Bill Niven Email & Phone Number

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Independent executive-level consultant for operations and supply chain management. Extensive experience in cold chain manufacturing and distribution with a focus on supporting the pharmaceutical industry.(FDA/cGMP/GDP) Open to short, medium or long term consulting opportunities or a permanent position in small or medium sized companies and willing to.

Plymouth Minnesota

• Pelican BioTherma a Cold Chain Thermal Packaging Company. My responsibilities included: Production, Supply Chain, Demand Planning, Inventory Control, Warehouse & Distribution, Traffic/Transportation, Order Management.
• Key participant in multiple successful customer audits for Pharmaceutical clients.
• Implemented a formal manufacturing and distribution cGMP compliant network.
• Key contributor to a successful ISO 9001-2008 implementation.
• Improved order fill rate and on-time delivery to over 98%.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Assisted clients in streamlining manufacturing and distribution operations. Supported clients with S&OP implementations. Assisted clients in implementing third party manufacturing and distribution support in a cGMP environment.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

• Forecasting and Materials Control ManagerManaged buyer/planner team for manufacturing and aftermarket parts. Responsibilities included managing 26K parts and $90M in annual third party purchases. Managed the Sales and.
• Project Leader for the successful implementation of the S&OP process across all functions (Oliver Wight model) that firmly links the financial plans with executable sales, production, capacity and inventory expressed.
• Re-engineered and executed a global parts inventory strategy resulting in a 15% decrease in inventory and 10% reduction in backorders.
• Executed a Kanban/Pull inventory replenishment system with multiple third party suppliers

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

• Scope of duties focused on working closely with clients to cost-effectively streamline their supply chain processes by offering a broad scope of capabilities, based on real-world experience solving real-world supply.
• Collaborated in the successful implementing of a RF Bar Code inventory and shop floor control network to an Oracle ERP business system, which achieved real-time inventory while improving data accuracy.
• Led a team that significantly improved overall customer requirements, thereby reducing internal short-term production schedule changes by 80% and increasing promised order deliver dates to 98%.

Los Angeles California

• Was responsible for managing the supply chain team and third party manufacturing for this $200 million entertainment company with a DVD/VHS library of 6,000 SKUs.
• Favorably negotiated within the first nine months multiple outsourced contracts with third-party manufacturing that achieved $3.5 million in annual savings.
• Executed a formalized forecast, demand planning, and inventory control system within the first six months resulting in increased fill rate to 96% and reduced inventory levels by 20%.

Irvine California

Accountable for overseeing U.S. customer service, demand planning, inventory, distribution, and materials management for this $450 million residential lock company. Managed 150 full-time staff and an annual departmental budget of $26 million. Reengineered and managed the supply chain and logistics network operation, which resulted in improving fill above.

Irvine California

• Director, North America Supply Chain (1991-1994)Key responsibilities centered on forecasting, demand planning, finished goods inventory, distribution, and freight/traffic management for this Fortune 1000 pharmaceutical.
• Implemented a green field network DRP/ERP system in four manufacturing facilities and 10 distribution sites that reduced inventory 15% while increasing the order fill rate above 98%.
• Negotiated multiple international contracts that realized an annual savings exceeding $2 million.