Lon George: in Happy Valley, OR

Primary responsibilities include negotiating, contracting and purchasing materials, equipment and supplies from vendors. Evaluate supplier quotes and services to determine the most desirable suppliers for Benchmade. Coordinate selection of materials and help engineering coordinate new process and part development for new products from development phase to production. Provide procurement of materials and supplies to meet requirements of the business.

Manage the sourcing strategy for specific category areas, ensuring a stable long term supply base is established and maintained. Transition new products from development to production. Provide procurement and project management support to cross- functional new product development teams. Work as a liaison between the product development team, manufacturing engineering, global sourcing offices and suppliers. Negotiate and place new products with suppliers in alignment with sourcing strategies, cost, quality and delivery objectives. BUYER/PLANNER Develops and maintains production schedule for assigned work centers and coordinates with manufacturing, warehouse, and engineering personnel to achieve inventory and customer service objectives. Analyzes and communicates current and future requirements to ensure production schedule is aligned with customer demand. Anticipates shortages, develops action plans, and coordinates with suppliers to resolve issues and minimize service disruptions. - -

Develop production plans for Sporting Knives and Gear, ZT Combat Knives and Kitchen Cutlery. Responsible for forecasts, capacity planning, MPS, MRP and scheduling in a small manufacturing facility. Daily interaction with managers in Accounting, Sales and Production. Anticipate and avert production problems arising from design changes, labor and material shortages, backlogs and other potential interruptions. Review WIP levels, validate job orders, plan capacity requirements, schedule job orders and coordinate production with forecasts.

Provided assessment, development, oversight, and ownership of key supply chain processes and served as an internal supply chain consultant performing data analysis, project management, research, and process re-engineering. • Developed process and value stream maps for the supply chain, kept these documents updated as changes occur in processes and used the information to identify areas for improvement • Facilitated cross functional teams and interacted with internal/external customers and suppliers with respect to product planning, problem resolution, process improvement and synchronization of supply chain in support of Oracle ERP Modules • Developed and implemented systems and processes, which improved utilization of resources in manufacturing, efficiency of supply chain processes, minimized costs incurred by the business and fostered optimal solutions within the order plan. • Provided data analysis and maintained and monitored core materials metrics, supplied functional Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)