Laura Zimmerman
Lincolnwood,IL
Summary
Versatile Supply Chain Professional successful at taking on routine and complex business challenges with a resourceful and creative approach. Always keeping key stakeholders top of mind when creating solutions, coupled with an action oriented mindset. Recognized as a driven, dedicated and hardworking leader with a history of streamlining operations and increasing results. Proactive and hardworking individual focused on continuous operational improvement. · Knowledgeable in the wire and cable commodity space and comfortable with a range of product categories.
Overview
10
10
years of professional experience
Work History
Sourcing Operations Supervisor
McDonald's
03.2022 - Current
- Lead 3rd Party management activities related to Sourcing execution support specific to GSSS which include leading regular cadences, developing metrics to monitor value of service and establishing continual feedback survey to monitor stakeholder experience.
- Improved operational efficiency by creating and managing the COE Universal Intake workflow to yield time saving benefits to our Category Leads.
- Managed daily sourcing operational needs and escalations to enable GSSS Category Leads to focus on more strategic priorities.
- Lead metric reporting to provide sourcing data insights related to pipeline planning, utilization of services and internal operating metrics.
- Enhanced The COE Team's outreach and productivity by leading cross functional workstream to develop and implement our new Teams Site.
- Support continuous improvement initiatives aimed at standardizing our operating procedures to ensure consistency in our GSC 7-Step Sourcing Process execution and deliverables.
- Collaborate cross-functionally to develop innovative solutions within our S2P platform by expanding personal knowledge of the tool to determine how to optimally leverage capabilities and features available to improve sourcing execution performance.
OEM Sourcing Manager
Anixter
06.2019 - 03.2022
- Responsible for leading and improving the OEM Sourcing Team's best practices for customer initiated pricing requests by handling large scale requests personally as well as implementing processes and data tools for the team.
- Team collectively sourced over $100 million worth of complex bills of material YoY. Includes electrical and electronic wire, electrical supplies, power and control items, supply chain services and MRO products.
- Worked cross functionally across Sales, Marketing, Inventory Management, and Supply Chain teams to bring value to the business by increasing win rate by ~10%.
- Manage efficiency aspects by converting manual sourcing efforts to automated processes and increasing response cycle time through excel and PowerBi tools. Results yielded an increase in sourcing productivity by 22% in 2020 and 39% 2021 YTD.
- Designed an automated working file, to automatically pull system cost data as a benchmark against additional supplier quotes and automatically conduct copper adjustments and multiple manufacturer cost comparisons.
- Created a PowerBi Sourcing Pipeline to track open bids, quantify opportunities for sales leadership and monitor team bandwidth.
- Demonstrate a strong understanding of commercial priorities, supplier capabilities, and customer requirements by developing and maintaining a range of working relationships.
- Responsible for three direct reports across US and Canada.
OEM Sourcing Analyst
Anixter
03.2018 - 06.2019
- Effectively sourced $28 million worth of complex bills of material in 2018 that included electrical and electronic wire, electrical supplies, power and control items, supply chain services and MRO products.
- Analyzed landed cost quote packages to make supplier recommendations in alignment with product marketing to lead to cost reduction opportunities and additional awarded business.
- Partnered with Global OEM Account Managers to manage global sourcing events and inventory implementations by acting as the liaison between suppliers, internal cross functional teams and customer.
- Managed multiple programs simultaneously for several global and national accounts including various copper pricing programs.
- Developed and maintained relationships with suppliers to ensure strong service and support during the duration of the program.
Purchasing Supervisor
Anixter
10.2015 - 03.2018
- Built a team of seven buyers by continually onboarding employees and worked closely with them to develop their personal career goals.
- Lead the team by implementing standard operating procedures to close service gaps as well as organize monthly team meetings to increase communication channel.
- Navigated challenging internal and external scenarios regarding service levels or process gaps.
- Created additional training manuals to reflect current processes of the team.
- Reported daily, weekly, and monthly metrics to keep a pulse on productivity and service levels given by my team to be able to offer feedback for new process improvements.
- Improved procurement efficiency by streamlining the purchasing process and implementing cost-saving measures.
Non-Standard Materials Buyer
Anixter
06.2014 - 10.2015
- Purchased non-standard material and managed the movement of those goods to over 30 distribution centers across the U.S. for 13 designated sales locations.
- Maintained internal and external relations to better the service given to our end users by communicating any inventory or status changes.
- Worked with various groups within Anixter such as sales, accounts payable, operations, product management and finance to solve issues regarding purchase orders.
- Achieved cost savings by identifying opportunities for consolidation and bulk purchasing across departments.
- Ensured timely delivery of products by closely monitoring vendor performance and addressing any issues promptly.
Education
Bachelor of Arts - Economics Management
Ohio Wesleyan University
Delaware, OH05.2013
Skills
- Building PowerBi dashboards
- SmartSheet Operations
- Microsoft Office Suite with a focus on Excel and Access
- Project & Time Management
- Customer Relations
- Organizational Skills
- Team Leadership
- Cross-functional Collaboration
McDonald's Enrichment Activities
- MHQ Tour Guide (2022-Present)
- Mark Cuban Foundation Mentor (2022)
- Basic Supply Chain Training Course (2023)
- GSC Holiday Planning Team: Member (Q4 2023)
- WWC24 Planning Committee: Supplier Awards Communication Lead (2023-2024)
- GSC Philanthropy Planning Team: Member (2023)
- GSC Philanthropy Planning Team: Lead (2024)
Timeline
Sourcing Operations Supervisor
McDonald's
03.2022 - Current
OEM Sourcing Manager
Anixter
06.2019 - 03.2022
OEM Sourcing Analyst
Anixter
03.2018 - 06.2019
Purchasing Supervisor
Anixter
10.2015 - 03.2018
Non-Standard Materials Buyer
Anixter
06.2014 - 10.2015
Bachelor of Arts - Economics Management
Ohio Wesleyan University