Syed Rizvi

In my current role at BMI GROUP, I have been pivotal in leading the global greenfield implementation of an end-to-end Supply Chain Planning transformation programme, integrating Anaplan for Demand Planning, SAP IBP for Supply Planning, and ensuring seamless integration with S/4HANA for execution across procurement, manufacturing, and logistics.

Key Responsibilities and Achievements:

• Dual Role Mastery: Balanced the dual responsibilities of a Solution Architect and Business Process Manager for Supply Chain Planning, effectively aligning strategic initiatives with operational demands.
• Transformation Leadership: Spearheaded the greenfield Supply Chain Transformation Project, implementing and configuring Available to Promise (ATP), Anaplan for Demand and Financial Planning, SAP IBP for Supply Planning and Inventory Optimisation, and ensuring integration with SAP S/4HANA, BW/4HANA, and SAP Analytics Cloud for comprehensive reporting.
• Process Mapping & Gap Analysis: Conducted an exhaustive AS-IS process analysis, mapped To-Be processes, and performed a meticulous fit-gap analysis to align business objectives with operational capabilities.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Led and drove cross-functional workshops, fostering an understanding of handover points between different business functions and ensuring organizational alignment and collaboration.
• Educational Walkthroughs: Delivered a series of solution walkthrough sessions, elucidating how the new To-Be processes enable the technology being implemented, thereby ensuring smooth adoption and maximizing technological value.
• Team Management: Oversaw and managed internal and external consultants, ensuring effective team collaboration and project execution.
• Stakeholder Engagement and Communication: Effective communication and engagement with stakeholders at various levels, ensuring clear articulation of requirements, objectives, and outcomes.
• SKU Rationalization & Segmentation: Analyzed millions of rows of transactional data, leading to a 30% reduction in SKU count, optimizing inventory levels, and uncovering 6 million EUR of inventory against underperforming products.
• Forecasting Excellence: Implemented machine learning models using Facebook Prophet for demand forecasting, integrating diverse external datasets and achieving a 20% improvement in forecast accuracy during the Proof of Concept phase.
• Operational Enhancements: Realized a 20% improvement in On-Time In-Full (OTIF) deliveries by optimizing the integration of ATP with supply chain planning and execution systems.

My tenure at BMI GROUP has been marked by a relentless pursuit of supply chain excellence, leveraging cutting-edge technologies, and fostering collaboration across the organization to drive significant operational enhancements.

In this role, I was entrusted with managing the intricate supply chain for Sanofi's Diabetes, Cardiovascular, and Consumer Health portfolio across the UK and Ireland markets.

Key Responsibilities and Achievements:

• Strategic Demand Review Process: Initiated and established a collaborative demand review process, involving commercial, product management, and finance teams, leading to a notable 10% reduction in forecast error.
• Clear Production and Delivery Plans: Translated the sales ambitions of the Business Unit into coherent production and delivery plans, fostering weekly collaboration with site supply chain and regional teams to ensure alignment and efficiency.
• Balanced Supply Plans: Maintained a long-term balanced supply plan over a 24-month horizon, incorporating Value/Volume gap analysis and proactively identifying risks and opportunities.
• Enhanced Communication and Execution: Worked closely with European supply chain and regional S&OP leads to ensure effective two-way communications, actionable planning, and seamless execution.
• Performance Monitoring and Optimization: Diligently monitored and optimized performance against SLAs, ensuring optimal levels of inventory within the UK/Ireland distribution network and minimizing obsolescence.
• Achievement of KPIs: Ensured that both global and local supply chain KPIs were not only met but exceeded, focusing on Forecast Accuracy & Dispersion, Customer Service, Working Capital, and Obsolescence.
• Optimized Supply Chain Performance: Designed and implemented insightful reports and metrics, enabling end-to-end product visibility from upstream to downstream and contributing to informed decision-making and performance improvement.

In this pivotal role at Accenture, serving AB-InBev, I spearheaded the establishment of a future Global Template Centre of Excellence (COE) for Supply Chain Planning support, achieving significant milestones in enhancing supply chain solutions and ensuring a seamless transition during organizational changes.

Key Responsibilities and Achievements:

• Enhancement of Solutions: Proactively addressed and delivered new demand requirements from the business, leading to substantial enhancements of the existing supply chain planning solution.
• Service Delivery Management: Oversaw the Managed Service Delivery, providing robust support to the business in the Supply Chain Planning domain and ensuring continuity of operations.
• User Acceptance Testing (UAT) Support: Played an instrumental role in supporting UAT and in-country business key users through activities such as test data setup and interface automation, ensuring the reliability of solutions deployed.
• Training and Change Management: Developed and delivered comprehensive training programs and addressed business change management requirements for both deployments and Business As Usual (BAU) releases, fostering adaptability and proficiency among users.
• Technical and Functional Documentation: Created detailed technical and functional documentation for the Global Template Application Separation Approach, focusing on Infor supply chain planning and Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) tools, thereby contributing to organizational knowledge and system utilization.
• Successful Migration: Orchestrated the successful carve-out of SABMiller’s supply chain planning tools and processes, and seamlessly migrated them to Asahi’s infrastructure, ensuring business continuity and system efficiency.

My tenure at Accenture, working with AB-InBev, was marked by a commitment to excellence, innovation in supply chain planning, and a focus on delivering tailored solutions and support to meet the evolving needs of the business.

In my role at SABMiller PLC, I played an instrumental part in transforming high-level Demand Planning business requirements into comprehensive Global Solution detailed design documents, focusing on various platforms including Infor Demand Planning, SAP TPM, SAP BW, and ECC.

Key Responsibilities and Achievements:

• Solution Design and Development: Led the translation of high-level Demand Planning business requirements into detailed functional and technical specifications, ensuring alignment with the organization’s goals and objectives.
• ARIS Business Process Modeling: Oversaw ARIS – Business Process Modeling, enhancing the connection to Demand Planning and fostering a structured approach to business process management.
• Collaboration and Integrity Maintenance: Worked closely with Business Process Leads and in-country business deployment teams, maintaining the integrity of the Global Solution and addressing local requirements effectively.
• Design Alignment and Compliance: Ensured that designs produced by development and Systems Integration partners were compliant with the agreed solution architecture and business requirements.
• Data Migration Support: Assisted the data migration team with functional data mapping, migration, and conversion testing, based on the approved Global Solution design for Demand Planning.
• Business Strategy Execution: Executed business priorities and strategies communicated from the Business Process Leads, translating them into actionable Global Solution detailed design documents.
• Systems Integrator Support: Supported Systems Integrator deployment and development partners through build and test phases, resolving functional defects, and ensuring the reliability of the solution.
• User Support and Training: Provided essential support for UAT and in-country business key users for Infor Demand Planning related activities and addressed training and business change management requirements for deployments and BAU releases.
• Vendor Selection and Evaluation: Acted as a Supply Chain subject matter expert during the vendor selection process for new supply chain planning solutions, participating in vendor ratings during the RFI and RFP phases.
• Innovative Functionality: Designed and implemented Seasonal Depot Allocation functionality, contributing to the optimization of supply chain operations.

My tenure at SABMiller PLC was marked by a commitment to innovation, excellence in design and implementation of supply chain solutions, and a collaborative approach to addressing business needs and objectives.

At Zebra Technologies, I played a pivotal role as a Global Demand Planning Analyst, focusing on generating accurate statistical forecasts through extensive data analysis for EMEA, NALA, and APAC regions. I led monthly cross-functional review meetings, creating a consensus demand plan and contributing to supply chain optimization. My responsibilities included maintaining databases and spreadsheets for timely reporting, serving as a superuser for the Demantra system, assisting in data transformation, and developing performance metrics. I supported various demand planning projects and integrated business planning processes, providing guidance and best practices to regional planning groups.

At Molson Coors UK, I held a pivotal position as a Supply Chain Strategy Analyst, specializing in utilizing IBP ILOG LogicNet for Supply Chain Network Design Optimization. I developed strategic scenarios, performed in-depth market and competitor analyses, and generated long-term demand forecasts. My work involved comprehensive demand vs. capacity analyses, scenario modeling for optimal operational strategies, and collaboration with strategy managers to align business strategies with organizational objectives. I assessed the financial impact of projects, implemented a Supply Chain Scorecard aligned with SCOR best practices, and played a central role in optimizing supply chain performance through data-driven innovation and strategic alignment.

At Cobra Beer Ltd, I served as a Supply Chain Planner, managing supply planning, bulk beer procurement, and coordinating inbound transport to manufacturing and warehousing sites. I formulated and managed a comprehensive inventory strategy for finished goods, developed distribution strategies for optimal inventory levels, and collaborated closely with various teams to enhance supply chain efficiency. Additionally, I designed an advanced Excel model for Material Requirements Planning, contributing to accurate supply planning. My role involved balancing strategic planning and operational execution to optimize supply chain processes and achieve organizational objectives.