Jonathan Kobs

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC – Non Production Purchaser – Sydney, Australia

Schneider Electric is the world’s power and control specialist. Through its world-class brands, Merlin Gerin, Square D and Telemecanique, Schneider Electric anticipates and satisfies its customers’ requirements in the residential, building, industry, energy and infrastructure markets.

I joined Schneider Electric in August 2006 as a Non Production Purchaser across all the Schneider Electric’s entities in the Pacific Zone (Australia and New Zealand). The Purchasing team is composed of 14 people but the Non Production Purchasing (NPP) team is composed of my Manager and myself only. We manage a portofolio of spend of approximately AU$85M per year.

Responsibilities :

Manage "Non Production Purchasing Projects" across all Schneider-Electric Entities in
the Pacific Zone, including :
Identification of new Projects and opportunities,
Assist in compiling a NPP Action Database,
To identify and consolidate NPP volume across all entities in the Pacific Zone
Sourcing (New Suppliers, Products, Technology, …),
Completion of the Tender Pack and organisation of the Invitation for Tender,
Analysis of RFP response in a Project team environment, select short list and make recommendation to the Exec Management Team,
Take the lead on the Agreement Signature Process,
Carry out the implementation of the NPP Agreements and ensure that the KPI’s are on line with the expectation.

Support the NPP Market Manager in the following:
Ensure with the support of the NPP Market Manager that all the non-production purchases are under control.
Settle relevant indicators to assess the project progress.
Collaborate with the Schneider-Electric NPP Organisation (Corporate Level,Division Level) in order to obtain assistance and guidelines for the Pacific Zone.
Help the local purchasing teams to succeed in optimising NPP, in terms of savings and also in service provided to users.
Contribute to share best practices on NPP.

Manage Non Production Purchasing Department by temporarily replacing my Manager involved in a Human Resources Project from January to Mid-May 2007.

Example of Achievements :

Purchasing Projects Management :
I worked on multiple projects for which I had to compile the needs, source new suppliers, prepare & analyse the tender (RFI/RFQ), negotiate with suppliers then choose the best one matching our requirements by consulting our Executive Team Members.
Airlines : Savings of AU$450,000
Temporary Labour : Savings of AU$300,000
Rental Car : Savings of AU$20,000
Hotels : Savings of AU$62,000
Office Supplies : Savings of AU$55,000

Budget and Action DataBase 2007 :
This project consisted of compiling all the approximate expenditure done in 2006 to forecasts the Budget in 2007. The data were obtained for all the commodities we buy and for all the entities. I also forecast the savings that we are doing or will do in 2007 in the Action DataBase.

Sector: Industry

STRYKER CORPORATION – Marketing assistant – Lyon, France
Internship of 4 months

World leader in sales of surgical material. Net sales (2006) : $4,871 million

Stryker Corporation is one of the world's leading medical technology companies with the most broadly based range of products in orthopaedics and a significant presence in other medical specialties. Stryker works with respected medical professionals to help people lead more active and more satisfying lives. The Company's products include implants used in joint replacement, trauma, craniomaxillofacial and spinal surgeries; biologics; surgical, neurologic, ear, nose & throat and interventional pain equipment; endoscopic, surgical navigation, communications and digital imaging systems; as well as patient handling and emergency medical equipment.

Responsibilities :

Support the Marketing and Sales Department to obtain the most accurate market study. One year later, the turnover of Stryker France increased by 15%.

Example of Achievements :

Analyse the purchases of our customers (surgeons in hospitals and private clinics), to know their exact needs, our market share, and which product they buy in order to adapt our strategy :
Considering the total value of each customer and other specific parameters by contacting the salesmen and consulting invitations to bid
Creating a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) database in entering information obtained via Excel
Defining action plans for our purchasing and marketing strategy

Update the catalogue with the new products (pics and references) and deleted the obsolet products.

Sector: Pharmaceutical

Sector: High Tech

Sector: High Tech