Lawrence Comella, CPM

Lynnwood, WA ***** • acxwwi@r.postjobfree.com • 516-***-****

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lawrence-comella-cpm

Strategic Sourcing & Procurement Executive

Strategic Sourcing Leadership / Global Reach / Profit Optimization

Process Improvement / Client and Vendor Relationship Management

Dynamic leader with a solid record of achievement developing sourcing strategy and optimizing procurement operations. At ease directing fast-paced operations in deadline-critical environments. Intuitive leadership ability with acute business acumen and expertise in procurement transformation and continuous improvement initiatives.

Solid history of success in building producer teams; able to influence decision making in a cross-matrixed environment across functional groups. Excels at building support for shared goals by gaining stakeholder alignment on requirements, pain points, risks and opportunities.

Areas of Expertise:

Sourcing Strategy

Planning and Implementation

Contract Negotiation

Lean Optimization

Cost Reduction and Avoidance

Stakeholder Relations

Procurement Transformation

Internal Systems and Controls

Vendor Management

Risk Mitigation

Team Building and Leadership

Change Management

Professional Experience

JVKellyGroup – Huntington, NY (based in Lynnwood, WA), 2003 – Present

A provider of Supply Chain Management and Strategic Sourcing consulting services to Fortune 1000 firms in diverse business sectors.

Sr. Director (2008 - Present)

Orchestrate vision and planning for clients’ supply chain and strategic sourcing needs, with a focus on quality, cost reduction and risk mitigation. Senior consultant and project lead on the firm’s most significant and complex engagements. Champion optimization efforts on direct and indirect spend procurement activities and drive the understanding of supply chain optimization as a competitive advantage. Oversee staff and external resources adjusting priorities to ensure timely delivery of 4-6 concurrent projects. Accountable for delivering client savings in excess of $5M annually.

Selected Contributions:

Completed a complex analysis of a financial services client’s global brokerage expenses, benchmarking rates and identifying cost reduction opportunities. Provided analytical support to negotiations resulting in an eight-figure savings to the client.

Delivered $3.3M savings to a facilities services client through extensive analysis and benchmarking of travel and expense policies.

Realized $1.4M savings on indirect spend for manufacturing client by first identifying and prioritizing opportunities through GL and supplier spend analysis, and then executing sourcing strategies for software, professional services, travel, office supplies and facilities services.

Consolidated widely dispersed procurement for packaging into a vendor managed inventory program, creating efficiencies and $1M in cost savings for a retailer and mail order distribution client.

Built strong client relationships and by consistently exceeding client expectations, grew short-term engagements into long-term contracts.

Trained and coached newly hired college graduates in procurement analytics and strategic sourcing enabling them to independently work onsite at client locations.

Director (2003 - 2008)

Spearheaded sourcing strategy and execution of projects involving indirect and direct spend. Performed spend analyses, benchmarking and market analyses. Devised novel procurement processes, policies and procedures, and gained buy-in for enhancements among client stakeholders. Designed and built interactive dashboards based on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Managed engagement staff of 1-5 consultants ensuring timely delivery of results and provided weekly progress reporting to client management. Accountable for delivering forecasted savings to clients.

Selected Contributions:

Executed a bi-lingual reverse auction in Europe for manufactured gears for an industrial component supplier, which resulted in optimizing the client’s supply base with a group of preferred suppliers for a 15% reduction in cost.

Developed a Multifunction Device (copier/fax/printer) strategy and executed a nationwide rollout of devices, which generated $1M in annual savings for an information services client.

Implemented e3Sourcing, a web-based RFQ tool at an information services client enabling one print buyer to handle quadruple the volume; established new policies and procedures requiring print to be bid through procurement; realized $500K in annual savings.

Enhanced processes to support evaluation of a growing number of RFPs; Automated scoring in Excel to reduce evaluation time by 75% allowing the firm to handle increased volume with the same staff, increasing profitability on RFP projects.

Troll Communications – Mahwah, NJ, 1988 - 2003

A $160M publisher and direct mail marketing firm specializing in children’s books and toys with direct fulfillment. Promoted from Manager Supply Chain (1988-1995.)

VP Supply Chain (1995 – 2003)

Managed direct supply chain and staff procuring $35M in manufacturing, raw materials, and finished goods. Conducted RFPs for contracts valued at over $1M/contract. Functional lead for Procurement Department (indirect spend) and Facilities Services. Negotiated manufacturing agreements including standard and expedited service levels and performance based financial incentives. Implemented leading edge technologies to improve quality and reduce costs.

Selected Contributions:

Implemented end-to-end JIT (just-in-time) sourcing for raw materials and product manufacturing resulting in six-figure cost savings, a six-fold improvement in turnover on raw materials, reduction in cycle times from eight weeks to two weeks and a 70% reduction in product inventory.

Optimized procurement operations through strategic consolidation of global supplier relationships and successful roll out of new supplier agreements.

Championed transformational changes in Procurement (P2P), Publishing, Inventory Management, Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management.

Negotiated manufacturing contracts for direct mail program delivering $800K in annual savings; consolidated domestic four-color book manufacturing with a single supplier for $1M in annual savings.

Worked with key suppliers on continuous process improvement, developing and applying new technologies to manufacturing processes to dramatically improve quality and reduce costs.

Education and Training

Bachelor of Engineering EE, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ

Certified Purchasing Manager (CPM), Institute for Supply Management

Six Sigma Lean Black Belt Professional Certification (LBBP), Management & Strategy Institute

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