BY MICHAEL POWER
KATYA VLADYKINA’S SUPPLY CHAIN JOURNEY HAS TAKEN HER FROM RUSSIA TO CHINA AND, MOST RECENTLY, VANCOUVER If the planet and human activity were a living body, supply chains would represent the blood vessels that shuttle value to different areas. “That’s how I see it,” says purchasing manager Katya Vladykina. “That’s why supply chain can’t be isolated. It can’t just be supportive or clerical. It’s a part of the entire picture of business strategy.” Yet like many, Vladykina, who now works for Vancouver-based Varsteel Ltd., got her start in the field rather by accident. As a student attending Irkutsk State University, close to the Mongolian border in her native Russia, she hadn’t yet considered a career in supply chain or procurement. As recently as 10 years ago, supply chain wasn’t yet widely viewed as the potential career path it has since become, Vladykina says. That’s part of the reason why so many enter supply chain having worked in other professions first. “Whereas nowadays I see it’s changing,” she says. “We now have professional associations and institutes that teach supply chain as a profession. Many young professionals come with this educational background.” But if the world is similar to a living body, Vladykina has always been intrigued by how 10 DECEMBER 2020
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that body works. That interest led her to study political science and international affairs, a field in which she eventually earned a master’s degree. Despite her interest, Vladykina was unsure early on what career path to take. But in her third year of university, she had an opportunity to travel to China for a month during the summer. Her study speciality was Russian-Chinese relations and she had long been interested in Asia. “Plus, geographically I come from a city which is very close to the Russian-Mongolian border and just a three-hours flight from Beijing,” she says. “Geographically the two countries always had a very strong connection in terms of international students and other types of business, like trade.” The trip also helped her to realize that while she had gained theoretical knowledge at school, there were still gaps in what she knew that she wanted to fill. After graduation she travelled again to China and studied for another year. In 2011 she began working at a Chinese company called ESH Corporation as an e-commerce specialist. While the position was unrelated to her educational speciality, it nonetheless provided a great opportunity to practice Chinese.
SUPPLY CHAIN FIRST STEPS While still working at ESH Corporation and contemplating what career to choose, a European businessman in China offered Vladykina a job with a small but international trading company called STEEL emotion, specializing in metal distribution. Headquartered in London, UK, the company was looking for young, enthusiastic employees to help grow its business in China. Vladykina gradually gathered more and more responsibility within the organization’s China operation. The company employed between three and five staff in the country, and the work was tough with long hours. But Vladykina was able to gain responsibility in several aspects of the business. “That’s why it was a terrific opportunity, it shaped me as a professional,” she says. “It polished my skills and gave me a solid understanding of how international trade works.” Working in metal distribution, Vladykina could travel around China and visit steel and aluminum mills while working with Chinese engineers. That gave her the opportunity to learn about steel making and gain a solid technical knowledge of the process. She also had opportunities to learn how other areas of the supply chain worked. “I went to many ocean ports, I saw how it all works, how the transportation system works, how different modes of transportation work,” she says. “I learned customs, exports, imports, financial transactions and different methods of payments and how it affects the business.” Vladykina also spoke with customers in Europe and the US, trying to understand their SUPPLY PROFESSIONAL
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PHOTO: ERICH SAIDE PHOTOGRAPHY
GLOBAL CITIZEN
“I became very fluent in written and spoken Mandarin, which is the official language,” Vladykina says. “Because it was a Chinese company it gave me a great understanding of the culture, of Chinese business culture, how they communicate, how colleagues and management communicate with each other, which is very different in each culture and very different here in Canada.”
