Jaipal Sachdev
Production planning lead, 3M
A champion advocate for the LGBT+ community within STEM
Jaipal is a production planning lead at science-based technology company 3M and uses his role as global chair for 3M Pride to show that science has a space for everyone and empower all employees to bring their true selves to work.
He joined 3M in 2019 after working as a process engineer and project manager for Procter & Gamble; and before that studied chemical engineering at Imperial College, London. Jaipal and his partner, Jamie, relocated to the North East of England when he accepted the role at 3M.
I have always been fascinated with science and engineering. I think this stemmed from my curiosity as a child. I was always asking questions about everyday things we take for granted – how does a kettle work? How do aeroplanes fly? What happens to our rubbish after we throw it away?
Growing up, I had an interest in the environment, energy, and sustainable fuels. I wanted a career that would allow me to contribute positively to society, and this led me to choose a degree in chemical engineering.
My first role at 3M was designing and installing new machinery at the Aycliffe plant in County Durham where we manufacture respirators that protect people in a wide range of working environments, from hospitals to building sites. It allowed me to work with both machines and people, being part of a creative team that started off with a blank piece of paper and from there, developed an entirely new process.
I then got the opportunity to work as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (a black belt in science, rather than taekwondo!). My job involved working with our engineering, quality, and maintenance teams to run projects on Six Sigma methodology – a set of process improvement tools that eliminate waste and reduce variation.
The next step in my career journey takes us to where I am now. Today, I’m the production planning lead for two divisions in 3M’s Safety and Industrial business group across Europe, Middle East and Africa.
3M has factories across the world and people in production planning teams, like me, are responsible for gathering demand from our customers, ordering the raw materials from our suppliers and then telling the factory when to make the products. A key part of my role is navigating the uncertainties such as global shortages of the key materials we need for our products.
I believe everyday scientists and engineers contribute to making our daily lives better in some way. It’s important to banish the stereotypical image of them working in silos with little interaction with the outside world! Technical skills and knowledge are key, but collaborating to solve problems is vital too, and that’s the bit I enjoy most about my job.
I identify as an LGBTQ+ individual and when I was choosing the engineering route, there was a distinct feeling that science and engineering wasn’t for gay men. This is a stigma and another stereotype that I would like to ‘smash’ once and for all.