Category ManagementCategory management requires a deep understanding of the market and the suppliers in a particular category to develop a viable Strategy for each of the materials. To do this well requires experience and an on-going commitment of resources. However, the effort and the benefits tend to be more periodic and focused on competitive bidding activities. Companies may be interested in outsourcing their Category Management as a way of accessing the experience and knowledge base when needed, without the financial commitment required to maintain a senior level Category Manager.Innovative strategies should also be considered to consolidate Spend or to broaden the Supplier Base to include Asian or South American suppliers.  Project ManagementThe bulk of the work begins once the strategy has been established. Finding the best suppliers generally starts with a competitive bidding process know as a Request for Proposals (RFP). This often requires several rounds of communications to make sure the proposals are appropriate and comparable. Implementing alternative materials cannot be accomplished without a significant level of support from disciplines other than Procurement. Regulatory will need to update the registrations for all of the products using the material. R&D will need to test the alternatives to ensure high quality products. And Supply Chain will ultimately have to complete their Management of Change process so that the alternates can be used in production. Establishing a complete plan to identify all of the projects will help to set priorities and drive the projects to completion.Business DevelopmentUnderstanding how a company’s product offerings line up with current suppliers in the US market requires an in-depth understanding of that market and the supplier base. It may also require some regulatory activities to enable breaking into the market.

Developed and executed procurement strategies for Active Ingredients (AIs) and Functional Additives to reduce costs and improve security of supply. The Functional Additives is a global role with accountability across all of FMC’s business divisions and covers Surfactants, Lignosulfonates, Antifoams, and Biocides. The procurement of Active ingredients is a regional role covering pesticides purchased for the US market.➢ Managed $85M in spend across 25 Active Ingredients (AIs) negotiating with more than 20 suppliers.➢ Developed a strategy to partner with a Chinese manufacturer to register and import specific AIs at cost + 5%.➢ Began Implementation on 4 AIs that will ultimately save ~$18M/yr without risking competition or retaliation.➢ Managed over $60M spend for FAs and reduced FMC costs by >$5M/yr.➢ Implemented a strategy to develop Partners for Surfactants (90% of spend) to reduce costs, improve security of supply, and provide strong support to R&D and Manufacturing.➢ Developed testing and regulatory processes to allow for the use of alternate ingredients in a highly regulated environment.

Participated in the early stages of product development to provide supply options by leveraging existing relationships, and developing new sources of supply to identify solutions for key technology issues globally. ➢ Aligned procurement strategy for new products with business, supply chain and regulatory strategies to ensure timely launch of NPIs.➢ Participated in the NPI process and lead the procurement strategy to minimize cost, enhance speed to market, ensure security of supply and align with key external partnerships.➢ Establish and drive effective network with suppliers and identify strategic sources of supply.

Drove improvements in the procurement of formulation components to ensure they are cost effective and secure. ➢ Lead the Formulations Development groups across the global businesses to ensure that components used in new product introductions are consistent with Procurement strategies.➢ Managed qualification of ~300 formulation components to ensure security of supply and protect $240M in EBIT.➢ Developed Procurement strategies for delivering formulation components to APG through a balanced network of suppliers.➢ Developed partnerships with key suppliers to implement testing plans and track progress.➢ Qualified suppliers by conducting audits to insure they meet FMC requirements relative to EHS performance, confidentiality, quality control, cost competitiveness, and customer service.

Coordinated commercialization efforts for New Products globally.➢ Developed Project Management tools to ensure rigorous evaluation and review of commercialization activities for new product development leading to $400M in sales.➢ Lead quarterly reviews of Area Projects to coordinate activities globally.➢ Developed CSFs and contracted Product Chemistry studies for regulatory submissions.

Directed the R&D efforts in Process, Formulation, and Analytical groups. Interfaced with top management and provided a consistent and compelling vision to the groups reporting to me. Directed the R&D activities of a staff of 78 scientists with a budget of ~$10M.➢ Lead integration of global R&D strategies, developing a compelling vision for global R&D activities building strong collaborative culture with FMC labs in US, China and India. ➢ Developed plans for technology transfer and start up to move production of seven compounds to low cost productions sites in China and India.➢ Participated in the redesign of FMC’s supply chain and technology groups to accommodate the shift in manufacturing base.➢ Lead the project to reregister the compounds in all of our Global markets for Asian production, identification of project plans and critical and high risk tasks➢ Developed resource plans to accomplish the transition in a timely manner.➢ Managed development of Technology Transfer Packages and implemented a world wide database to manage APG’s Process and Analytical information globally.

Managed a multi-disciplined team of engineers, chemists, and formulations scientists in developing new products and implementing process improvements to increase the profitability of APG’s pesticides. The processes are complex, multi-step syntheses with significant challenges in the areas of corrosion, reaction kinetics, and isolation technologies. ➢ Lead the transformation of the group from a hierarchical organization to a multidiscipline, team-based organization. ➢ Built and maintained strong relationships with the personnel in the technical plants, the formulations plants, business management, and the sales/marketing areas.➢ Managed budget of ~$4M and development plans for a group of 30 scientists. ➢ Helped to stabilize and improve the plant operations to produce more consistent results using Six-Sigma tools.➢ Managed development of new and simplified processes to increase the yield and reliability.➢ Identified crystal morphology problems impacting product quality and modified operating conditions to produce high quality material consistently.➢ Initiated QAR procedure to qualify and bring in low cost raw materials without jeopardizing product quality.➢ Sponsored GLP studies to develop Product Chemistry Packages for new active ingredients and new formulations.

Responsible for managing Pilot operation and the technology to scale-up chemical processes. This is a 5 day, 24 hour operation with 15 technicians, 3 chemists, and 10 engineers. Process scale-up begins in the Kilo Lab in 5, 12, and 22 liter glass vessels and continues into the Pilot in 50 to 500 gallon reactors. ➢ Installed new equipment to enable developing and piloting state-of-the-art chemical processing technologies.➢ Coordinated and allocated resources to scale-up and commercialize two complex processes to new herbicides.➢ Implemented and maintained Process Safety Management system for the Pilot Plant.➢ Developed departmental information management systems (Lotus Notes, Oracle, and Aspen).

Responsible for developing and scaling up new formulations and preparing field samples. ➢ Developed and commercialized WG and CS formulations to improve customer acceptance and control toxicity and volatility.

Responsible for developing the project scope, initial cost estimates, Letter of Justification, cost and schedule tracking, design specifications, construction, and startup.➢ Managed the scope and design phases of the Bayport Butyllithium Plant ($10M).➢ Managed the Pilot Plant Instrumentation Project. Developed specifications for the field instruments, the computer control system, and the data processing computer system. As an outgrowth of this project, I worked with Honeywell, Mobil Oil, and P&G to develop a configurable interface between the process control system and the business computer systems.

Responsible for design and installation of the instrumentation and control system➢ Designed, supervised installation, and started up instrumentation and control system for a Lithium Chloride plant.➢ Managed contractor follow-up activities for the instrumentation and controls portion of a hydrogen peroxide facility in Canada.

Assigned to the Port Jerome Refinery in France for a period of two years to design and implement control applications on a pipestill modernization project. Became fluent in French and implemented multi-variable, model based control schemes. ➢ Instructor for the Basic Control Engineer's Training course where students learned the basic concepts and techniques used in modern process control.➢ Performed a process control effectiveness audit at the Ioco Refinery, Canada.➢ Developed detailed dynamic simulations of process units (steam systems, oil recovery plant, fuel gas system, ethylene plant, lube oil plant, and crude fractionators). These simulations were used in control studies and for operator training.➢ Initiated development of a data-driven simulation package to allow existing computer models to be reconfigured and linked to create new simulation through configuration.

Partner, Creative Remodeling 1973-1978Started up a small construction company with sales of about $100K/yr focusing on residential remodeling and construction of pre-fabricated housing.