Michael B. - Interim Manager: Head of Category, Commerce Platform & Data Management, Member of the Executive Board

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Düsseldorf, Germany

Experience

Feb 2021 - Dec 2023

2 years 11 months

Interim Manager: Head of Category, Commerce Platform & Data Management, Member of the Executive Board

VIKING Raja Group

Winning customers in e-commerce and major accounts by expanding and optimizing core and long-tail assortments (+€25M revenue, +100k SKUs)
Re-launching the VIKING brand and introducing customer-specific assortments (€160M revenue, +2% gross margin)
Restructuring category and data management by reducing headcount from 236 FTE to 160 FTE and successful purchasing negotiations in 2022 (+€3.8M additional operating result)
End-to-end responsibility for product availability and backorders, improving delivery rate from about 96% in 2021 to 99.3% in 2023

May 2020 - Jan 2021

9 months

Interim Manager: Sparring Partner to Shareholders

Interim Management with two clients: Office Depot, later VIKING and a tool retailer

Designing the new VIKING organization and restructuring plan
Developing an innovative sales concept for a medium-sized tool retailer
Digitizing and optimizing sales by linking ERP systems (SAP and Oracle) with Simple System, Onventis, and CRM

Feb 2016 - Apr 2020

4 years 3 months

Wuppertal, Germany

Division Manager (Authorized Signatory) and Member of the Executive Board

E/D/E

P&L responsibility for the Tools and Industrial Services/C Parts Management division with €600M revenue and >€20M profit
Leading the Premium and Union sales groups with external revenue of >€1B, expanding (sales programs) and optimizing assortments (increasing inventory turnover by 8% to over €200M in tools alone)
Designing and successfully introducing a new sales organization (key account management by customer segmentation) based on a broad stakeholder analysis with customers and suppliers
Reorganizing product management and purchasing with professionalizing buying negotiations (+€2.5M additional profit)
Successfully implementing e-business-driven business models as supply systems for industry and trade (>€100M revenue)

Jul 2012 - Jan 2016

3 years 7 months

Managing Director responsible for Sales, Marketing, Finance, Procurement, Logistics, and IT

PROJAHN Präzisionswerkzeuge GmbH

Managing international sales with own subsidiaries and importers and handling the two most important customers
Customer-focused restructuring of sales by introducing international KAM and qualifying customer support (strategy workshops, concrete development plans, training and qualification measures, plus digitizing order processing and invoicing for 40% of business)
Planning and acquiring (with equity) a new warehouse and production site to secure long-term growth
Enhancing reporting (KPI dashboard) and holding supervisory board meetings

May 2010 - Jun 2012

2 years 2 months

Global Sales Director and Head of Strategy Development Project

PROJAHN Präzisionswerkzeuge GmbH

Global sales, revenue, and profit responsibility, increasing sales by about 10% per year (2009/2012) and operating margin by nearly 2%
Ensuring product availability and customer delivery with an average delivery rate of 99.5%
Leading inside and direct sales, marketing, product management, application engineering, and complaint handling
Redefining the brand presence and enforcing it consistently in the product range
Introducing a digital order and invoicing process (via ERP with Nexmart or EDI)

Aug 2007 - Apr 2012

4 years 9 months

Managing Director

Rich. Herbig Bayerischer Metallhandel, a company of the Niemet Group Bremen

P&L responsibility, improving operating margin from 0.2% in 2007 to nearly 2% in 2008
Refocusing sales: increasing key accounts per salesperson from 33 in 2007 to 45 in 2009
Purchasing responsibility for domestic and cross-border transactions

Apr 2003 - Jul 2007

4 years 4 months

Sales Director DACH and Eastern Europe and Deputy Division Manager

MICHELIN Reifenwerke AG & Co. KGaA

Responsible for sales, revenue, and profit, and leading 7 account managers
Analyzing and revising the European two-wheel strategy and its implementation
Designing and running the customer partnership program, gaining ~1% market share and increasing gross margin by nearly 3%
Sustainable improvement of delivery reliability through joint forecasts with major customers and process improvements

Jan 1999 - Mar 2003

4 years 3 months

Key Account Manager Tire Trade

MICHELIN Reifenwerke AG & Co. KGaA

Sales responsibility for 4 purchasing and marketing cooperatives in DACH with €120M revenue
Leading 8 regional and 51 area sales managers
Successfully implementing customer programs, gaining 2.5% share of audience / +€10M over 2 years
Building and implementing the company-wide bonus system

Feb 1995 - Dec 1998

3 years 11 months

Area Sales Manager / Product Manager for Roof Racks and Roof Boxes

Thule GmbH

Sales responsibility for DACH and Central/Eastern Europe and building a solid and successful distribution structure (from €0.5M to over €8M in 3 years)
Establishing and building a sales branch in Poland and leading the team
Budget responsibility for marketing and costs
Adapting the assortments and sales materials for Central and Eastern Europe

Summary

Strong negotiation skills with various stakeholders combined with execution strength gained in medium-sized companies, corporations, as well as industry and trade
Change management (culture + strategy) of organizations and processes related to dynamically changing markets (digitalization through e-commerce, e-procurement, C parts management) to achieve growth and cost savings
Leading and developing staff to sustainably secure company success
Designing and successfully executing market entry, sales, and marketing concepts with significant and measurable results for each company
Profitable expansion and adjustment of the product and service portfolio based on sustainability
Key account management and successful crisis management to secure sales success
Organizing and running efficient data management to provide market-relevant and compliance-ready customer data