Summary
I am an APICS certified supply chain professional with more than 11years experience in demand planning and SOP implementation. I am passionate about innovation in the field of planning and forecasting.
Featured Skills
Work Experience
International Demand Planner APAC May 2021 - Present
Cepheid Singapore- Current role as APAC supply chain partner for all product lines in Cepheid Singapore.
- Leading the SOP implementation in APAC region.
- Driving the implementation for distributor KPIs.
- Have implemented projects like expert reduction and lean ordering.
Demand Planner South East Asia Sep 2018 - Apr 2021
Becton Dickinson Singapore Singapore• Driving SOP process in SEA region.
• Implemented project for SOP tool to standardize the demand review process across countries in SEA region.
• Initiated inventory management process to manage safety stock levels across countries in SEA
Supply chain partner India Sep 2013 - Sep 2018
Becton Dickinson India Pvt Ltd India• Implemented SOP at India level for Diagnostics and Pharma division.
• Implemented balanced scorecard with key customers in Pharma division.
• Reduced expiry in diagnostics division by 50% through inventory management processes.
Education
APICS - CSCP (Logistics) Dec 2015 - Dec 2025
APICS United StatesI have completed CSCP certification from APICS which is one of the prominent bodies to impart supply chain and operations training.
PGDBM Supply chain and operations management (Logistics) Jun 2008 - Jun 2010
International School of Business Management IndiaI have completed my post graduation in supply chain and operations before starting my career in demand planning.
Other Skills
Q&A with Dhruva Vishwanathan
What would you bring to a team if you join them?
I will try to bring innovation and improvement in the current process by converting issues into improvement opportunities.
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- Posted 2 years ago
- Comment
What are some mistakes that you have made in your career? How did you deal with it and what have you learned from them?
Mistakes:
1. Staying in your comfort zone and not interacting with customers - this leads to errors in forecast replenishment and missing out on the changes in future forecast.
2. Not to calendarize your events for the week - this leads to missing out on follow ups and inretacting with stakeholders.- Upvote | 0
- Posted 2 years ago
- Comment
What kind of education or training did you find most useful in your field?
- Training in forecasting techniques using statistics.
- Excel training on macro programming.
- Machine learning and data management.- Upvote | 0
- Posted 2 years ago
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How do you effectively manage your work?
- Identify issues and convert them to projects.
- Calendarize your working days so that you dont miss to touch base with activites.
- Make time to socialize with other departments.- Upvote | 0
- Posted 2 years ago
- Comment
What excites you about the industry you are in?
The fact that medical devices play a very important role in the healthcare sector and save lives excites me the most.
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- Posted 2 years ago
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Have you considered going into other fields? What other fields do you think you are well-suited for and why?
- I have thought of having more experience in sales and marketing since its a great way to understand the customer expectations more.
- Also, have thought of gaining more experience in finance since the knowledge of pricing and margins is important for cost analysis in supply chain- Upvote | 0
- Posted 2 years ago
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What are the tools or technology that you enjoy using for your work?
1. Forecast generation tool which uses statistics to generate future forecast.
2. SAP reports integrated with excel for easier regular updates.
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- Posted 2 years ago
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What sacrifices have you had to make to succeed in this field, and do you feel the sacrifices were worth it?
Some of the sacrifices in supply chain are:
1. Interact outside the comfort zone - make effort to know more about sales and manufacturing in order to produce more quality demand forecast.
2. Upgrade your learning each year through certifications/projects.
3. Spend time on analytics outside your core profile. Example to understand forecast trends and inventory levels at customer end.
4. Customer collaboration with unsatisfied customers in order to understand the root cause behind supply and demand balance.- Upvote | 0
- Posted 2 years ago
- Comment
What has been the most challenging situation you have ever faced at work and how did you overcome it?
Change management was most challenging while implementation of SOP process.
I could overcome it using 3 steps:
1. Acquire consent from top management on the implementation of SOP.
2. Convincing stakeholders on the benefits of SOP for business.
3. Communication positive change through weekly/monthly dashboards.
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- Posted 2 years ago
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What kind of education or training did you find most useful in your field?
- APICS certifications(CSCP,CPIM)
- Executive MBA program in operations from an ivy league B School.- Upvote | 0
- Posted 2 years ago
- Comment
What kind of education or training did you find most useful in your field?
- APICS certifications(CSCP, CPIM)
- Executive MBA program from an ivy league institute.- Upvote | 0
- Posted 2 years ago
- Comment
What achievements in your career are you most proud of?
- Successful SOP implementation in BD India.
- Reducing expiry by 50% by optimizing inventory.
- Implementing SOP tool in South East Asia region to standardize the monthly review process.
- Upvote | 0
- Posted 2 years ago
- Comment
What are some personal projects or ideas you have worked on or are working on now?
- Inventory optimization using statistics.
- Improvement of forecast accuracy through analytics and change management.
- Implimenting SOP review in order to drive a common forecast between finance, sales and manufacturing.- Upvote | 0
- Posted 2 years ago
- Comment
What achievements in your career are you most proud of?
1. SOP implementation in India and SEA.
2. Executed project on inventory management which helped reduce expiry by 50%.- Upvote | 0
- Posted 2 years ago
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