Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- Working as a Demand Planning Manager in Almarai Company, Saudi Arabia - Managing Demand forecasting, S&OP Process, Cross functional collaboration - Forecasting demand for GCC market (Retail & Food services) and international markets - Associated with Demand planning since 2011 with various roles in Dairy, Food, Juice & Bakery. - Working Exposure in SAP-IBP, S&OP, APO and Business warehouse - Worked as an Accounting professional prior to the current role - Holder of Master’s Degree in Finance from University of Kerala, India
- Managing the Demand forecasting and S&OP process to optimize the value chain within the company to deliver value and provide transparency to the organization on constraints and opportunities - Working with Supply Chain, Business Unit and Sales Team on the demand planning process - Developing forecasts based on business plans and demand patterns - Leading forecast meetings, addressing demand opportunities, and challenging forecast gaps - Support Business units on portfolio optimization and improve profitability - Simulate scenarios for assessing supply chain capability to mitigate risk and leverage opportunities - Liaising with Supply Chain functions on capacity, constraints, production and supply priorities - Building forecasts for new products, promotions, seasonal events and other initiatives - Developing budget and 5-year plans according to business strategy - Overseeing Demand Planning processes, forecast releases and reports - Work Exposure in SAP-IBP, SAP S&OP and SAP-APO
- Managed demand forecast of Bakery, Food Service, and International Market Business Units - Drove the monthly demand planning process and reported aggregate plans to senior management on forecast assumptions, risks and opportunities - Worked with Business Units, Sales Operations and Trade Marketing Teams on marketing plans, distributions, promotions and new product launches - Liaised with various Supply Chain functions on constraints, service issues, production and supply priorities - Managed a team to meet forecast accuracy targets, explained reasons for variances and strived to improve accuracy - Defined models for volume forecasting through analyzing seasonality, volume trends and learnings from previous activities - Lead sales and supply chain alignment for more hands-on unplanned breakdowns either in supply or manufacturing systems - Provided basic analytics to develop NPD forecasts with assumptions agreed by the Gate Team and reviewed forecast accuracy to ensure that supply and demand were aligned
- Responsible for Dairy category and overall supervision of Food, bakery & Juice categories - Ensure demand forecasting system and processes are thoroughly adopted and practiced - Review & gain sign-off of rolling 18 months unconstrained forecast from Sales & Marketing - Manage root cause process and lead plans to drive continuous improvement in forecast accuracy - Co-ordinate with cross functional teams for day to day issues related to demand and supply - Interact with Strategic planning team for setting up sales strategies for existing products, New products and product changeovers - Responsible to prepare and deliver Budget and 5 Year Plans - Managing a team of Demand planners through on the job training, coaching and motivation
- Develop weekly forecast for specific products by sales depot as assigned - Analyze forecast accuracy and report exceptions - Ensure correct master data in the system and maintain accurate historical sales information - Manage product life cycle planning - Liaise with regions for Special orders, Distribution exceptions - Budget and 5 Year plan preparation - Prepare various KPI Reports - Responsible for close coordination with Inventory planning and procurement teams in terms of sharing the forecast and resolve issues
- Receivables management, Debtors collections, status update to higher management - Preparation of monthly Income & Expenditure statement and related schedules - Accounts of Packing Credit , Bills discounting & Realizations - Monitoring EBRD & PCFC accounts for bills maturity and re - discounting - Liaise with overseas customers for payments, account reconciliation, audit requirements - Secure fund requirement for Supplier Payments & other payouts - Managing bank accounts (Overall 14 accounts) , Fund transfer, Loan arrangement & repayment - Timely, Accurate & Comprehensive reports to top Management
- Responsible for Branch operations - Preparing Profit & Loss account for the region - Accounts receivables, outstanding collection, payments follow up, Distributor audit - Preparing Sales Tax Returns, Presenting accounts for Annual Tax Assessment - Accounting of Bank receipts, payments, Fund transfer & Reconciliation - Supporting Sales team with reports of payment outstanding/ collections/ Sales reports - Stock movement from Head office, Inventory control, Stock reconciliation
- Accounts and Administration for Kerala region - Update sales orders and forwarding to Head office on a daily basis - Generate sales invoice and forward to logistics for goods dispatch - Payment Collection & Deposits, Supplier payment preparation - Liaise with dealers for payments, new orders & goods receipt - Preparation of Sales reports Accounting of Bank Receipts , Payments and preparation of outstanding ageing reports