James M. Miller
North Aurora,IL
Summary
Experienced professional with a strong background in sales engineering and supply chain. Adept at combining technical expertise with customer requirements to deliver effective product solutions and elevate customer satisfaction levels. Demonstrates exceptional skills in delivering impactful technical presentations and devising strategic sales plans.
Overview
13
13
years of professional experience
Work History
Industrial Sales Engineer
Diamond Industrial Sales, LLC
04.2022 - 11.2024
- Managed a diverse customer base across various industries for 14 principals represented, ensuring maximum exposure of company offerings.
- Established trusted relationships with key customers for repeat business and referrals, cultivating a strong network within the served industries.
- Achieved consistent year-over-year growth in territory sales by proactively identifying new opportunities and strategically expanding business relationships within existing accounts.
- Developed a $49M sales pipeline within 3yrs, 75% of pipeline coming from new/prospect customers.
- Gathered valuable feedback from customers on product quality and performance, sharing insights with engineering teams for continuous improvement efforts.
- Provided technical support to customers addressing concerns, and offering solutions tailored to their needs.
- Utilized technical knowledge to gain a competitive edge in the market by effectively showcasing manufacturer's capabilities in comparison to competitor offerings.
Supply Chain and Operations Manager- SK Hand Tool
IDEAL Industries, Inc.
02.2021 - 12.2021
- Appointed Operations Manager to lead manufacturing and material flow improvements throughout entire operation in preparation of the Sale of SK Tools
- Responsible for 29 employees, 28 hourly and 1 salaried
- Decommissioned and closed in 6 months after date of sale (3 months after decision to close/relocate facility was made)
Supply Chain and Procurement Manager- IDEAL Tool Group (SK Hand Tool & Western Forge)
IDEAL Industries, Inc.
03.2019 - 02.2021
- Responsible for 3 Buyers including 2 off-site at Western Forge
- Built supplier relationships to mitigate risk and establish effective purchasing arrangements
- Implemented Lean Manufacturing techniques to improve material flow and efficiencies, resulting in lead-time reductions of 35% at outside vendors
- Led change management initiatives and designed functional area infrastructure to support demand planning and supply strategy
- Negotiated contracts for primary suppliers with emphasis on inventory reduction, and cost targets
- Collaboration with sales, marketing, and finance teams to reduce and eliminating slow-moving items while coordinating with procurement to ensure obsolete inventory is mitigated
- Decommissioned and closed Western Forge (March 2020)
Global Category Leader Castings & Machining
Pentair Ltd.
02.2017 - 03.2019
- Managed Global Supply Chain for eleven sites within Pentair's North American Operations with annual spend of $26.0M (castings), $9.0M (machining), while supporting the Global Casting and Machining Strategy spend of $100.0M
- Develop and execute cost saving projects from productivity funnel of 10% with annual productivity improvements of 5%, delivering results of 6%
- Coordinate and facilitate relationships with key stakeholders across business'
- Identify and develop partnerships with key suppliers to reduce supply chain footprint across both Low-Volume/High-Mix and High-Volume/Low-Mix business'
- Negotiate and execute supplier contracts with year-over-year productivity, Metal Pricing Formulas and annual payment term improvements
Supply Leader, Casting Category
Pentair Ltd.
02.2016 - 02.2017
- Managed Global Casting Supply Chain for North Aurora Operations with High-Mix/Low-Volume spend of $13.0M while supporting in Business Unit's Global Strategy spend of $60.0M
- Build, maintain and execute projects from a productivity funnel of 8% for global spend
- Continually review commodity markets to identify Value-Engineering opportunities along with cost avoidance solutions by utilizing e-Sourcing and supplier negotiations
- Align strategies with internal stakeholders (Engineering, Ops, Marketing/Sales and Finance) to drive productivity throughout organization -Develop key and alternate supplier list to better manage complexity of a Low-Volume/High-Mix supply chain
Supply Analyst, Casting Category
Pentair Ltd.
07.2013 - 02.2016
- Assisted in managing Domestic and International Supply Chain for Flow and Filtration Solutions North American BU with spend of $55.0M -Casting Supply Chain lead for North Aurora site specific NPD projects along with market specific growth initiatives
- Commodity Lead for casting VA/VE projects at North Aurora site, utilizing as a platform across other sites.
- Led multi-commodity cost out efforts to meet site specific annual goals (Castings, Machining, Fabrications)
Casting Buyer
Pentair Ltd.
01.2012 - 07.2013
- Purchasing of Castings from Domestic and International suppliers with an annual spend of $13.0M
- Implemented daily milk run for plant's largest casting supplier with an annual spend of $5.0M
- Reviewed casting defects that were found during products and worked with supplier to make proper adjustments to processes to remove future defects
- Assisted Strategic Sourcing with sending RFQ's and managing PO's for NPD projects
Education
Bachelor of Science - Industrial Management
William Penn University
Oskaloosa, IA12.2011
Associate of Applied Science - Precision Machining Technologies
Vincennes University
Vincennes, IN05.2009
Skills
- Microsoft Office Suite
- ERP and Supply Chain software
- Negotiation
- Project management
- Task prioritization
- Relationship building
- Customer support
- CRM software
Timeline
Industrial Sales Engineer
Diamond Industrial Sales, LLC
04.2022 - 11.2024
Supply Chain and Operations Manager- SK Hand Tool
IDEAL Industries, Inc.
02.2021 - 12.2021
Supply Chain and Procurement Manager- IDEAL Tool Group (SK Hand Tool & Western Forge)
IDEAL Industries, Inc.
03.2019 - 02.2021
Global Category Leader Castings & Machining
Pentair Ltd.
02.2017 - 03.2019
Supply Leader, Casting Category
Pentair Ltd.
02.2016 - 02.2017
Supply Analyst, Casting Category
Pentair Ltd.
07.2013 - 02.2016
Casting Buyer
Pentair Ltd.
01.2012 - 07.2013
Associate of Applied Science - Precision Machining Technologies
Vincennes University
Bachelor of Science - Industrial Management
William Penn University
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