Samer Al Qaissi, Group General Manager

Samer Al Qaissi

Group General Manager

Emirates Macaroni Factory

Location
United Arab Emirates - Dubai
Education
Bachelor's degree, B. Sc. Degree in Industrial Engineering
Experience
25 years, 9 Months

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Work Experience

Total years of experience :25 years, 9 Months

Group General Manager at Emirates Macaroni Factory
  • United Arab Emirates - Dubai
  • February 2020 to August 2023

• Develop Strategic Plans to insure sustainable growth
• Develop Marketing & Branding Strategy
• Organization Development to enhance effectiveness
• Expand the business vertically and horizontally
• Manage P&L for Multi Business Units & Report Results to board of directors.
Achievements:
• Turnaround the business to achieve a 4 Year CAGR +35% Topline and +100% Bottomline.
• Upgrade the business from one off PL dependant to sustainable own brand management.
• Introduce Distributor Management vs Traders’ call off Sales in 10 countries.
• Attract well established Brands for sustainable PL business.
• Gain & Sustain Market Leadership in Pasta in GCC competing with International Brands.
• Implement Microsoft Dynamix D365 for 4 Business Units
• Establish our new Distribution Company in UAE.
• Establish stand-alone business unit in Egypt with local sourcing and distribution / exporting business.
• New Brand activation in KSA & India.

General Manager at Al Safi Danone
  • Iraq - Erbil
  • June 2016 to September 2019

• Enhance Management Effectiveness
• Develop Strategic Plans to turn around the business
• Deliver yearly budget goals
• Report Key Results to board of directors
• Insure overall delivery & quality of the products’ offering to consumers
Achievements:
• Turnaround the business to achieve +20% CAGR on top-line (60 M$/Y) in a declining market and improve bottom line from loss to profit.
• Successfully setup additional production line and launch a new business segment in 6 months
• Expand a fully optimized primary and secondary distribution fleet (monthly 100 international shipments, 200 domestic primary distribution shipments to 5 DC’s in all Iraq, and DAILY 150 distribution vans to 3, 000 customers)
• Upgrade the distribution fleet with latest technologies for tracking and monitoring on floor performance (handhelds - GPS - barcoding - continues Census - Tower Control)
• Optimize RTM operations and double drop size and coverage (10, 000 PoS)
• JV Agreement with packaging supplier to setup a W2W blow molding plant
• JV Agreement with Co-packer to start producing Cheese in house

HR & Supply Chain Director at Al Safi Danone Iraq
  • Iraq - Erbil
  • June 2013 to May 2016

• Establishing the new Business Unit in Erbil
• Managing the Green Field Project in terms of Facilities and Logistics
• Establishing co-packing businesses with neighboring countries
• Establishing Supply Chain Concept and recruit needed resources including 3PL Partners
• Lead SAP Rollout Project
• Sourcing potential Raws & Packs suppliers in the region including WALL to WALL agreements
• Establishing modern HR & Admin management including OD and performance tracking

Achievements

• Lead the Setup of new business in Iraq
• Co-Manage Building a work of art plant in Erbil in a record time.
• Setup effective processes and procedures to implement “Autonomous Maintenance Culture” and optimize spare parts inventory (from 2 M$ to 1M$)
• Manage Raws & Packs Warehouses to optimize the working capital (from 3 M$ to 1 M$) and reduce safety stocks to two weeks in a very harsh environment.
• Launch and accomplish successfully “Asset Tagging Project” for 6, 000 chillers in the market
• Set Up a new business organization that includes all functions with 70% local Human Capital
• Lead the Inter and Intra-organizational knowledge transfer with Group Danone
• Lead SAP Roll Out Project for all modules (MM-PM-PP-SD-CO-FI)

Business Development Manager at Al Safi Danone
  • Jordan - Amman
  • January 2011 to June 2013

• RTM Horizontal & Vertical Commercial Development in GCC & Levant
• Green Field Project
• M&A Projects
• Co-Packing Agreements
• Performance Development for Export Team

Achievements

• Successfully initiate Country Challenge among the Commercial Team in 12 different countries
• Create SC Function in Export to improve demand and supply management.
• Leading the Green Field Project in Iraq
• Leading M&A projects in Jordan, Lebanon, UAE, and Iraq

OD & Change Manager at Al Safi Danone
  • Saudi Arabia - Riyadh
  • July 2009 to December 2010

• Structural Changes Management
• Project Management (RTM, Compensation & Benefits Policy, …)
• Staff Performance & PDRs (Performance & Development Reviews)
• Training Management
• Internal Communication Development
• Company Business Processes, Policies & KPIs

Achievements

• Successfully lead change management in sales organization to create supply chain regional operations from within the team.
• Create the OD Concept in HR Dept. and change management from administrative to Human Capital
• Introduce Local Female recruitment concept to business and being able to recruit 11 super females in HO during first year.
• Improve localization further via launching local Salesman Engineer with a 3 year program to develop Sales and Supply Chain organization.

Production, Supply Planning & Performance Manager at Al Safi-Danone Co.
  • Saudi Arabia - Riyadh
  • July 2005 to July 2009

• Manage & Coordinate Strategic Planning on CBU level & Plant level
• Prepare Estimates and Budgets for production costs and CAPEX on yearly basis and vs. the 5 years End Game of the CBU.
• Manage Marketing & Sales Initiatives (innovations & renovations) through Multi Functional Teams & Project Management to ensure the delivery on Time, Cost, & Quality
• Coach & educate key leaders in the plant to develop & deploy standard systems and tools.
• Track & Manage Industrial Performance through OGSM/QCDM systems per Dept
• Ensure plant Organizational Excellence with clear defined roles and responsibilities for each individual to ensure clear promotion system based on technical competence and leadership mastery by developing succession planning programs (PDRs, IDP & R&R).
• Monthly/ Weekly Demand & supply planning vs. Sales Rolling Forecast through the S&OP monthly meeting with Executive Committee
• Manage SAP different Modules (PP, MM, Fi, Co) & Asses reliability of data and variances
• Prepare & Manage all reporting to top management on CBU, Zone & WWBU levels.

Achievements

• Create a benchmark/best practice “KPIs reporting system” which was rolled out to all Danone Plants.
• Implement CUTE (Capacity-Utilization-Time-Efficiency) in Saudi Arabia and develop a benchmark/best practice system and SOPs to reach a new records of operational efficiency in Danone world.
• Awarded “Best Performing Plant” in “Danone Factory Challenge” between 140 plants worldwide for 3 consecutive years.
• Introduce & Implement BiB (Bags in box) concept to better manage Milk & Cream seasonality

Industrial & Purchasing Controller at Al Safi Danone
  • Saudi Arabia - Riyadh
  • September 2002 to July 2005

• Managing and controlling Industrial Expenses, Conversion Costs, & CAPEX
• Monthly analysis and corrective actions on industrial variances
• Monitoring and controlling Purchasing productivity and Performance
• Configuration & monitoring SAP information system on costing
• Preparing & monitoring SAP monthly financial/Industrial /Purchasing reports including P&L, Balance Sheet, Magnitude, & Variances vs Budgets

Achievements

• Establish the concept of Controlling function in Finance Dept. and synchronize the financial reporting between the shareholders (fully consolidated module).
• Convert SAP usage from reporting system to operation system and live.
• Support Danone Engineering Dept. with “Tornado Project”; Shut down old plant (10 lines) and build a new high standard plant with utilities (20 lines), on time, cost, and quality planned.
• Create for the first time in Danone World “Milk & Cream Scenario Template” to plan / budget fresh milk & cream requirements for rolling 12 months and accordingly improve Farm Management.

Estimation & Sales Engineer at Ramah Aluminum Co. Factory
  • Saudi Arabia - Riyadh
  • August 1998 to August 2002

• Studying project specifications to compare with company standards
• Contacting suppliers to update the costs
• Using software to cost and prepare the quotations
• Following up new projects
• Preparing submittals for approval, support contractors & consultants for specs or details
• Managing ongoing projects contractually, technically & financially


Achievements

• Achieve over target and highest sales among colleagues for 3 consecutive years
• The only Sales Engineer who has access to quoting system

Systems & Planning Eng. at Pearl Sanitary Paper Co.
  • Jordan - Amman
  • August 1997 to August 1998

• Reflecting the Sales Plan on the Production Plan and preparing Schedules.
• Estimating the Quantities of MRP needed to cover the production plan.
• Daily and Monthly Reporting. Statistical Analysis, Performance, Efficiency, & Productivity.
• Standardizing Product Specifications, Production Time, and staff requirements.
• Initiating Standard Procedures for Quality Assurance and Control.
• Representing the Management in Applying ISO 9002.


Achievements

• Prepare a comprehensive Operation & Business Gap Analysis Report and define to top management the needed actions to bridge these gaps
• Optimize operation resources by 30% via planning and better sourcing
• Manage and implement ISO system in 3 months without any none conformity

Education

Bachelor's degree, B. Sc. Degree in Industrial Engineering
  • at Jordan University
  • July 1997

While studying I had courses in the following topics: Statistics, Production Planning, Facilities Planning, Project Management, Motion & Time Study, Quality Control, Human Factors Cost Accounting, Metallurgy, Electrical Machines, Control, and Technical Writing. My graduation project was "Time & Material Losses Reduction" at Al Hikma Pharmaceuticals. During the Past few years I had the following training courses; TQM, ISO, SAP, CUTE, Project Management, Presentation Skills, & Finance for non Finance.

Specialties & Skills

Performance Management
Business Development
Supply Chain Management
HR Management
SAP System (PP, MM, PM, Co, & Fi)
Project Management
People Management
General Management
General Management
Ms Office (Word, Excel, & Power Point)
negotiation
ms project
marketing management
operation
marketing strategy
digital marketing
problem solving
materials
operations management
marketing

Social Profiles

Personal Website
Personal Website

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Languages

English
Expert
Arabic
Native Speaker

Training and Certifications

Mini MBA / Project Management (Danone SHERPA) (Training)
Training Institute:
Danone
Date Attended:
July 2008
Advanced HR Strategic Master class by Paul Walsh (Training)
Training Institute:
Paul Walsh
Date Attended:
June 2010
RTM (Route to Market) Training by Danone (Training)
Training Institute:
Danone
Date Attended:
March 2010
Duration:
40 hours
Danone Leadership Training – FranklinCovey (Training)
Training Institute:
Franklin Covey
Date Attended:
September 2018
Duration:
30 hours

Hobbies

  • Basketball
    Jordan National Team