William Douglas
Cramlington,Northumberland
Summary
As of February 2026 I am coming up to my four year anniversary of working for Boxway Packaging. In this time I have been allowed to try and fail, develop my existing skills and also expand my skill set with moving into estimating and optimisation.
Through practise and persistence I have built up my knowledge and confidence to look at complex products and create efficient solutions to fit the customers demands and this increase in efficency allowed me to expand my skill set. I am now proficient in estimating and also identifying issues in the estimating or the current work mix and have been able to make a marked improvement for the business when it comes to managing production work-load and also the margin on the related jobs.
In February 2024 I was put forward for an industry-based young leadership course, to help build the skills needed for the managers of the future with skills that aren't just limited to the industry. It allowed me to improve my presenting skills, learning financial terminology that I wasn't aware of amongst other things but to me most importantly building up my social skills and connections in the industry to help feel recognised in the work I do. I finished this course in September 2025, passing with a distinction. This again has increased my confidence, not just as a manager but also as a person, and feels a big step towards my goal of moving into higher management during my career.
Overview
11
11
years of professional experience
3
3
years of post-secondary education
Work history
Structural Designer
Boxway Packaging
Peterlee, County Durham
2022.03 - Current
- Designing bespoke and industry standard packaging solutions for new and existing customers based on customer demands and wants
- Using bespoke packaging software, Artios, to develop these concepts as well as using their integrated 3D software to improve efficiency
- Visiting customers to understand customer's needs and help with the technical work involved with the packaging
- Producing samples and presenting these to said customers
- Raising specifications from scratch to production ready for the most optimal machine and delivery route on the KMSS software
- Liaising with suppliers for quotes and on-going support for tooling and other corrugated related products
- Offering technical support on site to production for first time runs and on-going work
As of the last 18 months
- Managing my trainees design workload
- Now the main estimator for said design work on-site
- Review and submit pricing for tenders
- New skills have allowed me to look into margin improvement and form a project on this using technical experience to optimise current work
- In early 2025 began an overhaul of the KMSS system in regards to machine routes to allow for more accurate pricing and machine planning with great success for both
- Recently finished a industry based management course in Sept 2025, passing with a distinction
Delivery Driver
Pronta Pizza
Cramlington, Northumberland
2022.01 - 2022.03
- - Returned to workplace in the same role to aid my finances after redundancy
Trainee Structural Designer
Tri-Wall North East Ltd.
Team Valley, Gateshead
2019.09 - 2021.12
- - Producing 2D CAD designs for corrugated packaging using Kasemake, a purpose built packaging software and turning these into samples that can be presented to customers.
- - Producing packaging artwork using Adobe illustrator and producing samples on packaging for customer approval
- - Liaising with customers and sales reps to understand the customers needs and wants from a product and producing a product to meet that and being able to explain to them the benefits on this choice.
- - More recently I proposed myself to be involved with quality control for my own understanding of the material we use as well as hopefully improving our finished product.
Delivery Driver
Pronta Pizza
Cramlington, Northumberland
2017.06 - 2019.09
- - Delivering orders to customers
- - Small experience supervising a small amount of working shifts due to previous cashier work
Cashier
Lotus House Takeaway
Cramlington, Northumberland
2014.10 - 2017.07
- - Taking customer orders via phone or face to face interaction
- - Organising and group deliveries for the most efficient journey for each driver
Education
BEng (Hons) - Mechanical Manufacturing Engineering
Newcastle College University Group
Newcastle Upon Tyne 2016.09 - 2019.07
Skills
- Managing the expectations of customers, important projects and enquiries efficiently for the business
- Taking the technical findings from projects and making them presentable to a less-informed audience
- Recently complete leadership course has develop skills on managing my time and people management
- Experience with multiple design software's, recently mostly ArtiosCAD but also Kasemake, SolidWorks and AutoCAD during my education
- Experience of multiple Microsoft programs especially Excel
- Experience with Adobe Illustrator in creating artwork and designs
- Experience with working on cars and electronics due to personal interests
- Full UK License held for over 6 years and access to own vehicle
Affiliations
- I enjoy PC gaming as well as building PC's
- Big interest in cars and how they work since a young age
- Fixing and mending things in general
- Love to travel and looking forward to visting many places in the UK and other countries in the future
Accomplishments
Sheet Plant Association Emerging Leaders Course 24-25 - Distinction
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Structural Designer
Boxway Packaging
2022.03 - Current
Delivery Driver
Pronta Pizza
2022.01 - 2022.03
Trainee Structural Designer
Tri-Wall North East Ltd.
2019.09 - 2021.12
Delivery Driver
Pronta Pizza
2017.06 - 2019.09
BEng (Hons) - Mechanical Manufacturing Engineering
Newcastle College University Group
2016.09 - 2019.07
Cashier
Lotus House Takeaway
2014.10 - 2017.07