Susanne Steffensen
Flowserve Inc.
Chesapeake,VA
14
years of professional experience
Results-driven Global Supplier Manager with over 10 years of experience in supply chain and category strategy across a $300M portfolio. Managed global suppliers to enhance executive partnerships and deliver value through supplier rationalization and contract execution. Reduced supplier base by one-third and executed master agreements, improving performance through structured governance and escalation management.
Work History
Global Supplier Manager, Buyouts & Competitor Products
9 Years- Area of Responsibility: Buyouts and Competitive Products; (motors, drives, engines, turbines, couplings, bearings, seals, seal systems, gear boxes, valves, & pumps) worldwide.
- - Managed 4 of the top 5 suppliers for Buyouts and 3 of the top 5 suppliers of all Flowserve.
- - Total Buyout and Competitor spend $300M yearly.
- - 8 Globally Managed suppliers with a spend of $90M yearly.
- - Risk management: Oversaw Risk Management Tool and Red Flag Report, reducing potential risks to Flowserve.
- - Strategic business reviews: Organized and led yearly or bi-annual executive meetings with globally managed suppliers, enhancing collaboration and driving business growth.
- - Commodity Management: Researched and compiled executive report regarding motor pricing, based on the raw material pricing history and trends (mainly electrical steel and copper).
- - Operational Escalations: Handled escalations from the sites regarding globally managed suppliers and solved them to a win-win solution.
- Major Accomplishments:
- - Managed relationships with suppliers to optimize performance: Transitioned relationship with competitor & supplier from transactional to weekly touchpoints and conducted two executive meetings at competitor's headquarters.
- - Supplier Rationalization: Reduced 1/3 of available suppliers for Buyouts and Competitor Products.
- - Contractual Coverage: 6 Master Supplier Contracts closed in past 2 years.
- - Project Management: Conducted weekly or monthly Steering Committee Meetings to facilitate communication and completion of major projects like Jafurah, Amiral, and Hail & Ghasha.
- - Nuclear Motors Management: Intervened and improved delivery from the two major manufacturers of nuclear electrical motors to Flowserve.
Regional Category Manager, Buyouts & Competitor Products, Americas
1 Year 11 Months- Area of Responsibility: Buyouts and Competitive Products; (motors, drives, engines, turbines, couplings, bearings, seals, seal systems, gear boxes, valves, & pumps) for the Americas.
- - 42 Partner and Preferred suppliers with a spend of $100M in the American Region.
- - Led and managed strategic business reviews with partner suppliers bi-annually to align goals and drive mutual success.
- - Leading the Segmentation Reboot for all commodities determining Partner and Preferred suppliers and leading to a vendor rationalization.
- - Organized and conducted contract negotiations with selected partner and preferred suppliers to establish favorable terms.
- - Engaging with category team members forming Strategic Sourcing Roadmaps for main commodities.
- - Facilitated regular meetings with suppliers to discuss performance and expectations, and led steering committee meetings to guide vendor management.
- - Providing operational support to the manufacturing sites across the world (Japan, India, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, England, Columbia, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Canada, and United States).
- - Led regional virtual meetings to align strategies and share updates across teams. for both the American region (AMER) (South & North America) and the European region (EMEA).
Senior Buyer, Various Commodities: Motors, Castings, Machined Parts
4 Years 3 Months- - Managed Motors, Mechanical Seals, and Couplings ($17M / 9000 line items yearly)
- - Managed outsourced machining commodity, overseeing $5.7M and 3200 line items annually.
- - Continuous improvement of Outsourced Machining Process – OTD improvement from 80% to 95%.
- - Lead and coordinated Sample Project for Self-Primer castings (past 8 months).
- - Facilitated import of foreign production materials from Europe, ensuring timely availability for production needs.
- - Enhanced AG inventory management through improved forecasting and safety stock strategies.
- - Leading efforts to evaluate and update safety stock, lead times, minimum reorder quantity, and ABC levels.
Adjunct and Advisor, on-site
4 Years- - Taught adjunct courses at TCC, leveraging expertise in industrial engineering and ISO 9001 standards.
- - Advised on grant “Teaching Teamwork,” enhancing collaboration between Concord Consortium and TCC.
- - Contributed to strategic direction as a board member on the advisory board for TCC Electrical Engineering College.
Planner II, Foreign Products
5 Years- - Managed purchasing orders of all Foreign Commodities (50% of inventory).
- - Enhanced cash flow through 42% reduction in purchasing of Foreign Commodities.
- Oversaw master scheduling process from 2014 to 2015
- - Coordinated scheduling and management of production capacity for ETO, MTO, and MTS orders across 7 value streams.
- - Oversaw cost accounting functions, determining manufacturing overhead and SG&A overhead from 2012 to 2014.
- - Determined Manufacturing Overhead and SG&A overhead.
Education
Master of Science - International Technology Management
Skills
Supply Chain Management
Strategic sourcing
Supplier strategy
Supplier partnerships
Supplier Rationalization
Commodity Management
Chain optimization
Risk Management
Contractual Coverage
Data analysis
Problem-solving
Cross-functional teamwork
Languages
- Native speaker of Danish; fluent English both verbally and written; excellent verbal German.
Timeline
Regional Category Manager, Buyouts & Competitor Products, Americas
Flowserve Inc.
11.2021 - 10.2023Read More
Senior Buyer, Various Commodities: Motors, Castings, Machined Parts
Flowserve Inc.
07.2017 - 10.2021Read More
Global Supplier Manager, Buyouts & Competitor Products
Flowserve Inc.
01.2017 - 01.2026Read More
Adjunct and Advisor, on-site
Tidewater Community College
01.2013 - 01.2017Read More
Planner II, Foreign Products
Bauer Compressors, Inc.
01.2012 - 01.2017Read More
Aalborg University
Master of Science from International Technology Management
Read More