Automotive Logistics Global

William started his career with Chrysler Group in 1986 in corporate logistics and spent the next 14 years in various Logistics, Purchasing and Supply Chain Management positions in both the US and China. His current responsibilities include network design, transportation procurement and operations for Chrysler’s import and export operations.

Christine, MBA, started her career with General Motors as Business Planning Manager in 2002. She then held positions including Director of Inbound Logistics and Director of Supply Chain Planning in Europe. In 2011, Christine returned to General Motors North America as Director of Global Purchasing. Prior to General Motors she spent eight and half years at Ford/Visteon. She supports GM’s Corporation Citizen Program and GPSC Affinity Group for Women.

Jeffrey (Jeff) joined General Motors in 2006 working in global purchasing. He moved to Germany in 2008 and led the logistics team in Europe since April 2010. He has now relocated to General Motors in Michigan, as Director of Inbound Material Logistics. Prior to joining General Motors, Jeff spent time at Chrysler and several other automotive companies across engineering, sales and strategy consulting work.

Stephen is responsible for the strategic direction and leadership of MP&L globally and PS&L in North America. He has extensive first hand knowledge and experience of Ford's South American and Asia Pacific operations. Joining Ford in 1972 and following several different roles in transportation operations and purchasing, an appointment in global logistics brought him his first assignment in North America in 1997. Prior to his current assignment Stephen was most recently the Director of MP&L Europe.

Dennis Manns’ responsibilities include sales planning for Honda and Acura divisions and logistics planning for all Honda and Acura North American and import facilities. In 2006, he was promoted into his current position, after being responsible for dealer relations and communications. He joined Honda in 1984 and has been promoted internally from the position of dealer analyst. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Dayton.

Greg began his career with BNSF Railway, where he held several operations and management positions before moving into the automotive sector. In this area, he has held a variety of positions with Schneider Logistics, Vector SCM, General Motors, and most recently Tesla Motors. In his current role, he is challenged with developing the worldwide logistics and delivery network for all current and future products.

Helmut Nittmann has over twenty years of experience within the service parts logistics business. He is the Global Director for Parts Supply and Logistics of Ford Motor Company's Customer Service Division- responsible for the continuous supply of service parts to Ford Motor Company's dealerships and to Ford's affiliates around the world, as well as part identification/ cataloguing, purchasing, supply chain management and logistics.

John Marion has been Vehicle Logistics Manager for BMW of North America since June 2010. Prior to moving to Vehicle Logistics, he was Parts Logistics Manager responsible for all inbound and outbound parts transportation logistics. John has had 26 years experience with BMW in various roles, including inventory management, quality, PDC management and VDC operations.

Steve has over 30 years of automotive supply chain experience at Ford and Chrysler. He has managed all aspects of the supply chain – inbound parts and outbound vehicles, domestic and international. He has held senior positions in material handling engineering, assembly production control, Chrysler Transportation (Chrysler’s private fleet) and all areas of logistics.

Vicki has held a variety of assignments at GMWDD, later GM Service Parts Operations, including Supervisor - Plant Operations, Senior Project Engineer, Superintendent - Materials and Director - Logistics and Distribution. In 2005 she transferred to GM Global Supply Chain as Director of Planning, and then Director, Intercontinental Logistics.

B.J has 11 years of experience within the automotive industry including roles in assembly, manufacturing, and stamping plant material handling as well as global procurement, and supply chain management. In 2010, he was appointed manager of damage prevention and claims where he has been challenging himself and all providers to change the way they approach vehicle damage and damage prevention.

Justin is responsible for all inbound vehicles via ocean freight from Germany, port processing, port coordination, port quality actions, vehicle transportation, processing and transportation agreements. Aswell as company car movements and preparation, special moves (out of region, dealer trades, etc.) company vehicle repairs, company vehicle major damage, forecasting monthly wholesale figures, management of processing suppliers, marine damage surveyors and port authority relations.

Biography to be published shortly.

Michael has 20 years experience in Global Supply Chain Management. He is on faculty at Wayne State University and an active member of the local Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) chapter. Cooper-Standard is a leading manufacturer of fluid systems, sealing systems and NVH components for the automotive industry. Mike is responsible for global logistics and customs, MRO purchasing, capital equipment lease programs, and is the corporate delivery champion for their major OEM (original equipment manufacturer) customers.

As Global Director of Material Planning and Logistics (MP&L), Indirect Purchasing and India Shared Services Operations for Visteon Corporation (NYSE: VC), Patrick Bauer is responsible for corporate logistics, lean material flow optimisation, inventory management, customs and packaging engineering. He also leads purchased services and MRO procurement for Visteon and the business, knowledge and IT services provided out of the shared services centre in India.

Mark has worked in packaging engineering for over 11 years at various companies before joining Johnson Controls in October 2007. At JCI, Mark manages the North America Automotive Supply Chain Packaging Engineering team.

Rebecca is a senior advisor on the global competitive strategy team for IHS Automotive. She specializes in analysis and commentary related to domestic and foreign OEM’s, evaluating current and future products, financial results, and management teams. Additional areas of expertise include new product evaluations and demographic trends affecting the industry.

Dr Gang has a Ph.D from Xi'an Jiaotong University, majoring in Logistics Management. He has been a senior consultant at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and Executive Assistant of the VP at Volkswagen Group China. In 2006, he was assigned by Volkswagen and FAW-VW to help FAW Logistics (Lujie) improve their management processes and in 2008 he joined Changjiu and has made a contribution to set up the company as a 3PL provider for the Chinese market.

Timothy holds a BS in Packaging from Michigan State University and has held packaging engineering positions at 3M, General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Visteon Corporation. He has worked across all levels of packaging at Visteon, culminating in a Global manager position responsible for global packaging engineering strategy development and deployment.

George has 25 years’ experience in automotive services and parts supply chain management. His responsibilities have included plant manager, regional area manager US PDC operations, logistics manager, systems development project manager, process standardisation and control.

Jim has worked with Schneider National and UPS Supply Chain Solutions before joining Nissan in 2003 as a transportation manager for production parts. He was promoted in 2008 to Senior Manager, and following the merger of production and service parts roles at Nissan, he now oversees both divisions, originating in the US and Canada. A mathematics graduate, he also served in the United States Marine Corps for over 24 years. He will retire as Colonel in October 2011.

Kevin graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2000 with a Bachelors degree in Environmental Policy and Planning and has spent the last 11 years as a manager in the transportation industry and recently joined Fenkell Automotive Services as the Transportation Claims Manager for The Chrysler Group.

Within his 26 years of experience at Honda, Kevin has performed various material planning and procurement functions and participated as a key team member in several plant start-up projects including development and implementation project manager for plant production control/ERP systems. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from The Ohio State University. His current role is Unit Manager for the inbound logistics function for the Ohio, Indiana, Georgia and shared logistics network that supports Honda’s North American auto production and procurement facilities.

Leland, who joined Ford in 2000 and has held numerous key positions in Material Planning & Logistics (MP&L) and from 2003-2007 he was on global assignment to the MP&L Ford Asia Pacific & Africa Group. He designed and launched the first regional Inbound Network for FAP&A's C1 program. Prior to joining Ford, he spent 10 years with General Motors in a variety of managerial assignments. He has a B.A. and M.B.A. degrees in Supply Chain Management from Michigan State University.

Mike has spent more than 35 years in US automotive logistics. He started his career working with automotive carriers and is now in his 15th year with Toyota. In his current role at Toyota Logistics Services, he is responsible for all aspects of contracts and operations for Toyotas US highway carriers. Mike is also very involved with vehicle logistics at the U.S. Industry level by chairing the Highway Transportation Task Force for the Automotive Industry Logistics Steering Committee (AILSC) and working with other OEMs on important AIAG initiatives. Mike completed a BA in Business Administration and Management at National University.

Arild, head of Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, was previously Group Vice President for Shipping and Logistics, and has held various positions with the group since 1979, including 18 years in liner services, responsible for international marketing and customer contact, and head of the Singapore office. He is a business graduate of the Norwegian School of Management and under his leadership has steered Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics towards reducing its operational impact on the environment.

Camille has over 20 years of engineering design, logistics and sales experience in automotive, distribution, food and technology. She has an MS in Packaging Science and a BS in Packaging from Michigan State University. She volunteers on the Automotive Industry Action Group and served as a guest lecturer in the Industrial Engineering Department at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Dana has been with Honda of America Manufacturing since 1984 and has held positions in supply chain management for the past 24 years. His current duties include management of Honda’s north american transport initiatives to optimise supply chain operations.

Mercedes has over 20 years of supply chain experience in a wide variety of management positions in procurement, finance, customs, logistics, operations, and strategic network optimization. She began her career with Chrysler Mexico in 1996 and has managed international logistics operations in Europe, Asia and South America. Currently she is focused on future vehicle launches being responsible for Chrysler’s inbound logistics network design for the US, Canada and Mexico plants

Reid has 20 years’ experience in the automotive industry, within product design and development, process leadership, business development and operations. Before his current role he served as Vice President, General Manager and Vice President of Product and Business Development. Reid also leads government and military sales channel development spanning SANYO North America, including solar, battery and commercial product ranges.

Sylvia is responsible for logistics and material movement between suppliers, Delphi plants and customers: this includes procurement strategy, supplier negotiations and relationship management, network design, logistics operations and systems. She has extensive experience in materials management, supply chain and global perspective having spent nine years in Asia.

Stephen is a 10-year veteran with FedEx Services and currently holds the position of Managing Director – FedEx Worldwide Services. Stephen received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business with emphasis in Marketing and Finance from California Polytechnic University in Pomona and Master of Business Administration degree from George Washington University in Washington DC.

Scott Grady has spent 25 years working with the automotive industry. His past roles include Director of Automotive & National Sales and Sr. Vice President of Corporate Sales Solutions at Landstar and he currently oversees the sale and marketing of Landstar’s complete line of services. Scott won Landstar’s Outstanding Management Achievement Award in 2008.

Mike, an MBA Harvard graduate, began his career with General Motors. He served as President of Active Transportation when Active purchased Jack Cooper Transport in 2009. His previous roles include Chief Executive Officer of JHT, where he was responsible for over 4,000 employees and almost $500 million in annual revenues, President of Automotive Carrier Services, and President and Chief Executive Officer of Hook Up, a privately held truck transport company that he grew from $1 million to more than $70 million.

Greg has 25 years of business experience within supply chain and technology and his role as Research Director he analyzes supply chain best practices and the technologies that support them; including global logistics and distribution, supply chain visibility and logistics outsourcing. He advises clients on the impact these areas have on overall performance, and his work has focussed on increased profitability via the continual reoptimization of supply chain functions.

After graduating in physics from the Technical University of Aachen (RWTH), Matthias started his professional career at INFORM as a project assistant in April 2001. One year later he became project manager and later on senior consultant. In 2005 he was appointed as Head of Industrial Solutions. Since working at INFORM Matthias Berlit managed a large number of SCM projects in different sectors and industries, gaining an extensive experience in inbound, in-house and finished vehicle logistics, especially in the automotive industry.

After graduating from the Academy of World Trade in Frankfurt, Peter began his career at DHL in the position of global account manager, dealing with major automotive companies such as Robert Bosch. He went on to become Director of International Business Development for Menlo Worldwide Logistics, in which he led automotive business in the Asia-pacific region. At Geodis Wilson, Peter is responsible for developing and expanding the company’s automotive logistics business worldwide.

Jim has more than 25 years’ supply chain experience. He was a senior executive with Leaseway, USFreightways and Accenture. Jim is responsible for global business development for Ryder's supply chain solutions customers. He is co-inventor of Ryder's Logistic Release system and has guided its growth to support more than five million automotive lineside shipments.

Albert is responsible for working with dealer associations worldwide and leads the association’s efforts to understand changes in the global automotive sector, and how those changes will affect dealers in America. Prior to this, he spent 13 years at Ford across domestic and international operations including implementing the carmakers new dealer network in Peru and Chile. He was also appointed by the US Secretary of Commerce as a member of the Advisory Committee for Distribution Services; providing input to the Commerce department on matters related to distribution in the United States and beyond. He was re-appointed in 2010.

Dave is responsible for new business development including planning, and management of the sales organization. He enjoyed a prosperous 32 year career at Ford Motor Company holding a number of senior roles including the position of President South East Asia. He has a deep commercial and general management background and has an MBA in Marketing from Babson College.

William, MBA, and a previous visiting lecturer at Harvard Business School, has held senior management positions in the international/engineering business strategy divisions at Caterpillar, ITT, Honeywell and Alpha Industries. Immediately prior to Surgere, William was president of CTI, in which he managed the development of the packaging industry’s first three tier automated supply chain. He is also active in packaging trade organisations and has published articles on the packaging supply chain.

Wayne has 19 years experience in global software companies solving business problems with information technology. In 2010 he co-founded The Car Delivery Network, an independent platform for the outbound automotive logistics industry linking OEMs, carriers, drivers and third parties in real time. His new focus is actively introducing the CDN into the US, European and Asian markets.

Brad has been in his current position at Union Pacific Distribution Services since April 2011. He joined Union Pacific in 1988 and has held numerous positions in marketing and sales with the automotive, chemical and industrial products business teams. He is a graduate of Creighton University with a degree in business administration.

Since 2002 Alessandro has been responsible for strategic planning, global business development and sales of the Covercar 2T product range to the finished vehicle supply chain. He is an expert in damage prevention and limitation. Prior to this role he was a Market Research Analyst at Whirlpool Europe and Sales Manager at Perkins, MI. Alessandro holds a diploma in Economics from Università dell'Insubria.

Bill is an international business executive with over thirty years experience, managing a North American terminal operator and a global ocean carrier. He is now a supply chain consultant for AIAG, and he also founded KGI Global Logistics Consulting providing services to the automotive and related industries. KGI regularly consults for port authorities, investment firms, manufacturers and Tier 1 logistics suppliers in North America and Europe.

Brad, MBA, has 12 years experience in the finished vehicle logistics industry, formerly with Allied Automotive Group for 10 years where he held various roles in the Finance, Operations, and Sales departments. He joined GLOVIS in 2009 as Director of Business Planning where he is responsible for customer contracts and new business opportunities.

Jim started his career with General Motors in manufacturing engineering, and migrated to a number of materials management assignments, including Executive Director – Logistics for GM North America and Executive Director of Purchasing for GM Service Parts Operations. He is currently Supply Chain Program Manager for the Automotive Industry Action Group.

Patrick is responsible for Landstar’s field organization, agency recruitment, development and support as well as Corporate Sales Solutions, government services, specialized freight services and trailer operations. His previous positions include Director of Fleet Management, Vice President of Safety and most recently Chief Operating Officer. He has a BA for the University of Northern Iowa.

Prior to becoming CEO of AMPORTS in January 2008, Rand was an executive with CSX Railroad for the past 12 years. He has been engaged in the international transportation industry for most of his professional career and his experience includes both the container and auto trades, and spans the shipper, ocean carrier and intermodal sectors.

Ryder Fleet Products, is a warehouse distributor of aftermarket service parts and shop supplies; Scott oversees all business operations including procurement, marketing, sales and logistics. With over 25 years’ experience, Scott most recently served as Director of Customer Logistics for the Supply Chain Services Division of Ryder.

Lee has over 20 years of experience within the automotive logistics industry. His primary role over his career has been to develop supply chain systems to support both inbound logistics and finished vehicle logistics. Lee also has responsibility over VASCOR’s logistics engineering division.

Keith has worked for Union Pacific for the past seven years in various capacities covering automotive logistics and the last three in damage prevention. He has a Masters of Business Administration from Eastern Michigan University and a Bachelors of Business from Western Michigan University.

Jack previously served as general manager for all China operations, European operations, port dray and cross dock operations and marketing for Schneider Logistics. He has over 25 years of experience and joined Schneider from The Axis Group, where he was President and CEO. He has a bachelors and masters degree from Bowling Green State University, Ohio and is also a member of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP).

Marty has 31 years experience in the industry, beginning his career in the purchasing office of Volvo in Detroit in 1978. He then held positions at Chrysler in Vehicle Logistics, International procurement, import distribution, quality assurance, operations and manufacturer collaboration before joining AWC. He has been a representative on MUAR (Mexican US Rail Shippers).