Erika Obrtal
Demand & Supply Chain Manager | Project & Transformation Focus
Budapest,BU
Summary
Results‑driven Project and Operations professional with strong experience in end‑to‑end process coordination, cross‑functional project delivery and stakeholder management in international environments. Background in supply chain, demand planning, sourcing and operational transformation projects. Proven ability to coordinate multiple workstreams, manage risks and timelines, and support management‑level decision‑making as both Project Lead and Project Support.
Overview
21
21
years of professional experience
5
5
Certifications
3
3
Languages
Work History
Commodity Manager
ESAB SSC
Budapest, Hungary
09.2023 - Current
- Worked with over 400 international suppliers to source raw materials and production components. (4 factories & 1central WH)
- Reduced costs for raw materials through effective negotiation with suppliers and vendors.
- Established long-term contracts with key suppliers to secure pricing stability and reliable product availability.
- Drove continuous improvement initiatives within the supply chain organization, promoting best practices for cost savings and process efficiency.
- Identified, researched, and assessed quality of potential vendors. (NPI)
- Negotiated and finalized contracts with optimized pricing structures and delivery timetables.
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to align commodity management strategies with overall business goals and objectives.
- Supported factory transition, integration, and turnaround project from a sourcing and Supply chain & operational perspective, contributing to a successful integration. Working directly with suppliers, part numbers, and commercial details to support project accuracy and continuity
Demand Manager (FCST) (EU, ROW)
ESAB SSC
Budapest
08.2016 - 09.2023
- Led customer-facing supply chain improvement initiatives with key European clients in close collaboration with Sales Managers, designing and implementing joint processes to support annual sales targets and improve SLA performance (2 years project)
- Improving communication between factory, planning, customer, and vice versa (Monthly Logistics Newsletter)
- Increasing scheduled/-forward orders and building up the order book and monitoring
- Interacted with sales and marketing teams to understand demand forecast drivers.
- Managed inventory flow to meet inventory turn goals. Finding proactive ways to reduce and prevent the excess & obsolete inventory hand in hand with planning & sales & product management for all EU factories and WHs
- Collecting the FCST from the Regions, converting and at the month-end preparing RCCM and FCST accuracy analysis
- Managing Spec alloy S&OP meeting (propose PO placing, follow up the demand, and sales trends)
- Preparing several reports: Accuracy report, Overstock, Weekly provision, Monthly Demand, Top 20 (Excess & Provision items), Scrap list
Production Planning Team Leader
Nilfisk Production
Szigetszentmiklós
07.2015 - 12.2015
- Developing planning processes; capacity planning, building up controlling processes and anticipating constraint situations, long; - short term planning (SAP- backward scheduling)
- Improving, maintaining KPIs (improving customer satisfaction, OTD, Backorders, Backlogs)
- Creating a communication platform, sharing relevant information about the production scheduling and capacity (SALES, EDC, Procurement, TS)
- Campaign management, project management (reorganizing production and planning processes for another factory), participating in S&OP meetings
- Developed team members'' skills through targeted coaching sessions, resulting in improved individual performance.
- Collaborated with other department leaders to establish shared goals and ensure alignment across teams.
CORPORATE TRAINER/CONSULTANT
DOCLER HOLDING S.Á.R.L
Luxembourg
01.2014 - 07.2015
- Developed effective training manuals, modules and teaching aids.
- Providing training sessions, including organizing and preparing training activities evaluating training sessions, and collecting feedback to further develop improvement. Delivering newcomer’s introduction training and integrating into the organization. (Coaching, communication, problem-solving, leadership style advice)
- Creating new activities and preparing new training material (linked to the corporate direction)
- Consulting with the top management concerning Talent Development strategies & programs (ensuring the retention of talented individuals)
- Evaluated employee performance and provided actionable feedback for improvement, leading to higher overall success rates.
- Supported company growth by designing targeted training programs for new hires.
Customer Service & Transportation Manager
ORIFLAME (Global Distribution Centre)
Üllő
01.2012 - 01.2014
- Employee of the Month
- Led a multi‑market customer service standardization project across 12+ markets, designing and implementing policies and procedures to improve end‑to‑end supply chain service quality and support continuous business process improvements.
- Being a part of global logistics projects; preparing regular reports to GDC director and Regional Logistics Manager (PPT)
- Being the first point of contact for Sales, pick & pack department and 3 PL’s; and Global Quality team (quality issues and claims)
- Dealing with daily customer service claims from markets about damages, pick & pack failures and late arrivals and monitoring daily dispatches to markets
- Being the first point of contact for markets, pick & pack department
- Controlling of Carriers’ performance, Constitute Transportation Agreements, and constituting KPIs. Cost control
- Detecting other cost-effectiveness delivery methods meant that I was also relied upon to manage the negotiation of contracts with outside providers to minimize costs to the company and customers
MRP Controller (EMEA, SAF, Turkey)
LEXMARK International
Paris/Budapest
05.2009 - 01.2012
- Assisted in the implementation of a new ERP system that streamlined operations and increased overall productivity within the organization.
- Developed accurate forecasting models using historical data, improving visibility into future material requirements and reducing stockouts.
- Planning and follow-up production orders (Shenzen -China-) and Flow Outlook preparation (for EMEA, SAF, Turkey
- Managing components purchasing for defective inventory and customizations; ASN monitoring and measurement; and quality assurance (product hold, rework guidance, and prioritization))
- Inventory management. EOL management and NPI support. The position also necessitated the management of slow/low usage & Defective inventory; O&S Management, ISD&PSSD HW
- Supervising the return center activity follow-up and measurement procedures (production, FCST, replenishment)
- I also oversaw Projects, such as the SVC production rationalization and packaging procurement.
Logistic Planner and Customer Officer
PHILIPS HUNGARY LTD.
Budapest
05.2005 - 05.2009
- Employee of the Year
- Orders Handling, (FAX, EDI, Tradelink), creating deliveries - transport efficiency, reconciliation credit blocks (Finance, Customers) - (OEM, Retail, B2B)
- Maintaining good customer relationships, complaints handling, continuous invoicing, MTP planning
- Handling the incoming credit letters and penalty monitoring
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to align goals and ensure project success.
- Collecting support on projects in order to facilitate cooperation with other departments to ensure smooth project transition
Education
Bachelor of Science - PR And Communication
METU
Budapest 04.2001 -
Master of Economics - Logistics specialty
Széchenyi István University
Győr06.2003
Skills
Supplier relationship management
Supply chain optimization
Materials management
Sourcing strategies
Logistics management
Project management
Demand planning
Customer service
Problem-solving
Team leadership
Certification
Life & Business Coaching
Timeline
Commodity Manager
ESAB SSC
09.2023 - Current
Demand Manager (FCST) (EU, ROW)
ESAB SSC
08.2016 - 09.2023
Production Planning Team Leader
Nilfisk Production
07.2015 - 12.2015
CORPORATE TRAINER/CONSULTANT
DOCLER HOLDING S.Á.R.L
01.2014 - 07.2015
Customer Service & Transportation Manager
ORIFLAME (Global Distribution Centre)
01.2012 - 01.2014
MRP Controller (EMEA, SAF, Turkey)
LEXMARK International
05.2009 - 01.2012
Logistic Planner and Customer Officer
PHILIPS HUNGARY LTD.
05.2005 - 05.2009
Bachelor of Science - PR And Communication
METU
04.2001 -
Master of Economics - Logistics specialty
Széchenyi István University