Regional Head – Supply Chain (South Asia Region) - Marks & Spencer - Mumbai, India
(2006-04)
Head of Supply Chain, South Asia, General Merchandise for Home/Apparel & Leather (Retail), leading Procurement, Warehousing and Domestic & International Logistics. Responsible for Operational Strategy and Business & Operations Excellence for supply Chain Value of USD 1 BN, 135 MN Units with 350 Vendors, team of 26 covering India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Mauritius & Madagascar
- Led the first RFID project, delivering 100% accuracy in the local operations
- Rolled out compliance programs to all suppliers and achieved success of 98% in bringing about operational compliance
- Set up a team and process for South Asia
- Contributed to setting up hub in the region to manage the movement of goods to 12 countries
- Initiated an E-commerce program and signed all vendors to this program
- Set up warehouses and designed distribution centers for the multiple business verticals
- Identified & developed a reliable vendor base in India and overseas for developing products
- Led management of complex delivery of last mile on e-com for India
- Developed application for purchase order management, currently used vendors in South Asia
- Reduced overall cost & lead time for exports and imports by bringing in faster options
- Worked extensively with Networks partners & Indian Customs to deliver "Green Channel" for imports
- Led teams in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka that won best team awards for consecutive years
Operations / Systems Manager - JC Penney Purchasing Corporation - Mumbai, India
(1999-01 - 2006-03)
Logistics Head for India, leading Merchandising Operations, Logistics & Systems Integration / Operations. Responsible for Operational Strategy, Logistics Operations, System implementation. Managed USD 300 MN operations, with 250 MN units and 100 vendors in India and Bangladesh
- Worked with customs analyst to classify products which helped in saving imports duty for providing import margins on several products
- Created surplus savings (2-3 million USD) on freights & financed air freights for few millions units
- Worked with trade partners & shipped products to avoid embargo, ensuring on time sale
- Played a role in creating forecasting system to reduce inventory by creating multiple options at minimal cost thus reducing inventory and helping busting of warehouse sites
- Credited in inventory holding for months and thus saving cost (USD 1.5 millions) and space for no to minimal across multiple locations across local and international points
- Delivered Ctpat compliance for all movement of goods across vendor base to the US
- Minimized total air freight to 4% from 12% by implementing various processes, thus benefiting vendors and JC Penney reducing the cost of procurement
- Appointed right supply chain partners delivering service, costs etc.
- Setup office site in a period of 45 days after design briefing. This involved delivering a full-fledged office with interiors and system ready to operate for 60 people
- Recognized for managing crisis involving strikes and some key deliverables on movement of cargo where close to 100 containers of cargo were stuck at origin
Operations / Systems Coordinator - JC Penney Purchasing Corporation - Mumbai, India
(1991-07 - 1999-12)
Performed roles in Merchandising, Sourcing and Logistics during the period
- Involved in setting up SOP's and KPI's for logistics, financial instruments, implementing SOP's for merchandising from order placement to delivery of final goods
- Instrumental in allocation of business with multiple vendors to ensure the final declaration dates are met, primarily to manage production delays across vendor base due to delays in placing the business by the principal buyers
- Ensured minimal delays in making product available to the final customers by obtaining commercial approvals on all products in raw material and garmenting
- Involved in all activities of procurement of office supplies especially big ticket items
- Played a pivotal role in implementation of all projects and ERP programs
