Steve Hooker

I am now looking for an interim (or permanent) senior supply chain / procurement role. In the meantime I am available for short term consultancy in areas of application of lean / six sigma to Supply chains / procurement and vendor management.

The largest european distributor to discount retailers of consumer goods. I was responsible for the improving the buying operations. The restructuring and introduction of new ways of working and processes resulted in a record year in sales and profit.

Responsible for Strategic Sourcing Projects. Including the development of a £50m business by buying in finished products to either extend brands or reduce costs via low cost sourcing from Eastern Europe. Also responsible for co-packing, introduction of procurement to payment system, business indirect spending and company implementation of shelf ready packaging.

Led Kingfisher Global Co-packing. Team of 10 in UK and a team of 25 in China, covering all business aspects. Managed a Chinese factory of >200 associates. Turnaround role.

Directed team of 10 buying ~£250m p.a. goods from outside UK

EUROPEAN R&D COMPETENCIES AND COMMUNICATION MANAGER 2003-2004 Developed and delivered a globally aligned competency programme to >900 associates in 25 sites.  Led a global team of 100 to design and deliver many internal courses including Creativity, Health and Nutrition, Consumer Nearness and Quality. Included global best practise agreement and sharing.  Created and implemented communication strategy.  Set up and ran UK graduate recruitment and training programme. - Managed change project

Managed European team that developed strategy for healthy nutritious snacks.  Launched a range of 10 products.  Led and coached innovative consumer techniques that resulted in new products  Organised and facilitated key events e.g. largest food prototyping event and Senior VP meetings.  Championed and advanced packaging solutions to launch new packaging  Instigated packaging projects that led to major packaging changes

Liaised with 60 country markets and communicated product and marketing information. Managed sales in numerous countries. Led European Promotion Programme and competitor analysis.

Improved manufacturing KPIs through monitoring performance and implementing new work practices.  Led supply chain project that reduced product complexity via European harmonisation. Agreed with major European countries and transformed supply chain to generate savings.  Planned strategy and capital investment decisions  Introduced continuous improvement culture and Kaizen / TPM / OEE / Six Sigma techniques such as SMED with order of magnitude reduction in change over times

PLANT MANAGER Directed plant with 80 employees and a budget of £7mio p.a.  Managed HR issues whilst closing plant and transferring production.  Empowered team to deliver record production, highest quality standards and lowest ever costs. OPERATIONS EFFICIENCY MANAGER  Analysed and delivered solution that saved over £1mio p.a. wastage.  Introduced site environmental monitoring system to reduce risk. SHIFT MANAGER Managed 40 operators on continental shift system