– Report to the Director of Supply Chain. Lead a team of nine direct reports. Manage annual spend of $136M. This site produces tractors, snow throwers, walk mowers, and pressure washers. The site is closing in March 2015.– Prepare and manage departmental budget.– Buy components including stamped and welded components, seats, steering wheels, wiring harnesses, switches, and belts, tires, packaging, and pumps for pressure washers. Purchase at best total cost, consistent with quality, cost, delivery, and other requirements at the plant level.– Hire, manage, motivate, and develop five buyers, two purchasing assistants, and two expeditors. Realigned team in 2012 to improve inventory control.– Integrate and partner with quality assurance, production control, and new product development teams to achieve product, process, system, and production start-ups – including one new product in early 2015.– Collaborate with manufacturing in McDonough and commodity managers and new product developers at HQ to drive $7.5M in savings annually using Lean Six Sigma principles.– Manage supplier relationships and procure plastics, rubber, and metal components from China; grass bags and pumps for pressure washers from Italy; transmissions, belts, and electrical supplies from Mexico; and couplings and driven disks from Canada.– Negotiate pricing, payment, and logistics terms for commodities.– Plan and implement strategies for supplier management initiatives such as the supplier quality standard, supply assurance programs, commodity pricing / market trending, cost improvement projects, and cost reduction tracking systems (CRTS) projects.– Manage day-to-day activities such as open POs, inventory, MRP reports, supplier reports, etc. using SAP software.– Analyze market trends and purchasing activities to optimize profitability.– Audit and monitor production part approval process (PPAP) and first runs.

– Managed annual spend of $50M. Bought components including belts, seats, screw machine parts, and printed materials (decals and manuals).– Personally drove at least $150K of cost savings annually.

Murray was a privately held company until Briggs & Stratton bought them in 2005.Strategic Purchasing Manager | 2004 – 2005– Negotiated pricing with new and existing suppliers for plastics, mechanical cables, grass bags, electrical components, corrugated, packaging-related products, printed literature, decals, and powder metal parts.– Traveled to China to procure injection and blow molded plastics.– Bought grass bags from Italy, belts and transmissions from Mexico, and driven disks from Canada.– Analyzed capacity, price, quality, and logistics independently and on teams to meet budget and company expectations.– Cut inventory levels to meet company objectives.Early Career at Murray– Buyer | 2001 – 2004– Expeditor | 1987 – 2001