Frank Thorsen

Group Purchasing Director
Findus Nordic

Frank Thorsen is a senior Purchasing Director with extensive experience within Global Procurement and Supply Chain Management. He is also experienced in creating best-in-class Purchasing Organizations with strong capabilities within Category Management and the understanding of commodity markets, their different dynamics and the correlation between business cycles and commodity markets, and he has industry leading capabilities in working with commercial teams in order to optimize Marketing and Sales strategies

Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining Frank.

Download The Latest Agenda

Procurement Strategies to Drive Business Competitiveness

Tuesday, March 11th, 2014

17:25 CPO Insight Case Study - Journey towards a Swifter and more Responsive Business Oriented Procurement Entity

The Findus Purchasing organisation has since 2007 been on a journey from local via centralised to a regional set-up in order to support the local businesses most efficiently. On the journey, the purchasing focus has also changed significantly from being mainly cost-focused to getting involved in value-creation by understanding brand essence and marketing concepts. Attend this session to understand how Findus has develop a responsive procurement strategy that is impacting business competitiveness. You will learn more about:

• How to get the base right – building purchasing competence and capabilities

• How to get closer to the commercial departments

• Successful ways to introduce risk management including technical analysis in order to add competitive advantage to our commercial discussions with our sales and marketing teams

• Pros and cons being regional vs. centralized

17:30

The Big Discussion – How to Build a Diverse Procurement Leadership Team that Drives Business Competitiveness
• Christina de Luca, Chief Procurement Officer, BP Refining
• Nina Guezennec, Chief Procurement Officer, Orangina Schweppes
• Melani Smith, Vice President Procurement North America, Mondelez International
One of this year’s highlights is this discussion on diversity – specifically how to address a balance of women in procurement – and how, once this is achieved, this will directly contribute to making your organization much more competitive. Attend this session to understand:
• What it takes to create a truly diverse leadership team and how this can benefit your organization
• How striking the right balance across your senior executive team can lead to greater competitiveness across your business
• First steps to take on the journey to achieving growth through diversity