FULL TIME MBA YEARBOOK 2014 Transforming knowledge into action Curriculum Vitae: Mrs Priyadarshini - Details Name: Current Course: Mrs Priyadarshini - FTMBA Nationality: Interests: Indian An enthusiastic badminton and carom board player who exercises mental abilities through Sudoku. Enjoy photography, reading fact and fiction, keen on travelling and exploring new cultures. Personal Statement Divisional Manager with over a decade of experience in business development and operations within the fashion industry. Expertise in sourcing, pricing and negotiations coupled with product development and risk assessment. Strong leadership, analytical and interpersonal skills developed by leading multi-disciplinary teams and diverse client handling, demonstrating smooth and effective supply chain in consonance with client specifications. Key Achievements Led a cross-functional team to improve resources to address prevalent service issues and won recognition of 'best sourcing hub' for the Bangladesh office. Contributed to the increase of operational turnover within Bangladesh for a German fashion brand from US$4m to US$12m over a period of five years whilst still utilising the same initial budget. Solved problem of late sample delivery by challenging accepted practises and convincing a client to accept new practical solutions that significantly reduced the lead time and development cost by 25%. Qualifications: Post Grad Diploma - Garment Manufacturing Technology National Institute of Fashion Technology 1999 - 2001 Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in English Literature Banaras Hindu University 1994 - 1997 Career History: Anand Fashions International LLC: Divisional Manager - Dhaka, Bangladesh (Jan 2005 - May 2012) A liaison office for the German based premium lifestyle brand LERROS, catering to men and women's fashion. Founded in 1979, LERROS is For more information, or to contact the team about any of our students, visit www.cranfieldsomcareers.info/contactus represented in over 30 countries with more than 1200 sales outlets. It employs approximately 250 people worldwide with a turnover of €125m. l Was invited to apply to this company as Assistant Merchandising Manager based on one year of performance observed at Colby International. Promoted to Divisional Manager in less than five years, directly accountable to one of the Directors based in China. Independently regulated the Bangladesh operations, managed its P & L. Turnover tripled in less than five years, exceeding the set target by 20%. l Drove new business by launching the production of LERROS women’s clothing range in Bangladesh and by strategically identifying opportunities from a client’s product range being outsourced from other locations. Directed the product development team to analyse and research potential issues involved with varied material mix, negotiated with vendors for a cut-throat quotation, successfully ensured smooth production and timely and quality delivery of the consignment increasing turnover by US$5.5m. l Improved the supply chain of the company. Following an upsurge in business, the company was looking for a reliable supplier who could handle the production of new merchandise in compliance with preset quality specifications. Several suppliers were evaluated based on performance and reputation in context with existing clients and trial orders. The final vendors are now long-term business partners steadily contributing to the mutual business expansion. l Analysed the issue of stagnancy in the company and the development of new employees. Introduced a concept of hiring fresh graduates from local business and fashion schools to help expand the product base. Used job rotation to augment employee’s ability to understand diverse issues and to prepare them as fully trained support staff when needed. The step was consequential in value creation within individuals, empowering teams to deliver business outcomes and improving employee retention by 12%. l Convinced a client to accept a new solution to resolve late sample deliveries. With 3,000 pieces of development samples every month, almost 15% were available too late. Analysed the result of dyeing different structures of same composition and colour together that demonstrated a cost and time saving of 25%. This resulted in 100% of samples being available in time for sales meetings and increased order quantity by up to 35% for some patterns. l Helped in the introduction of BSR’s 'HER project' to the suppliers. 'HER project' is an initiative that links multinational companies, factories and local NGOs to create a sustainable workplace by increasing women’s health awareness. It uses peer education methodology to increase access to information. Lenny Fashions: Senior Merchandiser - Dhaka, Bangladesh (Dec 2003 - Dec 2004) A garment manufacturing facility within the Must Group. The Group was founded in 1981 and today is an international company with more than 10,000 employees and a turnover of approx. US$200m. The group has a global presence with exports of over 35 million garments annually. l Minimised the production cost of regular clothing styles. Worked on the production marker with the CAD/ marker planning department to maintain a database of standard marker patterns for similar styles to be referred in the future, negotiated the price with trims and accessories suppliers to agree a minimum benchmark for basic trims for future production. This created a readily available directory for forthcoming business and increased profitability by 5-7% per style line of clothing. l Initiated change in the organisational structure to improve the procurement of raw material and daily meetings to promote conversation and prioritise daily agendas. Since a delay in raw material was deferring the production planning, analysed the functions, department, people and their current responsibilities to help re-define their roles with clear demarcation ensuring answerability. This successfully reduced delays from 20% to 7% within the first two months. l Recognised and rewarded for continually exceeding expectation while building and maintaining key business relations. Successfully developed a key account with Wal-Mart worth US$25m. Colby International: Assistant Merchandiser - Gurgaon, India (Oct 2002 - Nov 2003) A sourcing firm acquired by Li & Fung in 2000. Established in 1906, Li & Fung is a global sourcing firm with garments comprising two thirds of its business. Listed in HK stock exchange with 300+ offices and distribution centres and an annual turnover of US$20bn, it employs over 28K people. l Responsible for pursuing several outsourcing and offshoring activities for clients. Successfully monitored the execution and reporting of work-in -progress of ongoing orders and developments and continually supported the Business Head in delivering weekly reports to all key clients. l Re-examined every aspect of clothing specimens to ensure that they reached all clients with no faults. Led regular in-depth examinations, scrutinising any imperfections which helped to reduce the rejection percentage by 5-7% and ultimately increased the speed of client orders. Recognised for successfully reducing the scrapping rate of samples and offered the opportunity to independently manage a Mexican client Liverpool. l Worked closely with the Business Head of the 'Awareness Advancement Strategy Programme' which is an initiative aimed at benefiting both suppliers and our team members in broadening their respective learning horizon through the mutual exchange of knowledge. This led to a better understanding of the working limitations at either side and successfully enhanced a more collaborative working partnership. Sewa International: Product Development Coordinator - Faridabad, India (May 2001 - Sep 2002) Sewa International is an apparel manufacturing facility that has its own marketing office known as 'The Star of India' in Texas, US. The company has its own labels and employs more than 2000 people. l Led a team of people managing four sewing production lines on the shop floor. Applied the theoretical knowledge gained during a postgraduate course, established SAM (Standard Allowed Minute) value of the product by time and motion study to identify the bottleneck operations. Introduced a specific handling process and identified skilled operators that helped in improving the critical operations. This successfully optimised the productivity by 20%. l Promoted to Product Development Coordinator for delivering the bestselling range ‘Angie’. Established a new record of 100% on time sample delivery, reduced throughput time by as much as 50%, and increased new customer orders by 15% for the label. Introduced a new system for record keeping and managing company documentation increasing accountability for staff involved in the process flow. The Head Designer for the label proposed to write a Letter of appreciation for the outstanding performance. l Designed and set key performance standards for the R&D department’s workflow. Introduced a comprehensive system to facilitate prompt and sufficient booking of raw material ready for development, successfully eliminating any last minute issues to attain the final product. l Managed the R & D department with emotional intelligence and relationship-oriented leadership that helped establish a strong bond with operators, technicians and pattern makers. Successfully improved the team’s output by creating an environment of healthy competition amongst the operators, which delivered better results in terms of quality and quantity. Received a performance-based