Alumni Success Story - Priyanka Mani, ZLOG-3C, 2018

Alumni Success Story - Priyanka Mani, ZLOG-3C, 2018 and Project Management Team Leader at Philips. See profile on Linkedin

“ZLC opened a world of opportunities to me as soon as I joined the program. The exposure received in Spain, US and China also prepared me for more global roles”

Following your graduation from ZLC, you started working at Johnson & Johnson. What was your role in this company?    

I joined Johnson & Johnson in the role of a Supply Chain Project Specialist. In less than a year’s time, I grew into a senior position within the same role and team. I was responsible for the planning, alignment and execution of Supply Chain activities related to approved and funded projects which include new product introductions, product line extensions, network optimization, acquisitions, divestiture, product design changes and lifecycle management, temperature sensitive and cold chain supply chain projects. I worked directly with overall project leaders, regional supply & demand planners, supply network planners, Master Data Management team, RA & QA teams and business partners to ensure strong working relationships and processes, resulting in achievement of stated final project objectives. We utilized global supply chain projects planning processes to enact product changes and changes to supply chain flows and significantly align with Supply Planning / Production planning / Purchasing / External Ops planning / Network planning to ensure capacity & capability are appropriately utilized for planning and scheduling functions. We also facilitated and supported Scenario Planning analysis, with capacity bottleneck identification, where required.

Then you gave the jump to Philips, one of the world´s leader companies in health technology and consumer products. What are the main challenges for the supply chain of a multinational of this market?         

The main challenges for a leading technology giant like Philips, which keeps trying to make huge strides in automation and cutting-edge technology to support the changing times and requirements of our patients, have been component availability. This has affected all technology providers globally. It has become crucial to have multiple sources for components and parts and to develop at minimum a secondary source for unique design components. A lack of this would result in having to redesign some key technologies which could ultimately affect quality of care provided to customers.

Another important consideration organizations at this scale need to consider is their key supply chain competencies. If a business is not adept at a certain task within the supply chain, it is wiser to outsource this to an external party that would be experts in this field. Philips very early on in Europe realized that warehousing and logistics was not a part of their core competency and decided to outsource these activities to multiple 3PLs.

Innovation is one of the values and features of Philips. What does entails in the supply chain management? 
The R&D team plays a key role in identifying improvements in technology to be able to consistently provide the best solutions to our patients and key customers. To keep up with the vigorously changing requirements, the transformation team plays a key role in ensuring that the operational processes support this fast-changing environment. In the last 5 years, the supply chain strategy of Philips IGTD has changed, where the organization has moved from a centralized model to a de-centralized structure, where the ownership has been transferred to the markets. This strategic decision was taken to ensure that we continue to integrate with the goals and blueprint of the larger Philips organization as well as be able to serve our patients and hospitals in a more agile manner. With all these changes, it has been more than crucial now to ensure that as an organization we develop a more quality driven and agile way of working and delivering to our customers. And this is how the supply chain structure is being developed within Philips IGTD – to support this exact way of working.

What are the main projects that you have faced as a team leader?
I have been involved in many projects individually as well as through my team members. The main project we have been involved in has been the market integration for Image guided therapy devices. This large-scale project, spanning over multiple phases, acquisitions, and multiple years has been divided in various go-lives. I have contributed as a project leader for various of these phases, as well as for integrating one of the newly acquired company into the Philips Blueprint. I have also been a part of the amalgamation of new 3PL partners, to whom warehousing and logistics activities are being outsourced as a part of this integration.
Through my team members, I have been involved in various IT and business transformation projects to include new technology solutions to improve and automate existing manual processes like quoting and contracting, warehousing and transportation management and enterprise requirements planning.

From a global point of view, how has the Zaragoza Logistics Center experience affected your professional and personal life?       
ZLC opened a world of opportunities to me as soon as I joined the program. This program not only exposed me to like-minded and highly functioning individuals with whom I have had the privilege of working and being connected to, it also opened me up to professional opportunities that I would not have been qualified for before completing my masters from ZLC and MIT. The exposure received in Spain, US and China also prepared me for more global roles.

What is your main message to those candidates who are thinking about embarking on ZLOG master?           
Before I embarked on this journey with ZLC with the 3C program, I had done my fair share of research on all the best programs offering similar opportunities for a concentrated master’s in supply chain and logistics. I found that this program was the more comprehensive in terms of content, exposure, qualified professors and quality tie-ups with large organizations for job offerings. My Main message to the candidates considering this program would be to not hesitate at all as I personally found this to be one of the best, if not the best program for supply chain and logistics. Rest assured, if any of the following is of concern – global exposure and visibility, technical content, exceptional professors, job training and opportunities, then this is the perfect program for you as this will tick all the boxes you are looking for. I would just advise to give it your all, while in the course and to take the maximum out of the 10 months in terms of connections, knowledge and friendships.