Akshay O. Bang

Supply Chain Planning and Transformation professional with 11+ years of experience across Demand Planning, S&OP/IBP, Supply Planning, Inventory Optimization, Forecasting and digital planning transformation in global manufacturing and MedTech environments.

Former

Medtronic APAC Demand Planner with direct experience partnering with the APAC Planning Director, regional demand planners and cross-functional Commercial, Marketing and Supply Planning teams. Experienced in translating business planning requirements and process pain points into standardized planning processes, governance, analytics and technology-enabled solutions. Strong functional understanding of Demand Planning, Supply Planning, Inventory Optimization, Forecasting and IBP, supported by enterprise planning-system exposure through SAP ERP and Blue Yonder.

Currently at EY leading supply-chain transformation initiatives involving planning analytics, inventory optimization, process improvement and digital solutions. Brings a combination of deep supply-chain domain knowledge, planning-system experience, business analysis, analytics and stakeholder management, with the ability to bridge Supply Chain business users and IT/technology teams in complex transformation environments.

Associate Manager – Supply Chain Transformation - ERNST & YOUNG (EY) - India

(2025-04)

• Lead supply-chain transformation initiatives by translating business planning and inventory problems into scalable process, analytics and digital solutions; work with global Supply Chain, Planning, Procurement, Operations and Finance stakeholders to define requirements and drive adoption.
• Design demand-forecasting solutions and forecast-performance frameworks across large SKU portfolios, translating planning requirements into practical analytical and decision-support solutions.
• Develop inventory optimization and inventory projection models supporting demand-supply balancing, inventory health assessment and working-capital decisions; translate business questions into planning logic and analytical models.
• Build planning decision-support tools recommending expedite, defer and cancellation actions using projected inventory, forecasted demand and supply constraints, improving exception visibility for planners.
• Establish SLOB / excess and obsolete inventory governance with prioritization, root-cause analysis, ownership mapping and executive reporting, creating standardized workflows and accountability across functions.
• Develop production-planning optimization models evaluating MOQ, changeover, capacity and inventory trade-offs to support planning decisions and business requirements.
• Design planning-performance dashboards for planners and leadership, converting business KPIs into actionable visibility on forecast accuracy, bias, fill rates and planning effectiveness.
• Perform network optimization analysis to evaluate inventory-positioning strategies and improve service responsiveness and supply-chain cost performance.
• Automate planning and reporting workflows using Power BI, Alteryx, Power Query, Excel VBA, SQL and Python, improving data quality, exception visibility and decision-making speed.
• Act as a bridge between business requirements, planning processes, data and digital solutions, facilitating alignment across global Supply Chain, Planning, Procurement, Operations and Finance stakeholders.

Deputy Manager – Demand Planning & Supply Chain Transformation - MEDTRONIC PLC

(2022-08 - 2025-03)

APAC Demand Planning & Planning Governance

• Served as an APAC-level Demand Planner, partnering directly with the APAC Planning Director and regional demand planners to translate business planning needs into standardized processes, governance, analytics and decision support.
• Gathered and standardized planning requirements across markets and developed centralized demand-planning processes and templates, improving consistency, planning governance and usability for regional planning teams.
• Participated in country-level IBP / demand-review calls, consolidating business requirements, demand risks and planning exceptions and escalating priority issues to APAC leadership.
• Acted as the central planning interface between regional demand planners, country teams and APAC leadership, translating business needs into planning outputs, priorities, escalations and process improvements.
• Provided functional guidance to 2 APAC Demand Planning team members, including work allocation, deliverable review, problem solving and planning-cycle execution.
• Supported Integrated Business Planning (IBP) and monthly demand-review cycles by analyzing forecast risks, outliers, demand trends and planning exceptions and converting findings into actions for planning stakeholders.
• Managed demand-planning activities for global product portfolios, aligning Commercial, Regional Planning and Supply Planning stakeholders around a common demand plan.
• Collaborated with Commercial, Marketing, Regional Planning and Supply Planning teams to translate market signals into actionable demand plans and inventory decisions.
• Developed and refined forecasting methodologies using historical demand, business drivers, statistical outputs and market intelligence; assessed planning assumptions and forecast performance.
• Led forecast-performance improvement using Forecast Accuracy, Forecast Bias and Forecast Value Add (FVA) analytics to identify gaps, challenge assumptions and improve forecast quality.
• Supported new product introduction, lifecycle and phase-in/phase-out planning, balancing demand, inventory risk and supply continuity.
• Identified opportunities to improve inventory positioning and planning effectiveness through analytics, exception management and process standardization.
• Used Blue Yonder for demand sensing, forecast governance and supply-chain decision support, building practical understanding of enterprise planning-system workflows and planner requirements.
• Led global process-improvement initiatives across Customer Care and Order Operations, focusing on standardization, simplification, automation and operational efficiency.
• Utilized Celonis process mining to identify process bottlenecks, quantify inefficiencies and drive data-driven process improvements.
• Built business cases and cost-benefit analyses to support transformation investment decisions and measure realized benefits.
• Established process-performance metrics, governance frameworks and reporting mechanisms to improve operational visibility and accountability.
• Led cross-functional teams spanning Operations, Customer Service, Inventory and Commercial functions.

Assistant Manager – Demand / Supply Planning - FENESTA BUILDING SYSTEMS

(2021-08 - 2022-07)

• Managed end-to-end material planning across multiple manufacturing locations, balancing material availability, inventory investment and production requirements.
• Led demand forecasting using inputs from 900+ retail outlets, historical sales patterns and commercial insights.
• Developed supply plans and replenishment strategies considering demand variability, lead times, production requirements and inventory targets.
• Drove inventory-optimization initiatives focused on reducing aged and slow-moving inventory and improving inventory turnover.
• Established inventory-planning frameworks for critical raw materials, improving material availability and reducing production-disruption risk.
• Prepared planning and inventory-performance reports supporting procurement, inventory and production decisions.
• Collaborated closely with Manufacturing, Procurement and Commercial teams to align demand forecasts with supply capabilities and operational constraints.
• Monitored supplier performance and supported procurement planning across local and international supplier networks.
• Supported safety-stock management and supply-continuity planning for long lead-time materials.
• Led team of two member, supporting demand and supply-planning activities.

Associate Project Control Specialist – III | Supply Chain Analytics & Materials Management - FLUOR INDIA PVT. LTD.

(2015-07 - 2021-08)

• Analyzed procurement, material and project-execution datasets supporting supply-chain planning, inventory optimization and project cost management across global capital projects.
• Performed material demand and quantity analysis across piping, steel, concrete and bulk materials; supported procurement planning using material requirements, supplier data and project schedules.
• Managed material-planning and inventory-control activities; performed shortage analysis, inventory-risk assessments and replenishment planning based on project requirements and supplier lead times.
• Optimized material utilization through inventory balancing, inter-project transfers and proactive inventory monitoring; led 2 team members supporting supply-chain analytics and materials-management activities.

MBA - Operations Management (2024)

B.Tech - Mechanical Engineering (2015)