In unprecedented times, everyone business is being challenged – resulting in government mandated shutdowns, employees absenteeism , materials shortages , logistics issues etc

Sourcing Team Shanghai was called into action to secure supply chain parts availability so that operations can complete job orders to deliver to our customers soonest possible. An example of the immense challenge inter-province border checks that prevented trucks from delivering goods to our Wuxi factory during the peak of the Pandemic . Attempts to contact our suppliers were also an issue as lines were jammed out during a flood of calls from other customers.

Some of the countermeasures we kicked in were:-

o   Reaching out to each supplier with a detailed checklist of questionnaire to understand level of supply chain risks disruption.

o   Local governmental restrictions and implications

o   Best / Worst Case scenario analysis

o   Develop urgent alternate sourcing as needed.

o   Partnering Sales & Wuxi Factory to assess / readjust priorities

The effort by my team was relentless as it was literally 24/7 to assess current state and rush through risk mitigation countermeasures. We managed to effectively respond to the crisis and kept operations and our customers well supported in Q2 2020. This result would also not have been possible without the support of our suppliers. It reinforces the importance of maintaining good supplier relationships, such that in challenging times – we secure the needed capacity allocation to support our business.

I am especially proud of our team’s dedication and extreme stretch to keep us going. Here, I would like to take an opportunity to recognize each of my team members for doing an outstanding job.

Nora Zhang

I had joined in Southworth for 1.5 years, with >20 years working experience in Multi-national companies. As Sourcing Director, I am working with our Purchasing team both in Shanghai and Wuxi, to manage Quality-Cost-Delivery and support company business goals.

In the past 18 months, I have witnessed the historical momentum of Southworth APAC growth and development, such as Wuxi VPG new plant setup, Shanghai new office movement, and Ningbo operation integration……These are all impressive moments for the team and myself.

My hometown is Xi’an, a city with up to 3000 years history, and famous for the Terra-Cotta Warriors. I have a 15 years old daughter. Every day, we have many topics to argue and debate, that makes our lives full of fun. My Chinese First Name “Ning” means “Quiet”, however, my daughter always complains “you are too noisy……”. So I guess it’s just a “Wish” from my Mother. I like my English name “Nora”, it means “Sunshine” in Arabic. I would hope my life is full of sunshine, and I can also bring sunshine to others.

Jeff Wu

Jeff joined in Southworth in June, 2019 as Sourcing Engineer in Shanghai Purchasing. He had 13 years sourcing experience in Shipyard, Heavy duty, and Steel Structure Manufacturing industries. In the past one year, he added a lot of value in the team, and supported many key customer projects and new product development successfully.

Jeff comes from Jiangsu province, and has a 9 years old son. His naughty son likes travel and variety of sports. Jeff always likes to eat fish, because he believes eating fish can make people smarter and heathier, and he is also good at cooking fish. 

Song Gang

Song Gang is the “most senior” member in Purchasing Team with >11 years working experience, because he has worked in Southworth for over 5 years. He witnessed the great changes of Southworth China recent years, and feels very excited and happy when moving into the new Shanghai office. In early stage, he played main role to manage PO and delivery, and now is focusing on sourcing and supplier development. Even though Purchasing is a challenging job, he really likes challenges, and believe he can do it better. 

Song Gang came from XinYang city of Henan province, already stayed in Shanghai for 10 years. But he still prefers noodles and breads, which is his hometown favorite food. He is a professional “Family Chef”, and often cooks the yummy tastes for his wife and daughter during the weekend. He has a 9 years old daughter, good at dancing and calligraphy. After work, Song Gang likes to play basketball, he has a dream, that one day, he can be as good as Michael Jorden.

Daniel Chen 

Daniel Chen joined Southworth in 2019 as AQE (Advanced Quality Engineer), bringing along with >10 year’s experience of supplier quality management. Most of the time, he is a low profile member in Purchasing team, but he can be very sharp when talking about quality. He uses his professional toolbox and experiences, to help the team strengthen supplier quality management, set up effective quality control process, and prevent potential quality risks in advance.

Daniel has a son, who just started primary school last year. He gave his a nice name “Hans”. Daniel and his son became the certified “True Man” after climbing the Great Wall together (There is Chinese well-known saying, “He who doesn’t reach the Great Wall is not a true man”.). Daniel has lived and worked in Shanghai for more than 10 years since he came from his hometown in Jiangsu Province. In his leisure time, he likes reading history books and travelling with his son.

Michael Han 

Michael Han joined in Southworth since Oct, 2018, and located in Wuxi VPG plant. He and his team hold the responsibilities for Direct and Indirect Material purchasing, daily PO management, delivery tracking and other support of VPG production demand. With his rich experience of MRP system and plant purchasing, he worked out all the challenges and difficulties when VPG new plant was started in early stage, partnered with IT to set up effective system management. With continuous effort among 12 months, he has driven the supplier OTP from 43% up to 82%, maintained productive and effective supply chain for VPG plant. Michael Han has a cute baby girl, who is only one and half year old. His enjoys every moment when playing games with her.

LiaoNing Lu 

We always call LiaoNing as “Xiao Lu”. Her hometown is Suzhou---one of the most beautiful cities in China, and 1 hour driving from Shanghai. She started in Southworth from 1 year ago, and plays the main role of Indirect Material purchasing management. She fulfills her roles with a lot of patience and consideration, and paid much attentions on details management and cross-functional coordination. From a pair of welding gloves, to a set of exhaust fans, she never loosen her efforts to do her best. The most enjoyable thing she likes to do is, to climb the mountains with her son. Just like climbing mountains, the best charming scene is on top of the hill. She will become one more star in purchasing team in near future.

LingYan Zhang 

LingYan’s hometown is Wuxi, and became member of VPG purchasing team since 2018. She is so lucky that she can work in her home town with all families around. She contributed a lot when Southworth transited production from FengXian to Wuxi VPG new plant, she is very passionate and open-minded. In daily work, her laughter fills the office with lots of fun and relaxation. LingYan’s son has entered the junior high school this year, and she likes cooking for her son and touring along the country roads together.

 Thank you very much to Team Sourcing Shanghai & Wuxi. Let’s continue our efforts to support business as switch our focus now on driving Material Cost Reduction through our MCR Task force.