Speaker's Bios

Nis-Peter Iwersen
Vice President
Danfoss International Procurement Offices, China

Mr. Nis-Peter Iwersen has 10 years succesful China experience of setting up two green field companies (one in Tianjin and one in Suzhou) and is since 2004 responsible for setting up and managing the Danfoss International Procurement offices (IPO) in China.

In sourcing he has been active engaged in China for 5 years, hereof 3 years in charge of the fast growing Danfoss IPO. Before that as head of procurement of a division with factories in Mexico, China and Demark.

He holds a bachelor degree in Finance and Administration from Denmark.

Target:   Reach over 16% in 2008 of our global group spend from China for our world wide factories.

Mark Purtilar
Vice President, Global Procurement
ArvinMeritor

Mark W. Purtilar is the vice president of Global Procurement for ArvinMeritor Automotive, based in Troy, Michigan.

Over a twenty-seven year career, Mark has developed global business expertise in supply chain management and senior level executive assignments in the United States, Mexico, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.  He has progressive senior management, sales and marketing and operations experience as a business unit Vice President and General Manager, Managing Director, Sales and Marketing Director, Business Development, Supply Chain and Purchasing Manager while working at ArvinMeritor and Sara Lee Corporations.  He has extensive multi-site, multi-national experience in the US, Europe, South America and Africa.  Mark has experience ranging from developing new companies outside of North America, new distribution networks internationally, and consolidating multi-site facilities globally.  Mark is regarded as one of the top authorities on global sourcing, and has been the featured speaker at The Marcus Evans Global Supply Chain Summit, and ProcureCon 2006.

Residing in Rochester Hills, Michigan; Mark and his wife, Chesla, have been married for twenty-five years and they are the proud parents of Chet, 21, who attends The New York School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, and Elyse, a high school senior who will be attending Trinity College in Chicago in the fall.  They are active in many church, and community activities.

Vivek Kamran
Global Program Manager Cargo & Sensor Systems
Goodrich

Coming soon...

Anthony Barone
Director Global Logistics Policy
Pfizer

Scott Champion 
MCIPS, C.P.M., A.P.P. - Director of Corporate Purchasing
American Safety Razor Company

Scott Champion is the Corporate Director of Purchasing for American Safety Razor Company, the leading global supplier of private label wet shaving razors and blades along with branded industrial and medical cutting implements.  Scott's responsibilities encompass Strategic and Tactical Procurement, Global Sourcing, and Supplier Management.

Prior to joining ASR, Scott was the Leader of the Strategic Sourcing CoE and World Class Procurement for Siemens PTD USA.  While working for Siemens, Scott also was a faculty member for Materials Management, Business Finance, and Operations Management and the collegiate level. 

With 17 years experience in Supply Management, Scott earned his B.S. Degree in Economics, Business, and Sociology from Pfeiffer College and his Graduate Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply in the United Kingdom.

Deborah Winkleblack
Executive Director International Logistics & Compliance
Claire's Accessories

Coming soon..

Julie H Chen
Head Low Cost Sourcing
Novartis Pharmaceuticals

Julie Chen heads the Novartis Pharma Low Cost Sourcing program responsible for  expanding the supplier base in the strategic emerging markets through proactively establishing supply market knowledge and actively promoting and capturing third party sourcing opportunities in these markets.   Prior to her current position, Julie was the Director of Production Purchasing for the Novartis US Pharmaceuticals Operation.    

Before joining Novartis in 2002, Julie held increasing responsibilities in Hewlett-Packard/Agilent Technologies in HSE, Facilities and Manufacturing Management. Her experiences included leading a major globalization initiative in offshoring/outsourcing the manufacturing operations, restructuring the global supply chain, developing Asia suppliers and managing the operational and people transition. She has had extensive experiences in benchmarking internal operation against global suppliers, and developing and implementing business strategies to ensure long-term competitiveness.

Maria Prince
CPM Director, Procurement – Launch
Victoria's Secret Production

Maria Prince is Director of Procurement for Limited Brands.  Limited owns Victoria Secret Stores, Express Mens, Express Womens, Bath and Body Works, White Barn Candle, The Limited Stores, C O. Bigelow and Henri Bendel.  Ms Prince has responsibility for the procurement of New Product and Launch programs for the Victoria's Secret brand.  This includes developing and executing the global sourcing plan for new products for Victoria's Secret production and managing the vendor base for the purpose of improving quality, delivery and price.   In addition, Ms. Prince provides leadership to the enterprise in the area of Supplier Diversity and serves on Limited Brand's leadership steering committee on values and inclusion.

Ms. Prince had over 19 years of Procurement experience prior to joining Limited Brands in April, 2003; she was a founding member and managed new Business Development for a minority owned e-sourcing software company.  She spent 11 years prior to that working for PepsiCo, Inc. in various accounting, supply chain and procurement positions. 

Kirk Eberhart
Global Director of Supply
Material Sciences Corporation

As Global Director of Supply Chain, Kirk works closely with the internal stakeholders and leadership team at Material Sciences Corporation (MSC) to identify emerging opportunities for savings and expense reduction in all aspects of the supply chain.  Specific areas that have recently been pursued at MSC include improved negotiation preparations, alternate logistics solutions, improved inventory management, and purchasing in low cost countries.  His area of expertise includes:

• Implementing Supply Chain strategies that maximize return on resources (people, assets, dollars),
• Managing the Supply Chain across multiple locations,
• Designing a Supply Chain structure that operates with 'centralized' governance and decentralized execution,
• Developing and implementing Strategic Sourcing Plans,
• Leading the skills development of internal resources,
• Consensus building when 'Supply Chain' change is inevitable
• Developing performance management measures to ensure alignment of all parties

With over fifteen years of purchasing and supply chain experience, Kirk's background includes a number of experiences ranging from multi-facility purchasing responsibility to Supply Chain design and implementation.  His success in managing corporate supply chains was built on a foundation of 15 years plant operations experience where he held a variety of management positions.  This unique background has enabled Kirk to be a successful Supply Chain change agent as the global market place continues to evolve.   

Kirk has a bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a focus in Management. 

He also holds a Certified Purchasing Manager (C.P.M.) certificate from the Institute of Supply Management.

Steve Robinson
Sr. Director, Internal Audit Supply Chain
Gap

Coming soon..

Shariar Shaghafi
VP Global Supply Chain & Materials Operation
Novellus

Highly regarded, a dynamic leader with the vision, expertise, and proven record to influence bottom-line performance of global materials and supply-chain operations of billion-dollar corporations. Excel in change management, relationship building, and process improvements to build profits of multi-site and multi-culture operations.  Shahriar has a track record of succssefully outsourcing Fortune 500 companies' manufacturing assemblies to low cost regions.  He has over 25 years experience in different industries such as defense, automotive, semiconductor and one of the world's largest subcontract manufacturing with foot prints in low cost regions.

Jake Frank
Director Technical Operations Supply Chain Management
Delta Air Lines

Coming soon..

Bob Belshaw
Senior VP
GE Commercial Finance Trade Distribution Services

Coming soon..

Bill Schaefer
Vice President Procurement Services
IBM

Bill Schaefer is Vice President of IBM Procurement Services. Previously, Bill was the global leader of IBM's Business Transformation Outsourcing

(BTO) services for procurement.  He was an original member of IBM's procurement executive council during IBM's successful transformation of procurement in the 1990's.

Bill joined IBM in 1982 and has extensive experience in procurement and manufacturing operations. During this time he provided leadership for IBM's Production Procurement Commodity Sourcing Councils and IBM General Procurement Operations for North America. He also served in IBM corporate manufacturing and within IBM's Networking Hardware and Personal Systems divisions.

Bill is active in the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) and Manufacturers Alliance Purchasing Council.  He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences, has been featured in numerous publications including Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazine's "Top 50 Pros to Know" and is a recipient of the IBM Chairman's Award for procurement transformation.

Bill has a B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from Duke University.

Brett Mauser
Director – Procurement
NCR Corporation

Coming soon..

John Campi

Senior Partner & Member, Board of Directors IndustriaPlex

John P. Campi is the Senior Partner and a member of the Board of Directors for IndustriaPlex, and innovative supply chain company serving the retail and food service industries.  He officially joined the Company in May of 2007, but has been engaged in its’ development since the founding of the company in 1999.  

John is a graduate of Indiana University with a degree in Accounting and has his MBA from the Executive Program of the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University.  He was featured in the June 1988 Business Week article “How the New Math of Productivity Adds Up” and has been published in several publications including the Journal of Cost Management, Management Accounting and the Handbook for Productivity Measurement and Improvement.  He was a participant in the Harvard Business School Colloquium on the topic of “Measuring Manufacturing Performance” and is an internationally recognized speaker on the topic of Advanced Cost Management Systems.

Naseem A. Malik
Director, Global Sourcing
ACCO Brands - S&O

Coming soon..

John Ferguson
Vice President and CIO
Optical Cable Corporation

Dr. Ferguson has a progressive career in business process automation and software implementation. Primary market emphasis is in manufacturing, distribution, and financial software implementations, business process enhancements, and client retention. Accountability to his clients is demonstrated through industry-specific recommendations, integrity, and problem solving.

Dr. Ferguson's experience with automated software systems began in 1983, when Ferguson Associates was formed. The software consulting practice provides clients with a portfolio of proven solutions supported by local training, expert implementation management, and custom development services. The practice grew steadily to three offices (Chesapeake, Richmond, and Washington, DC)

In late 1990's, Dr. Ferguson directed the refinement of Great Plains' channel systems and strategy, extending the distribution channel capabilities globally. He also managed Great Plains' brand extension to its Partner/Reseller channel to ensure consistency and continuity.  A key initiative undertaken by Dr. Ferguson was to develop the e-business strategy for the organization relative to channel distribution and lead management. to promote growth objectives.

In 2006, Dr. Ferguson closed his consulting practice and accepted the position of Chief Information Officer at Optical Cable Corporation (Nasdaq GM: OCCF).  Optical Cable Corporation is the second largest manufacturer of fiber optic cables for the enterprise market in North America, selling its products worldwide in over 70 countries with tens of thousands of end-users. Uses for Optical Cable's products address most short- to moderate-distance fiber optic communication applications, with products being used for commercial and campus installations to customized products for specialty applications and harsh environments, and almost everything in between.

Christian Verstraete
Solutions & Technology Integration Manufacturing & Distribution Industry
Hewlett-Packard

Christian Verstraete, worldwide Senior Director for HP's Manufacturing and Distributions Industries Worldwide Solutions & Technology Integration Group, has been a member of HP's manufacturing team for more than 26 years. Verstraete is responsible for identifying and developing HP's differentiated portfolio of horizontal and vertical solutions for the manufacturing industries. His group is tasked with creating field-ready solutions that meet the specific needs of customers, geographies and HP's Technology Solutions Group (TSG) business units.
 
Prior to his current position, Verstraete led HP's global High-Tech Industry Group and its manufacturing industries Supply Chain go-to-market strategy where he was responsible for growing the company's $300 million consulting and system integration business.

As vice president, Manufacturing Industry Practice, he headed HP's manufacturing practice within the Consulting and Integration business unit from 2002 to 2004 The 1200 consultants he led created and delivered solutions in the areas of supply chain, procurement and sourcing, product lifecycle collaboration, demand chain and collaborative business integration. The team also developed specific offerings for customers in the automotive, high-tech, pharmaceutical, and energy sectors.

Prior to that, Verstraete served as the Global Lead in the Extended Manufacturing Practice and the Supply Chain Infrastructure and EAI.  From his first HP job as a systems engineer through project, regional, district and global management, Verstraete has concentrated on developing, marketing and advancing infrastructure services.

Frequently published in periodicals, Verstraete has been a featured speaker at several global supply chain events. Verstraete's latest book, Collaborative Sourcing, Strategic Value Creation through Collaborative Supplier Relationship Management, is currently available at www.i6doc.com.

Verstraete holds a mechanical engineering degree from the Universite catholique de Louvain in Belgium and a degree in industrial management from Katholieke Universiteit van Leuven, also in Belgium. He is based in Brussels, Belgium.

Tricia Senese
Senior Logistics Administrator

UOP a Honeywell company

Tricia Senese is a Senior Logistics Administrator for the Process Technology & Equipment Group at UOP, a Honeywell Company.  She has been employed at UOP since December 1995.

Prior to UOP, Ms. Senese attended Eastern Illinois University and worked in the freight forwarding industry for Harper Robinson and Expeditors International of Washington.

Her accountabilities include pre-sale investigation of cargo movement, contract review, negotiation of transportation costs with project forwarders, duty & tax investigation for overseas fabrication and Letter of Credit negotiations for all Turn Key Projects.

UOP is an engineering firm supplying technology, products and equipment for the petrochemical industry.  UOP is a worldwide operation with offices, product and fabrication sites located around the globe.