of what was essentially a blank canvas proved tantalising. With an initial remit to drive the commercial growth of the Aftersales business, Govender has risen from Aftersales and distribution manager, to head of Aftersales Commercial Parts Operation, to her current role as logistics director based at the McLaren Production Centre. “To think that our first car rolled off the line in 2011, and to find ourselves now with award winning vehicles, a state of the art production centre, a profitable business and a global network of retailers is superb,” Govender concluded. “This isn’t about me, this is about everyone involved in the business, it’s a real team effort.”
FAVOURITE MANUFACTURED PRODUCT: McLaren P1TM INTERESTING FACT THAT FEW PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT YOU: Is in her dream job ALTERNATIVE CAREER: Maybe the tech industry or perhaps the United Nations Development Programme
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