Below are the 6 Category Managers & 5 Supply Chain Managers with JDA SCM & other systems experience. The Thor Group® provides JDA experienced buyers, inventory analysts, procurement specialists & purchasing agents on a consulting, contracting or direct hire basis.

Would hiring a category manager with experience working in retail, oil/gas and beverage industries help meet the needs of your organization? Educational attainment is composed of Bachelor of Science, Management of Information Systems, Minor in Mathematics and Master of Business Administration. Professional certifications include Professional Category Analyst certification, Professional JDA Space Planning certification, Category Captaincy from Key Regional Retailers and Green Belt Project Certification (Package Liquor-Category Management). Technical skills consist of JDA and SQL.

Acting as a category manager in a beverage company, has ensured the Space Management team receives appropriate training and development related to the JDA software, automation scripts, product knowledge, fixture utilization and safety guidelines, as well as consumer shopping behaviors. Also, has provided Planogram Analytics using point of sale (POS) data to help manage inventory, improve sales and profits, as well as manage store labor costs aiding in proper space allocation and product mix at the account level. Moreover, has led the development of Retailer strategic and tactical planogram action plans, establishing priorities that are consistent with the retailer’s buying team goals and objectives.

While working for a retail company as a manager of category space, has utilized extensive technical skills (Access, Excel, SQL Server programming) to routinely analyze data (scan and IRI) to regularly report to the HEB buyer on what’s happening in each beverage segment at the store level and chain wide.

Could the future success of your organization be helped by this category manager with work experience in children’s hospital, pharmaceutical and diagnostics laboratory? Educational attainment is composed of BS in Business Logistics and International Business. Professional certifications involve Green Belt and APICS certifications. Systems skills involve JDA/AS400 Inventory Management System, Lawson, PeopleSoft and SAP.

Contributed to the organization’s success by managing indirect categories including commercial sales & marketing, human resources, professional services, medical affairs, travel, and contingent staffing. As a category manager, has developed the strategic direction of the indirect category for Corporate Procurement, as well as worked closely with senior business partners/stakeholders to achieve objectives and drive value by providing cost savings while ensuring customer service and quality. This professional has established and managed strong partner relationships with strategic and collaborative suppliers through SBEM (Supplier business engagement model). Also, was responsible for the achievement of service level metrics in each category. A notable contribution was negotiating an early termination of an agreement resulting in $400K savings (i.e. cost avoidance).

Supported organizational goals and objectives by achieving significant initial cost reductions and ongoing gross profit/earnings contribution through negotiations. Accomplishments involved surpassing individual and department savings target in 2014 and 2015 (target dept. goal was $55M). Acting as a category manager, has worked closely and inclusively with key stakeholders to develop effective cost reduction strategies and implementation plans.

Would hiring a senior category analyst with experience working in distribution, beverage and retail industries help meet the needs of your organization? Educational attainment is composed of Bachelor of Science in Marketing. Professional certifications include Certified Professional Category Manager (Category Management Association). Technical skills consist of JDA Space Planning, Nielsen and IRI.

Acting as a category/space management analyst in a distribution company, has created planograms using JDA Space Planning software, as well as analyzed category sales to identify opportunities to optimize product assortments. Also, has participated at category sets to execute planograms on behalf of manufacturers. This specialist has utilized sales data to ensure fair share of space for major manufacturers and brands.

While working as a senior category analyst, has supported Business Managers with category reviews, pulled and analyzed sales data using a database in Nielsen Nitro, as well as utilized sales data to ensure fair share of space for major manufacturers and brands. Some of the tasks were creating planograms using JDA Space Planning software, analyzing category sales to identify opportunities to optimize product assortments, as well as participating at category sets to execute planograms on behalf of manufacturers.

Is impacting your organization with a category manager who worked in retail, manufacturing and legal services industries a current business consideration? Educational attainment is composed of BBA in International Finance and Marketing (Minor: Computer Information Systems). Core skill include Category Management, Merchandise Planning & Allocation, Forecasting, Inventory Management, Trend Analysis, Market Research, Consumer Insights, Retail/Budget Planning, Cross-functional Collaboration, and Relationship-Building (client-facing and internally). Software knowledge consists of JDA ProSpace.

While employed as a category manager, has reversed negative trends (+26% growth) in the category by capitalizing on emerging trends in the market. Also, has advised key account on tactics to drive sales and margin, as well as revamped the total planogram (including competitor items) with space planning updates in JDA, ProSpace. This specialist has delivered 79% incremental growth during Q3 across fragrance, skincare, and color categories with immediate assessment of inventory opportunities and expansion of value programs.

Part of the job as a manager for retail sales planning & administration was to generate over $113MM during 2011-2013 launches of #1 ranking celebrity brands. Moreover, has grew designer brands +5% vs. industry trend decline of -7%, as well as improved ROI on promotional spend by 110ppts for quarterly modeling budgets and other marketing tools.

What contributions could a category manager with extensive experience working in the retail industry bring to your organization? Educational attainment is composed of BA in Liberal Arts. This retail executive has extensive experience in category management, retail operations, and P&L accountability. Technical expertise involves JDA Space Planning software.

Challenges like analyzing data in the Dairy & Frozen categories to create planograms for all offshore locations using JDA Space Planning software resulting in an overall 10% increase in quarterly sales were welcomed and successfully completed. As a category manager in a retail company, has initiated strategic department plans to achieve the annual sales plan in 1200 stores which increased gross profit by $5M with a collaborative category management & inventory partnership. This professional has blueprinted and rolled out strategic plans for 25 “Alcohol Shops” resulting in future growth of $15M sales. Also, has developed and implemented business strategies & assortments for Multi-Cultural that increased quarterly sales by 15%, product awareness, market share, and profitability.

Shared expertise by developing and implementing category financial business plans to achieve company goals & objectives, category strategies & strategic business initiatives to maximize sales & profit. Serving as a category manager, has served as a liaison between corporate & field support teams to assure proper distribution, merchandise presentation, pricing and promotional efforts to support sales objectives.

Would it be beneficial for your organization to employ a category manager with work background in retail, manufacturing and beverage industries? Educational attainment is composed of Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. Professional certifications earned as: Certified Professional Category Analyst (CPCA), Certified Professional Category Manager (CPCM) and JDA Certified Space Planner. Software skills include JDA and Syndicated Data (IRI, Nielsen, HH Panel, RSI, Spectra, Dunnhumby). Core expertise consists of Category Management and Space Management.

Serving in a manufacturing/retail company, has pioneered “fact based” planograms and shelf management strategy in e-cigarette industry by analyzing competitor’s merchandizing programs, utilizing category expertise to provide recommendations for shelf placement of new and existing products, as well as building subsequent planograms with JDA space planning software. This professional has leveraged data and analytics to answer customer business questions along with driving business insights & opportunities. As a first category manager in an e-cigarette industry building retailer, has driven, compelling space and category reviews across all retail channels.

As a senior category analyst in a beverage company, has identified key customer opportunities as Food Category Expert leading sales team to achieve revenue objectives of +116% and total revenue objectives of +120.6%. Moreover, has provided Retailer and Sales Team support to deliver company division specific opportunities & action plans that drove multiple category growth.

Would hiring a supply chain manager with experience working in manufacturing and software industries help meet the needs of your organization? Educational attainment is composed of Bachelor of Arts (Supply Chain Management). Professional certifications involve Production & Inventory Management Certification, Project Management Training and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. Technical skills include JDA, JDE, Oracle MRP/ERP, SSAVIE, AS/400 Systems, and WMS-Subject Matter Expert and SAP.

Acting as a supply chain manager in a software company, has forecasted demand via JDA system software, as well as ensured stock levels were balanced. Some of the tasks were preparing and managing logistics and transport budgets, as well as monitoring expenditure and implementing remedial measures where appropriate. This professional has maintained a high-quality work environment so team members are motivated to perform at the highest level. Also, has directed the development and implementation of key procurement strategies/contingency plans and ensuring that strategies and plans are aligned with organizational objectives.

While working for a manufacturing company as a senior supply chain manager, has defined and drove commodity sourcing strategies for the assigned commodities to deliver Procurement Quality, Cost Delivery objectives aligned to business and customer requirements. Moreover, has analyzed stock levels; balanced active and reserve stock, as well as served as a liaison between international vendors (Japan, Korea, and France) to ensure materials are procured/ shipped in a timely manner as scheduled.

Could the future success of your organization be helped by this global supply chain and planning manager with work experience in retail and electronics industries? Computer skills involve JDA Manugistics version 7.X; JD Edwards Enterprise One (E1); SAP R/3 and SAP ECC6, BI DPM Tools Group (statistical safety stock).

Contributed to the organization’s success by working with JDA Planning and IT teams to create a JDA solution to facilitate a time phased replenishment plan for India’s network. Implementation seeks to restore $1.2 MIL in lost sales due to stock out at distribution centers. As a global supply chain and planning manager in a retail company, has served as an IT lead for migration of US Fashion and Home planning team from legacy systems to JDA Manugistics. Also, has assisted global Supply Chain teams in best practices and available technology to support needs.

Supported organizational goals and objectives by re-engineering the replenishment strategy from manual processes and legacy systems to an automated and exception based method within the JDA Manugistics environment. Acting as a deployment analyst, has functioned as a business lead for the implementation of JDA Manugistics Auto Load Builder (ALB) for a manufacturing facility. Furthermore, has served as a supply chain process and technology/master data manager and has created business requirements for new supply and demand planning system as well as the Product Data Management (PDM) system.

Is impacting your organization with a demand and supply planning manager who worked in retail, manufacturing and consumer goods industries a current business consideration? Educational attainment is composed of Bachelor in Business Administration, Bachelor in Political Science and International Business as well as MBA, Emphasis in Finance and Accounting. This supply chain professional has extensive experience in Material Planning and Logistics, Procurement, Cost Analysis and Operations. Advanced knowledge of Supply and Demand Planning MRP systems software encompasses JDA Manugistics, SAP, MLE, AS/400 and Oracle.

While employed in a consumer goods company as a demand and supply planning manager, has participated in the implementation of upgrade of JDA Manugistics for Demand and Supply. This professional has led the Consensus Forecast Process through the interface with Sales, Marketing, Planning and Finance to ensure timely development of an agreed upon forecast. Moreover, has prepared forecast performance and finance reconciliation by SBU for the Executive Sales and Operation process. Also, was in charge of purchasing of distributed brands 75 Million business, as well as prepared purchasing projection for suppliers and lead monthly reviews.

Part of the job as a supply chain planning manager in a retail company was to utilize JDA Manugistics for Demand and Supply Planning, as well as ensure that all sourcing and production aspects of Supply Chain are coordinated to deliver outstanding customer service level. In another job, notable accomplishments included improving GBU forecast accuracy currently at 60% to a baseline target of 80% as well as reducing GBU Backorders by at least 50% through implementing improved planning processes, establishing performance metrics with suppliers and Plants.

What contributions could a supply chain solutions program manager with experience working in manufacturing, retail and textile industries bring to your organization? Educational background is composed of BS in Systems Science and Engineering, MS in Systems Science and Mathematics and PhD in Industrial Engineering (Operations Research). Software skills involve JDA (i2), SAP R/3, Oracle data warehouse and VMS legacy system.

Challenges like leading cross functional team and managing contract staff in implementing JDA (i2) inventory optimization solutions were welcomed and successfully completed. While employed in a manufacturing company as a supply chain solutions program manager, has reduced safety stock inventory by $30M while improving customer service level (from 82% to 90%) and reducing planning cycle time (from 1 month to 1 week). This professional has provided ongoing production solution support and implemented enhancements for continuous improvements. Also, has implemented enhancements to solutions, including build ahead limits, wafer starts requirement report, starts planning user interface and process redesign.

Shared expertise by managing and enhancing supply chain planning and demand planning (i2 SCP/DP) solutions as well as the integration to SAP, Oracle data warehouse and legacy systems (order management, tracking). Serving as a supply chain system analyst/manager, has led and coordinated support staff in providing production support for the end-to-end supply chain planning process with i2 SCP/DP (Supply Chain Planner, Demand Planner), SAP R/3, Oracle data warehouse and VMS legacy system.

Would it be beneficial for your organization to employ a project manager/supply chain systems consultant with work experience in retail, pharmaceutical and restaurant industries? Educational background is composed of BS in Mechanical Engineering and MBA in Management & Information Systems. Professional certifications involve APICS certified-CSCP (Certified Supply Chain Professional). Technical skills consist of JDA/Manugistics 7.X (Fulfillment, Collaborate, Demand), SAP ECC 6.0, SAP APO DP 4.1 and SAP CRM 4.0 (Sales/TPM).

Serving in a pharmaceutical company as a project manager/supply chain systems consultant, has designed and implemented DRP processes for a newly acquired business unit into company’s standard processes enabling increased visibility into demand and supply between Market, fulfillment center, contract manufacturers, and plants using JDA Fulfillment system. Also, has served as a project coordinator managing the integration of supply chain planning system between two company systems. Specifically, SAP ERP, SAP APO, SAP BW and Manugistics.

As a supply chain manager in a restaurant, has designed and implemented demand planning process using the SAP MRP planning system. Other duties were managing the project through all phases from business requirements, analysis, solution design, and testing. The system generated optimal inventory plan that resulted in 97% of SKU availability and 20% reduction in inventory levels without compromising customer service levels. Furthermore, has introduced S&OP concept as well as implemented forecast validation processes, for both retail and foodservice divisions comprised of 50+ key accounts combined. Fine-tuned statistical models and generated forecasts using SAP demand management improving the forecast accuracy by 10-15%.