Robert Bessell

Procurement & Supply Chain Professional | Purchasing | Expediting | Mining & Heavy Equipment | Customer Service & Parts Support

Greater Perth Area

About

I am a procurement and supply chain professional with more than 20 years of experience across purchasing, expediting, logistics, technical parts support and customer service. I spent nearly 18 years supporting Caterpillar, Bucyrus, Terex and WesTrac operations, working with major mining companies, contractors, workshops and owner-operators throughout Western Australia. My experience includes managing high-volume procurement activities of 200–500 purchase orders per week, with individual procurement values of up to $1.5 million. I have managed large backorder portfolios, coordinated urgent and machine-down requirements, monitored DIFOT performance and worked closely with suppliers, freight providers, warehouses and internal teams to resolve supply and delivery issues. A major strength I bring to procurement is my customer service and technical parts background. I understand that purchasing is not simply about raising a purchase order. It is about understanding what the customer or operation actually needs, managing priorities, communicating delays and finding practical solutions when supply does not go to plan. I have extensive experience in heavy equipment and aftermarket parts, including technical parts interpretation across Caterpillar, Bucyrus and Terex equipment. I have supported major customers including Mineral Resources, BHP, Rio Tinto, FMG, Roy Hill, Newmont, Alcoa, Emeco and Macmahon. I am also comfortable identifying ways to improve processes and reduce manual administration. I have developed Excel and VBA tools and used AI-assisted workflows to improve order processing and customer response times. Following redundancy after a long-term career with WesTrac, I am now looking for my next opportunity in procurement, purchasing, expediting, supply chain or parts operations within the Perth metropolitan area and am available for an immediate start.

Experience

  • WesTrac Cat ()
    • Procurement Coordinator | Parts & Technical Support Specialist
      Oct 2020 - Jun 2026 · 5 yrs 9 mos

      Managed high-volume procurement, parts support and customer requirements across major mining customers, contractors and workshop operations. • Managed procurement activities involving 200–500 purchase orders per week, with procurement values up to $1.5 million. • Processed high volumes of automated Ariba demand alongside manual procurement and customer orders. • Managed customer backorder portfolios of 500–2,000 lines and proactively investigated supply, delivery and availability issues. • Coordinated procurement for maintenance, repairs, rebuilds, shutdowns and urgent machine-down requirements. • Worked closely with customers, suppliers, warehouse, freight and internal teams to ensure parts and orders progressed through to delivery. • Produced DIFOT and customer expedite reporting covering hundreds of open order lines. • Provided technical parts interpretation across Caterpillar, Bucyrus and Terex equipment. • Developed VBA and AI-assisted workflow improvements to reduce manual administration and improve order-processing efficiency.

    • Logistics Coordinator & Supply Chain Specialist
      Jun 2014 - Oct 2020 · 6 yrs 5 mos

      One of the first operational employees within WesTrac's newly created Logistics Department, working largely autonomously with minimal day-to-day supervision while helping develop procedures, workflows, automation and training processes. • Managed high-volume expediting and backorder portfolios for major mining customers, with 500–2,000 open customer lines and workshop backorders exceeding 4,000 lines. • Proactively expedited thousands of open order lines, investigating supply delays, stock availability, lead times and delivery risks to prioritise critical requirements. • Managed workshop backorders and parts supply for maintenance, repairs and rebuild activities. • Processed workshop work orders and coordinated purchasing and supply of required parts. • Interpreted workshop parts requirements, identified components and sourced parts through internal and external supply channels. • Set up parts and created Bills of Materials (BOMs) and parts kits for workshop repair and rebuild activities. • Produced DIFOT and backorder reporting and resolved supply chain issues affecting customer and workshop delivery performance. • Onboarded and trained Logistics employees in expediting, backorder management, ERP systems and department procedures. • Provided ERP system training and support to workshop employees. • Developed and documented procedures and workflows to improve consistency, efficiency and training. • Designed custom ERP and Excel macros and automation tools to enable faster expediting, backorder processing and reporting. • Built strong relationships across workshops, customer service, procurement, parts, warehouse and logistics teams to resolve complex supply and delivery issues.

    • Senior Parts Interpreter
      Oct 2008 - Jun 2014 · 5 yrs 9 mos

      Worked across Terex, Bucyrus and Caterpillar operations through successive acquisitions and organisational transitions, continuing to provide technical parts support, customer service, order processing, expediting and backorder management. • One of the first operational employees within WesTrac's newly created Logistics Department, working largely autonomously with minimal day-to-day supervision. • Managed high-volume expediting and backorder portfolios for major mining customers, with 500–2,000 open customer lines and workshop backorders exceeding 4,000 lines. • Proactively expedited thousands of open order lines, investigating supply delays, stock availability, lead times and delivery risks. • Provided parts interpretation, order processing, expediting and backorder management support to Caterpillar dealers. • Worked directly with major customers to develop customer-specific procedures and workflows for expediting, backorder management and delivery reporting. • Acted as a relief Team Leader, supporting daily team operations, workload priorities and employee guidance when required. • Managed workshop backorders and parts supply for maintenance, repairs and rebuild activities. • Processed workshop work orders, ordered required parts and created Bills of Materials (BOMs) and parts kits. • Provided technical parts interpretation and ERP system support to workshop employees. • Onboarded and trained new employees in expediting, backorder management, ERP systems and department procedures. • Developed procedures, workflows and custom ERP and Excel macros to improve expediting, backorder processing and reporting efficiency. • Produced DIFOT and backorder reporting and worked across customers, workshops, procurement, warehouse and logistics teams to resolve complex supply and delivery issues.

  • Parts/Warehouse Supervisor at Macdonald Johnston
    Dec 2007 - Oct 2008 · 11 mos

    Supervised parts operations, inventory replenishment, freight coordination, customer support and KPI reporting.

  • DS Agencies (4 yrs 2 mos)
    • Purchasing Officer
      Nov 2003 - Dec 2007 · 4 yrs 2 mos

      Purchasing, supplier liaison, import/export coordination, inventory management and administration.

    • Logistics/Despatch/Warehouse
      2004 - 2007 · 3 yrs

  • Sales Operations Consultant at Sands & McDougall
    Apr 2000 - Oct 2003 · 3 yrs 7 mos

    Sales operations, purchasing support, logistics coordination and customer service.