Melissa Bender Email & Phone Number

Plainview, Ny, Us

In my role as a Commodity Manager, I am dedicated to implementing the most cost-effective supply strategies to support business objectives. My responsibilities include:•Strategic Planning: Participating in setting the strategic direction of the supply chain organization, aligning with broader business goals.•Cost Management: Ensuring the implementation of supply strategies that are not only effective but also cost-efficient.•Customer Satisfaction: Striving to meet or exceed both external and internal customer expectations through effective supply chain management.•Continuous Improvement: Committed to the continuous improvement of supply chain processes and strategies.•Market Leadership and Insights: Provided leadership and insights into the market for assigned material categories, including industry trends, cost drivers, global pricing, lead times, technology, manufacturing capability, and the selection of suppliers that best meet expectations and objectives.•Category Strategy: Created, executed, maintained, and continually improved upon category strategies for assigned material categories, focusing on current and future alignment of technology requirements and achieving objectives in terms of total cost, lead time, capacity, inventory management, risk mitigation, and overall supply chain effectiveness.•Supplier Management: Determined requirements, rationalized suppliers, developed suppliers and supply chains, implemented dual sourcing, managed risk, and assessed supplier financials.•Team Leadership: Led cross-functional teams to create and execute category strategies, continuous improvement, and supply projects, effectively facilitating medium-sized groups and engaging management as necessary.•Negotiation: Negotiated best-in-class price, quality, delivery, payment, delivery terms, and customer service requirements that align with business objectives.

Richmond, Va, Us

In my role as a Supervisor for Supply Chain Management at Dominion Energy South Carolina Power Generation facilities, I took on a wide range of responsibilities:•Leadership: Directed sourcing operations, overseeing a team of 6 Supply Chain Managers supporting 21 facilities. Served as project manager for multiple procurement projects, working with cross-functional teams and applying standard work to execute implementation plans for productivity, continuous improvement, and new product development (NPD) projects.•RFx Management: Led the generation and review process for RFQs, RFIs, and RFPs, and managed supplier negotiations for the assigned scope of work per project.•Strategy Alignment: Ensured alignment of commodity strategies with Business Unit, Engineering platforms, and Product Management plans and requirements. Responsible for communicating and coordinating plant and Business Unit specific strategies with commodity teams.•Supplier Evaluation: Evaluated business needs against supplier capabilities to select the preferred suppliers who meet quality, cost, and delivery requirements; leveraged commercial knowledge to navigate and manage supplier relationships and contract negotiations.•Forecasting and Reporting: responsible for accurate forecasting and reporting of procurement financial metrics, including productivity and inflation. I also supported the development of the Annual Operating Plan for productivity projects, targets, and initiatives.•Negotiation: I worked effectively with suppliers to negotiate optimal terms for sourcing. I understood the trade-offs between cost, volume, and quality to strike agreements that met Dominion’s performance criteria and secured long-term supply continuity.•Collaboration: Collaborated across the organization to ensure business objectives were met. This included the ability to rapidly synthesize and communicate findings to senior leaders and to actively identify potential supply issues that can affect product strategy.

Jonsered, Västra Götaland County, Se

In my role as a Supplier Development Coordinator, I have taken on a wide range of responsibilities:•Supplier Relationship Management: Developed and maintained effective supplier relationships and service-level agreements to support business requirements. Facilitated supplier meetings and business reviews with cross-functional team members.•Risk Management: Identified supply chain risks and developed contingency plans to mitigate risk.•Purchasing Leadership: Led Purchasing to support new product initiatives (prototypes, EP, MP).•Bid Preparation: I prepared requests for bids to suppliers, including all requirements and specifications. I ensured suppliers met PPAP Requirements.•Supplier Competitiveness: Maintained dual sources to mitigate risk and maintain supplier competitiveness.•Forecasting and Reporting: I was responsible for accurately forecasting and reporting procurement financial metrics, including productivity and inflation. I also supported the development of the Annual Operating Plan for productivity projects, targets, and initiatives.•Supplier Evaluation: Evaluated and maintained supplier reliability.• Cost-saving opportunities: Worked in tandem with engineering to identify cost-saving opportunities.

Austin, Texas, Us

In my role as a Strategic Supply Chain Manager, I have taken on a wide range of responsibilities:•Supplier Relationship Management: Developed and maintained effective supplier relationships and service-level agreements to support business requirements. Facilitated supplier meetings and business reviews with cross-functional team members.•Risk Management: Identified supply chain risks and developed contingency plans to mitigate them.•Leveraging Supplier Relationships: Identified opportunities to leverage existing supplier relationships, securing more favorable long-term agreements while consolidating the total supplier base.•Improving Supplier Delivery: Improved supplier delivery (OTD) performance by developing and executing long-term strategies, cost modeling, financial analysis, negotiations, and ideal agreements while focusing on continuous improvement and supplier relationships.•Supporting New Product Introduction: Supported new product introduction (NPI) programs, coordinating global sourcing and supplier qualification activities.•Developing Sourcing and Commodity Strategies: Developed market-leading sourcing and commodity strategies based on comprehensive analysis that enabled the delivery of more cost-effective services and led to increased customer satisfaction.•Benchmarking Industry: Continually benchmarked assigned industry, monitoring costs and technologies to incorporate best practices in the supply chain.•Leading Regulatory Compliance Projects: Led customer Regulatory compliance projects in accordance with standards, regulations, or laws such as RoHS, REACH, PROP 65 & WEEE.

Charlotte, Nc, Us

In my role as a Materials Manager, I had a wide range of responsibilities:•Logistics and Scheduling: Oversaw logistics and scheduling of materials movement from receiving or warehouse to production; inventory, import/export controls; and supplier integration strategies.•Cost Savings: Delivered more than $1M in annual cost savings through make vs. buy inventory analysis and recommendations supporting corporate P&L objectives.•Spending Analysis: Analyzed brass spending, utilization, and market trends, resourced material purchases to new suppliers, and realized savings of $475K within six months.•Inventory and Quality Control: I led the implementation of inventory and quality control systems to ensure compliance with standards and operation schedules.•Strategy Development: Developed cost-effective materials and inventory strategies to help the business meet current and future production targets and quality standards.•Team Membership: Member of the core team developing supply strategies and annual growth plans and building a culture that fostered core company values, delivering excellence in the supply chain while supporting sustained performance.•Continuous Improvement: Collaborated on company-wide continuous improvement events focused on organizational excellence through Lean Manufacturing.•Inventory Performance: Optimized inventory performance, focusing on the Inventory Quality Model (IQM) and On-Time-To-Request (OTTR).•Performance Improvement: Drove year-over-year improved performance in quality, delivery, and costs through effective negotiations and vendor management.•EH&S Champion: Site EH&S Champion for REACH, Laceration, and Contractor Programs.

Santa Ana, Ca, Us

In my role as a Materials Manager, I have taken on a wide range of responsibilities:•Supply Chain Management: Directed supply chain operations for five divisions across Arizona, California, Mexico, Texas, and Wyoming, including distribution import and export, with a team of 15 in shipping, receiving, and customer service. Managed inbound and outbound logistics operations, transportation, warehouse, safety performance, and quality.•Distribution Center Start-Up: Orchestrated and led the start-up of a new distribution center, leading a team in establishing workforce requirements, policies, procedures, budgeting, and operations.•Sales and Logistics Analysis: Conducted in-depth analysis of sales, marketing, purchasing, logistics, and third-party supplier needs for materials replenishment; input to forecasts, quota, and production orders; and impact of logistics changes on the supply chain.•Performance Metrics: Introduced key performance metrics enabling the tracking and improvement of supply chain factors.•Compliance: Developed procedures and authored corresponding Foreign Trade Zone Manual to drive compliance.•Negotiation: Negotiated optimal agreements, prices, and contract terms with suppliers, vendors, and freight forwarders.•Strategy and Implementation: Defined strategies and implemented production, processing, distribution, inventory, and cost control programs; increased inventory turns, reduced waste, and enhanced customer service.•Kitting Process: Set up an internal kitting process to decrease customer rejections and improve customer experience and satisfaction.