Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Certificationsandawards
Timeline
Generic

Lokesh Yadagiri

Baltimore,Maryland

Summary

Dynamic Business Operations Professional with over 7 years of experience in high-growth startups, specializing in strategic planning and complex problem-solving across supply chain management, logistics, and manufacturing. Demonstrated expertise in sales and operations planning, forecasting, and cross-functional communication has led to significant improvements in operational efficiency. Proven ability to manage large-scale projects while enhancing productivity and reducing costs through streamlined processes. A results-driven leader focused on leveraging strategic insights to drive business success.

Overview

8
8
years of professional experience

Work History

Senior Industrial Engineer

Relatable
New York City
03.2024 - Current
  • Cross-functional collaboration: Serve as a primary point of contact for, and liaison with, production, procurement, logistics, and sales to align goals and strategies.
  • Demand Planning: Forecasting using historical data (POS data) for major retailers Amazon, TGT, Walmart, and WMT CA by analyzing market trends and factors to determine demand for products, as well as to determine the quantity and timing of production. Engage with sales and marketing in weekly CPFR meetings to gather information on customer demand and promotions that impact demand, while keeping in stock over 96.3% versus the company goal of 95%.
  • Supply Planning: Optimize inventory levels to meet demand, while minimizing carrying costs. Balance the cost of holding inventory against potential stockouts. Understand and manage lead times for raw materials, production, and distribution to ensure timely delivery to customers. The fill rate for year-to-date is 98.5% compared to the company goal of 97%.
  • Continuous Improvement: Implementing KPIs to measure the effectiveness of demand and supply planning processes. Monitor metrics such as forecast accuracy, on-time delivery, and inventory turnover to identify areas for improvement. Reduced year-end inventory valuation by 10% vs. LE.
  • Data Analytics and Database Management: Conduct data analysis to gain insights on demand patterns, identify trends, and present findings to senior management to support data-driven decision-making.
  • Project Management: Manage and execute multiple projects concurrently, ensuring on-time delivery, within budget, and meeting predefined objectives. Develop plans, allocate resources, and monitor progress to achieve project milestones. Successfully launched 15 or more new products in the spring and fall seasons while meeting budget and in-store launch dates. (TGT Pallet programs, WMT Islander, Hunt A Killer Games)

Manager – S&OP, Supply Chain, and Logistics Operations

Hunt A Killer
Baltimore, MD
08.2021 - 03.2024
  • Collaboration with Sales and Marketing: Serve as a primary point of contact for, and liaison with, marketing, fulfillment, and supply chain departments. Collaborated with sales and marketing teams to understand market dynamics and customer demands. Translated sales forecasts into production plans, ensuring alignment with sales objectives.
  • Cross-functional coordination: Collaborate cross-functionally to establish schedules and plans that allocate available resources to best serve customer needs. Facilitated monthly S&OP meetings to align sales, production, and inventory plans, while preparing metrics and supporting documentation.
  • Continuous improvement initiatives: Evaluated and recommended higher-selling products to the sales team and incorporated them into the forecasting model. Suggested product life cycle improvements.
  • Budget and resource allocation: Managed budgets of more than $2M while balancing financial considerations with operational requirements to achieve cost-effective outcomes, which included freight.
  • Risk Management: Identified potential risks and bottlenecks in the supply chain, and developed plans and buffer stock for inventory.
  • Data Analysis and Reporting: Serving as the primary point of contact for inventory, budgeting, and churn/retention analysis. Prepare and present reports on key KPIs to the senior leadership team.
  • Supply chain management: Oversee vendor negotiations, which led to an overall reduction in COGS by over 43%. Supported the retail division by overseeing logistics to support Target, Walmart, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble on a quarterly basis. Manage 3PL and freight forwarder relations.

Operations Manager

Hunt A Killer
Baltimore, MD
07.2017 - 07.2021
  • Team Leadership: Led a team of 30 warehouse associates and 4 direct reports, while providing guidance and mentoring. Trained staff on various processes, such as receiving, inventory counts, buying, freight planning, and other warehouse operations. Met with staff monthly to review performance, and provided coaching as needed to improve performance. Held staff accountable for performance issues, and referred to HR as needed for guidance.
  • Sales and Operational Planning: Updated forecasts for new products, seasonal products, discounts, and promotions each month. Supported the company in production planning, and ensured the business is adequately resourced. Build the foundation for the S&OP department, and design an MRP module in Excel.
  • Order Fulfillment Efficiency: Oversaw over 5 million shipments with less than a 1% error rate and 99.5% fulfillment accuracy. Implemented production workflows and quality control measures to keep the overall error rate under 1%.
  • Supply Chain Management: Identified opportunities for efficiency gains and cost reduction across all operational functions. Coordinated with the inventory/reordering team to monitor and maintain optimal inventory levels while having no products out of stock
  • Lead Time Optimization: Analyzed historical data to optimize lead times, reducing overall delivery lead times ensuring product is delivered with a 2-week buffer
  • Process Optimization: Implemented many new policies and procedures relating to operational processes in both warehouse and SCM teams, such as Kaizen, cycle counts, time studies, GEMBA walks, and six sigma methodologies
  • Strategic Planning: Planned and designed 21,000 sq foot fulfillment center in Baltimore
  • Carrier Performance Analysis: Onboarded and negotiated shipping rates from various carriers saving over $1.5M annually. Switched to DHL Express, DHL eCommerce and FedEx ground from USPS
  • Technology Integration: Implemented Snap Fulfil WMS to enhance operational processes in the warehouse. Key stakeholder during the transition between e-commerce platforms, such as Crate Joy, Shopify, Nop-Commerce, and Stay.ai.
  • Inventory: Conducted quarterly inventory audits to ensure that inventory aligns with QBO. Coached the inventory team to run weekly cycle counts for better visibility and improved inventory accuracy.

Logistics Coordinator

Hunt A Killer
Baltimore, MD
02.2017 - 07.2017
  • Sourced quality materials per directed specifications both domestic and international using JIT principles while keeping COGS under budget
  • Managed and maintained solid relationships with all primary vendors and negotiated better pricing
  • Projected and maintained accurate inventory levels through accounting and restocking (40+ SKUs)
  • Developed systematic processes to accurately and efficiently fulfill monthly shipments (10k shipments/month)
  • Ensured monthly shipping deadlines are met through planning and execution
  • Recruited appropriate levels of labor using staff agencies
  • Managed 12 warehouse associates and one direct report
  • Provided the highest level of delivery rate with less than 1% error rate
  • Identified inefficiencies in the processes and developed new procedures using lean and six sigma methodologies to increase production efficiency

Education

Master of Science - Industrial and Systems Engineering

Binghamton University, State University of New York - Watson School of Engineering
08.2016

Bachelor of Science - Mechanical Engineering

Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University-Hyderabad
India
05.2013

Skills

  • Project Management
  • ERP: NetSuite
  • Risk Management
  • Process Improvement
  • Inventory Management
  • Scenario modeling
  • Production and capacity planning
  • Data analytics and reporting
  • Strategic and tactical planning
  • Budgeting and Financial management

Certificationsandawards

  • Lean Six Sigma – Green Belt, 07/01/16, Binghamton University
  • Certificate of Recognition, 10/01/15, Division of Student Affairs, Binghamton University
  • Founding member for #6 Fastest growing company Inc 5000, 2020

Timeline

Senior Industrial Engineer

Relatable
03.2024 - Current

Manager – S&OP, Supply Chain, and Logistics Operations

Hunt A Killer
08.2021 - 03.2024

Operations Manager

Hunt A Killer
07.2017 - 07.2021

Logistics Coordinator

Hunt A Killer
02.2017 - 07.2017

Master of Science - Industrial and Systems Engineering

Binghamton University, State University of New York - Watson School of Engineering

Bachelor of Science - Mechanical Engineering

Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University-Hyderabad

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Lokesh Yadagiri