Dawn M. Cross Smott Email & Phone Number

Lake Forest, Illinois

Manage accounts payable for all Sears Holdings transportation, overseeing payments of $750 million+ annually to 50+ service providersMonitor all carrier aging and unconfirmed reports; address carrier questions and issues as they arise in order to maintain outstanding payments to under 30 daysAudit payment and rating processes to ensure daily payment records are processed correctly, allowing for early identification of payment issues and reducing carrier payment inquiresSuccessfully transitioned payment of all carrier accessorial invoices to auto payment through OTM, dramatically reducing the number of invoices paid via manual methods

Developed, implemented and maintain a decon bypass program; identify large volume import orders destined to deconsolidation facilities, work with inventory management and logistics planners to redirect freight to final DC location bypassing the deconsolidation facilities resulting in cost and transit savings, reduced international transportation expenses by $1.3 million in 2009 and $1.6 million in 2010Helped develop, implemented and maintain an international on time performance measurement process; analyze data to determine cause of delays and identify actions for improvement, report results weekly/monthly to senior managementDeveloped, implemented and a maintain an import expedite process; communicate with inventory management and service providers to ensure freight identified as hot is expedited through the supply chainSupport department and business partners with ad-hoc reporting and analysis utilizing multiple resourcesComposed and maintain department processes and procedures

Responsible for 3rd party import deconsolidation operations and outbound transportation to final DCEstablished operations strategy and policies for 40,000 import containers moving through three deconsolidation facilities; monitored facilities adherence to theseMonitored and controlled $20 million annual deconsolidation operating expenseMonitored and controlled physical loading and outbound trailer utilization for $60 million domestic truckingDeveloped relationships and negotiated with ocean and domestic carriers on operational issues, service levels, delivery requirements, equipment pool requirementsManaged a bi-annual import direct to store program from inception to completion; oversaw import contract creation and store order allocations, coordinated the delivery of 2,500 ocean containers to three decon facilities, monitored route optimization and physical loading of 1,500 outbound loads, monitored and tracked on time delivery performance of multiple carriers making 4,500 deliveries; obtained 5% savings year over year while maintaining a 99%+ on time delivery performanceManaged deconsolidation center relocation from IL to NJ decreasing international transportation expense by $40 million annually; developed exit strategy and inbound and outbound volume strategies, oversaw start up at new facility

Planned, coordinated and monitored the pick-up and delivery of collect vendor freight to fifteen Kmart DCs and three deconsolidation facilities, with focus on cost effectiveness and on-time delivery Troubleshot and resolved all transportation related issues that could potentially disrupt the flow of merchandiseCommunicated with both internal (i.e. merchandisers, DC operations, stores) and external (i.e. vendors, carriers) partners to ensure a continued merchandise flowComposed and maintained vendor training documentation and materialsWorked on a team that developed, tested and implemented new logic in transportation management tool, improving system performance and routing optimizationWorked on a team that developed and implemented a Midwest domestic consolidation center, improving merchandise flow while reducing transportation expense; developed and composed training material and new policy/procedures relating to the implementation of the new program; provided ongoing support and enhancements to the program