Provide superior customer service through inventory management practices that optimize stock health and part availability. Ensure that the company business goals of growth, market share, profitability and customer satisfaction are met.- Manage the daily inventory related back office functions required to support the customers, such as purchase order creation, invoicing, sourcing, and open order follow up. - Coordinate purchasing activities for timely delivery of purchased materials to comply with and customer requirements.- Make necessary actions to correct Orders in Error. - Work with vendors to maintain sound quality and follow up where issues occur. - Develop and maintain a high level of product knowledge to enable proper support of business line. - Ensure that present and potential suppliers are properly educated and communicated with to provide a dependable source of supply. - Coordinate the sourcing of new or high-urgency items as needed. - Use Open Order tools on a daily basis, by reviewing and updating key delivery information for use by Customer Service Representatives to inform our customers. - Ensure freight expenses are optimized to achieve desired availability while limiting air freight. - Work closely with Inventory Manager for stock optimization.- Communicate external and internal changes in supply that may have an affect on ability to serve our customers or affect our logistics costs. - Prepare necessary information for meetings and at the request of Management.- Communicate with Vendors, Customer Service and Business Lines on parts set up and back orders.- Document processes as needed.

Assistant Planner - New Directions Missy Apparel- Build quality by-door plans to meet/exceed sales, margin and turn targets. Responsible for allocation of merchandise and maintaining the integrity of inventory at the location level. Supports the Planner with replenishment forecasts and other business analysis.- Create and maintain all associated allocations for both initial buy, delayed allocation and re-flow orders for stores and eCommerce.- Develop high quality by-door and eCommerce plans that reflect appropriate store needs and reconcile department level plans.- Analyst location sales and highlight inventory successes and opportunities.- Support product and vendor planning process (ladders).- Forecast and analyze replenishment programs and support development of style and SKU counts.- Support maintenance of vendor matrix and Location Ranging Tool (LRT).- Develop seasonal and annual size profiles.- Support buying team with any ad hoc business analysis and requested reporting.

- Partner with internal and external Vendors, Merchandising, Store Replenishment, Global Sourcing, Marketing and Promotions, Sales, Logistics and Operations departments to develop and manage a comprehensive retail and wholesale business strategy that delivers a high customer satisfaction level, drives sales, optimizes inventory investment and achieves margin goals for BSA Scout Shops, Council Distributors and Independent Distributors.- Responsible for sourcing and managing a variety of literature-based merchandise including market books and games, BSA produced books, pamphlets, certificates, multi-media, forms and applications, operational and store supplies and digital downloads (4,500+ total SKUs contributing as much as $21M in annual sales dollars).- Responsible for coordinating forecasting and delivery of year-round National Camp School teaching curriculum and training requirements.- Design more profitable and shoppable literature plan-o-grams in stores and successfully cross-merchandise literature items throughout other store categories in conjunction with Store Planning- Manage open-to-buy plan across all literature categories to accurately forecast demand and sales trendsAccomplishments:- Consistent year-over-year reduction in inventory & inventory costs- Transitioned purchase & production of all BSA copyrighted items from internal BSA Program production to external contracted third-party vendor; assumed responsibility as liaison between the two organizations- Considered the “go-to person” for research & information concerning all BSA literature items for BSA associates, customers, councils, Scout Shops and distributors- Key contributor in navigating entire BSA organization through unprecedented major overhaul of & transition into new Cub Scout program materials and curriculum- Realigned and created consistent pricing and markdown model for all retail and wholesale literature- Established permanent literature clearance sections for all Scout Shops

- Forecasting and purchasing of all items in Literature and Stationery for all USA locations and Puerto Rico, including Scout Shops, Distributors, Wholesalers and Councils for Boy Scouts of America organization- Reduce backorder costs for departments of Literature and Stationery- Work with Store Replenishment and Customer Service teams to clear backordered items and communicate item status changes on key/core items to mitigate future backorder issues- Manage and track forecasts, sales trends and inventory while working with vendors to ensure in-stock positions- Maintain purchase order integrity- Monitor product development process for BIN (BSA branded literature) items, including digital downloads and on-line conversionsAccomplishments:- Creation of User Manual for JDA Replenishment Process- Took over majority of responsibility for Buyer role upon unexpected departure of Literature/Stationery Buyer- Creation and maintenance of multiple reports to provide better tracking of orders and forecasts (Weekly 12-Month Forecast, Weekly 18-Month Forecast, Weekly Bin Items Review, Weekly Top-Bottom Ranking Report, Monthly Registration Item Review, Bi-Weekly RSP Update)- Co-creator and primary facilitator of Bi-Weekly Literature Delivery Review between Supply Merchandising and National Office- Created sample library for BSA Literature

* Support the merchandising organization by making analytics easier and more productive for the Buying Teams and assist in coordinating efforts, workflow and timelines* Collaborate with and engage all cross-functional support teams to be more proficient in supporting the merchants in the Category Review (strategy) and Assortment Review (tactical) processes (Pricing, Category Management, Space, Visual Merchandising, Planning, Allocations)* Help the merchants utilize assortment tailoring/clustering to address the different needs and wants of the customer to drive top lines and profitability* Provide ad-hoc market and internal reporting for Buying Teams* Able to interpret and communicate data from a variety of sources utilized by internal merchants in the Home, Apparel and Food categories (NPD, AC Nielsen, IRI, MicroStrategy, Retek, Vista, APT Market Basket)Accomplishments:* Key relationships expanded to include virtually all departments and levels within corporate merchandising* Teamed together with outside consultants to establish various templates and processes used in category reviews* Maintain merchandising calendar across all levels of the business* Recognized by teammates as the subject matter expert on documentation of category management processes, reporting and procedures, as well as internal and external correspondence

* Analyze and understand business processes/procedures to make recommendations in improving design process* Coordinate within IT and other functional groups to effectively market and implement IT solutions* Work with client group and technical support team to translate client needs and ensure appropriate understanding* Document processes and “how to use” technology for archival and training purposes* Serve as a resource coordinator (across functional teams) to ensure project deliverable timelines are met* Support corporate initiatives by gathering and analyzing business requirements, researching and recommending best practices and delivering end products that meet business objectives on time and on budget* Member of the Merchandising and Logistics Line of Business team supporting key business users in the areas of Replenishment, Allocations, Merchandising, Planning and various aspects of the Supply Chain* Ongoing production support, issue resolution, enhancements to current systems, system testing and analysis* Develop quality assurance and testing guidelines for new software implementation and product enhancementsAccomplishments:* Key relationships developed within departments of Category Management, Planning, Merchandising, IT, Marketing, Pricing and other Line of Business departments* IT Business Analyst supporting initial Category Management, Assortment, Pricing and Space Planning initiatives

* Proactively develop and deliver Category Direction/Business Development Process support to Hershey’s sales and marketing grocery teams (Giant of Carlisle, Tops, Pathmark, FoodTown)* Develop sales directional insights through extensive benchmarking of promotional programs, distribution initiatives, blue-chip execution and retail implementation* Harness IRI syndicated data systems/programs, internal financials and other primary customer research to generate Category Management opportunity reviews, plan-o-gram productivity assessments, seasonal analysis and promotion/pricing reviews* Develop recommendations to impact sales materials and marketing planningAccomplishments:* Key relationships developed within departments of Promotion Integration, Marketing, Customer Marketing, Portfolio Strategies, Customer Sales Executives and Category Management* Created Leakage Tree models to successfully isolate customer loss and causes thereof

* Provide ad-hoc analysis, communication assistance, presentation support and executive clerical support to Vice President of Association Services & Business Development and Manager of Texas Farm Bureau (internal and external communications, daily calendar, meeting and travel arrangements, filing system, database maintenance, expense reporting, weekly payroll and time reports)* Coordinate analysis with Company Controller to provide finished presentation material and individual analysis for prospective clients* Conduct research of prospective client companies and providersAccomplishments:* Created several report formats for analysis and comparisons of potential clients* Created and maintained new filing system

* Responsible for origination, maintenance, transition and training of a new web-based forecasting computerized module for use with the entire company’s sales force (prior forecasting was non-existent)* Function as a direct liaison and “gatekeeper” between Plant Operations/Production, Customer Service, Purchasing (Import and Domestic) and Sales Management for new forecasting system* Provide primary enforcement and projected sales forecast figures for entire sales force and 90+ national accounts* Sole provider of trend, market, volume and sales analysis for entire company* Primary user/analyst, interpreter and informal trainer for WalMart’s Retail Link on-line Vendor Support System* Able to interpret and communicate data from a variety of sources utilized by vendors and customers in the Paper, School, Home & Office, Arts & Crafts and Fashion Notebooks categories (Vendor POS websites, AS400 System, EDI)Accomplishments:* Successfully trained and transitioned entire company (sales force, purchasing, operations, customer service, management, ownership) to concept of sales forecasting and use of computerized forecasting system* Created analytical formats and templates that can be consistently used to track sales, trends and projects by item, item sub-class, item class or account* Established procedures for use of WalMart’s Retail Link on-line Vendor Support System, including analysis, communications with WalMart management and the scripting of forecasted orders* Created and catalogued sales history of company including all items and accounts for most recent 8 years* Created and participated in presentations and sales updates for sales management meetings* Established, maintained and utilized contacts for various on-line Vendor Support Systems to gain additional POS data previously untapped (WalMart, Kmart, Staples, CVS, Eckerd Drug, Garden Ridge, Target, Meijer…)

* Create and maintain both interval and ad-hoc reports and analysis for national, regional and local markets and accounts, including Eckerd Drug, Family Dollar, Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Kash N Karry, Publix, Shop N Save and Winn-Dixie Corporate* Analysis provided includes sell-through information, promotional analysis, seasonal reviews, opportunity gap analysis, market comparisons, ranking reports and trade channel comparisons from specific items to entire categories* Able to interpret and communicate data from a variety of sources (IRI, Spectra, Promotion Explorer, Seasonal Explorer, Census Data) from across a wide range of categories (Pet Food, Rice, Savory, Confectionery, Granola, Baking, Frozen Entrée, Frozen Novelty and other customized databases)Accomplishments:* Created several analytical reporting formats later used on a national scale within the Sales Division* Helped to initiate and maintain a Sales Analyst support group to encourage sharing of best practices, team bonding and communication* Assisted in providing analysis to be used in Category Management initiative* Repeatedly chosen to participate in select training and pre-release use of new field sales applications prior to initial roll-out in order to provide useful feedback for both training and applications

* Management of South Atlantic Region Sales Office (including initial set-up, organization, daily operations and final close-out)* Routinely planned and executed logistics, scheduling and budgets for Region Sales Meetings up to $100,000* Routinely assisted in planning and execution of National Sales Meetings exceeding budgets of $100,000* Primary administrative and communication support for 80+ Sales Representatives and total South Atlantic Region Office Management team* Responsible for all purchase orders and financial reporting system for South Atlantic Region sales* Assisted in management of promotional sales and account specific budgetsAccomplishments:* Initiated Region paper recycling program* Initiated, created and maintained monthly Region Sales Newsletter to encourage employee bonding, boost morale and highlight individual, team and Region accomplishments and best practices

* Provided technical and administrative support for 40+ Field Sales Managers* Provided primary administrative support for Region Office Sales Manager and Region Service Manager* Assistant to Manager of Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable * Conducted trade show demonstrations of machine tools* Facility, showroom and warehouse tours* Updated and maintained product proposals and contracts for corporate customersAccomplishments:* Initiated, created and maintained on-going customer satisfaction surveys and personal follow-up program* Reorganization of entire Southern Region Office Service and Sales filing systems