Prakash Rao

I am working at a strategic level developing Corporate Supply Chain policies and chairing Supply Chain steering teams for various strategic initiatives.
I am currently Head of Supply Chain Projects and Process Excellence for the Group
I am currently the Project Lead for concept, implementation and commissioning of two Mega Automated Distribution Centres in UAE(JAFZA) and Riyadh.

1. a) July 2010 to date: General Manager - Supply Chain at Landmark Group

o Ajman Port Evaluation & Initiation of direct shipments UAE into Ajman Port from 2007. Savings to the tune of 1.5 million USD pa.
o Conceptualization and implementation of Consolidated Distribution Centres in Jeddah Free Zone and Aqaba Special Economic Zone, Jordan
• Standardization of processes and infrastructure for the group warehouses & distribution centers (over 7 million sqft of warehousing footprint)

o Set up the Logistics Benchmarking Team to share Warehousing Processes, productivities & KPIs across the UAE & other territories.
o This team benchmarked the processes and KPI's against best in retail industry/ best in Class across other similar industries/companies.
o Generated a warehousing process/infrastructure/layout SOP for the group based on the best practices for the various merchandise verticals.
o Savings of approx. 1 million USD pa by following the standard processes.

• Blueprint & Implementation for supply chain infrastructure capacity planning for the entire group across GCC, Levant and Africa for the period 2010-20. The warehouse capacity and layout planning template was developed by me and is being used across the Group.
• Developed collaborative and mutually beneficial relationships with DP World, Dubai Customs, Dubai Trade, JAFZA, DLC and other major Logistics Service Providers over the last 9 years. I have an excellent network with GCC Supply Chain professionals in the government and private sector. The result has been a superior preferential treatment for Landmark group in all areas of operations, some examples: o Landmark enjoys an unprecedented 30 to 45 days free period container storage at Jebel Ali Port.
o DO counters of APL, Maersk & KN in the Landmark Office.
• Successful implementation of the Oracle RMS/ORWMS and the Supply Chain Web Portal systems for retail warehousing functions.

b) July 2006 to June 2010: Deputy General Manager - Logistics at Landmark Group

• Under my leadership, Landmark Group has won the prestigious Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Excellence Award for Re-Export category in 2008 & 2010, SCATA Award for Supply Chain 2010.
• Management Representative for Group implementation of ISO 9001, ISO 14001 & OHSAS 18001 QHSE international standards for our Central Distribution Operations.
• Implemented multiple sustainability and Green initiatives across the supply chain like pallet pooling.

My current position reports to the Chief Operating Officer for the Group

c) June 2003 to June 2006: Group Logistics Manager at Landmark Group

Landmark Group is a leading Retail Group with a 5 Billion USD turnover having major presence in the GCC countries, India, Levant & Africa. The major brands owned by the Group are Home Centre, Baby shop, Splash, Shoemart, Lifestyle, Max, Iconic and E Max.

JOB PROFILE:
A) Operations

* Overall Responsibility for the Group Central Distribution Centre at Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai and Aqaba, Jordan handling on an average of 300 Twenty Equivalent Unit's (TEU's) per day.
* Overall Responsibility for the Group Consolidation Freight Stations in Shenzhen, Ningbo, Dhaka, Tirupur & Mumbai handling on an average of 900 Twenty Equivalent Unit's (TEU's) per month.

B) Supply Chain Excellence
I am heading the Supply Chain Excellence Team responsible for supply chain process & optimization.

• The profile involves continuous reviews of all the Warehouse Operations, identify bottleneck areas and generate solutions for Fashion, Furniture & General Merchandise verticals.
• Warehouse Standard Operating Procedures & Productivity benchmarks implementation based on best practices; KPIs across all territories (for all verticals), manuals & process improvements.
• Monitoring & Improvements on End to End Supply Chain Lead times, productivity & Costs. Formulation of KPI's and monitoring improvements on these KPI's.
• To implement the latest warehouse automation technologies - Put to Light, Pack to Light, Pick by Voice, Automated GOH, ASRS, Mini-load, Auto-Sorters.
• To implement RFID Technology across the supply chain for the high value fashion brands for apparel and footwear.

C) Information Technology & Supply Chain Projects

I am the Project Manager & Change Manager for the below projects.

• Implementation of Supply Chain Execution Software - Oracle Retek Warehouse Management Systems (ORWMS) across Central & Territory warehouses.
• Warehouse Consolidation & Infrastructure readiness planning & implementation for ORWMS.
• Project Manager for planning, design and implementation of Automated Mega Distribution Centers (in excess of 3 million sqft each) in UAE (JAFZA) and KSA (Dammam & Jeddah) working with international design and execution consultants. DC Design Phase is currently under progress.
• Logistics, Warehousing Set Up & Support for New Territories in Africa, Levant, CIS and SE Asia.
• Central Distribution Centre in Aqaba Special Economic Zone.
• Design & implementation of a Supply Chain Web Portal for Track & Trace Visibility & Vendor Management
• Pre-retailing at Source (Pricing & Security Tagging)
• E-Commerce project team

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS
• Overall turnaround times were reduced up to 20 % over 4 years from 2003 to 2007
• Improvement in manpower productivity up to 20 % was achieved in the period 2003-08.
• Release of storage space up to 15% and increased export container/trailer CBM utilization by 18 % over the period 2003-08.
• Freight savings of 1 million USD in 2004-05 by conceptualizing and converting Economy Express shipments (charged on per kg basis) to Full Trailer Load-Road shipments.
• Supply Network Redesign

The below mentioned initiatives have resulted in savings over 16 million USD pa in terms of working capital reduction and direct cost savings.
o Customized Logistics Network implemented for different types of merchandise, tailored Logistics networks for Apparels (Fashion) and Non-Apparels. Multi -Modal Strategy implemented. Drastic drop is End to End Supply Chain Lead time up to 25 days. (58 days to a minimum 33 days - End to End Supply Chain Lead Time)
o Road shipments from Jebel Ali Central Distribution Centre to Upper Gulf Regional Distribution Centers increased from 26 % to 60 % over a period of 5 years from 2007. Resulted in a reduction of lead times up to 10 days.

2. a) Aug 2001 to Jun 2003: Materials Manager at Marico Industries (India) Ltd

b) Sept 1999 to Aug 2001: Manager-Supply Chain at Marico Ind Ltd

c) Dec 1998 to Sept 1999: Manager-Materials Planning at Marico Ind Ltd

Marico Industries (India) Ltd is a leading Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) company in India, manufacturing personal care products having Leading brands like Parachute, Sweekar & Saffola.

JOB PROFILE:
• Responsibility for entire Finished Goods supply chain planning, Purchase & Packing Material Planning.
• Total purchase budget handled was 75 crore INR per annum.
• I was project leader for a Total Cost Management Project carried out along with Andersen Consulting (Accenture)
• I was Core Team Module Leader for SAP - Implementation of the Materials Management module of SAP and the Advanced Planning & Optimization Package (APO) from SAP for Demand (DP) & Supply Network Planning (SNP) modules.
• Championing e-initiatives from depot to distributor's link in the supply chain & Reverse Auctions for packing materials.

ACHIEVEMENTS
• Supply service level improved from 90% to 95% at depot-sku level.
• Transportation model implemented for freight minimization. Reverse Auction carried out for All India freight contract resulting in a 20 % saving in freight.
• Savings up to 15% achieved after implementation of the Total Cost Management project in areas of supply chain.
• Initiated and stabilized the Reverse Auction process for purchase of packing materials like labels, laminates & cartons. Savings achieved up to 20%.

3. January 1997 to November 1998: Assistant Manager - Logistics (Product Availability Co-ordinator) with Pepsi Cola India Marketing Company.

JOB PROFILE:
• Production planning for 4 plants (aggregate, monthly and weekly.)
• Maintaining Product Availability at warehouses and depots
• Primary Transportation from plants to warehouses
• Glass & crates procurement management

ACHIEVEMENTS
• Over 95 % service level of Product Availability of all Finished Goods
• Reduction in Primary Transportation Freight by 20%.
• By judicious Glass (bottles) management, the purchase of glass bottles was reduced by 15 % as compared to a year ago for the same volumes. This was done through a glass tracking system which enabled to track the glass in the system and the market.

4. June 1994 to December 1996 - Production Executive with Asian Paints (India) Ltd, India's leading Paints manufacturer.

JOB PROFILE:
• Head of the Resin manufacturing plant
• Production, Quality, Planning & Scheduling of Resin batches
• Monitoring Productivity / efficiencies, efficient resource utilization
• Production Floor management

ACHIEVEMENTS
• Improvement in Quality: by using SQC, implemented continuous improvement (Kaizen) & 5S techniques.
• Improvement in Productivity: Overall increase in manpower productivity of around 30 %.The above involved detailed time and motion study of all the activities in the Resin plant, sequencing and balancing of activities as resin process is a batch type process, identifying areas of de-bottlenecking and mechanization and ways to improve material handling and evolving new and simplified work practices.
• Automation and Mechanisation: I was actively involved in developing and implementing a microprocessor based controller system for automation of the resin manufacturing plant

5. September 1991 to August 1992 - Graduate Engineer Trainee with Larsen & Toubro (India) Ltd in their Switchgear Division, a leading diversified heavy engineering company.

• I was independently handling planning, procurement and vendor development activities for bought-out items used in the manufacture of Switchgear.