James Heidrich

​Accountable for supporting Europe’s Site Procurement spend with direct responsibility for identifying regional opportunities by partnering with our Commercial, Professional Services/Contingent Labor, IT, R&D, Tech Ops & COE procurement Teams. Leads senior leadership & stakeholder engagement activities for the European Region.

The Vice President of Global Procurement selected me to lead the strategy design and execution for the enterprise Procurement Transformation Initiative and to spearhead the development of innovative new tools to improve procurement productivity. Building and leading a diverse set of teams and resources internationally, we planned and managed projects supporting these key business programmes.

I was brought in by Smith & Nephew to their US operations to create a Supplier Lean Engineering unit. After building the team, we established the vendor portfolio and collaborated with each vendor to identify performance improvement and cost savings opportunities. I also engaged the executive team in support of creating M&A integration strategies.

After serving as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, I was promoted into a Supply Chain Manager role, first at the Caterpillar Precision Pin Products Group (PPPG) in Sumter and then at the specialty construction machinery and equipment (HPE) facilities based in Oxford. Leading teams of up to 42 resources, I oversaw materials scheduling, sourcing and outsourcing, supply chain operations, distribution, inventory management, inventory control, machine utilisation, and facility performance assessments.

As a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt, I leveraged Lean and Six Sigma methodologies (DDMRP, DMAIC, DMEDI, Pull Systems) to drive process improvements to supply chain, manufacturing, and assembly operations. I worked with internal teams and supply partners to identify areas of opportunity. Together, we developed process solutions focused on process control, efficiencies, and streamlined workflows.

I was brought in to Caterpillar to complete their intensive, 3-year Professional Development Programme, which included three 1-year rotations to build expertise in purchasing/sourcing, logistics, process engineering, manufacturing, and operations. Upon completion of the programme, I was selected for a preferred assignment in Procurement, with accountability for supplier vendor portfolio management.

Executive MBA