Regiona General Manager - Distribution
Posted on: 2011-03-01
JULIE A. NORRIS
11859 Deacon Drive
Rockton, Illinois 61072
812.344.5770
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS
An accomplished professional with over seventeen years of retail distribution and leadership experience with expertise in building relationships and effective teams, operational functions and engineered standards. Solid organizational, communication and time management skills. Adept at bridging engineering performance gaps to complete business interests and developing process improvement initiatives.
Professional Experience
LOWE’S HOME CENTERS, INC. April, 2004 – March, 2011
Regional General Manager, RDC 1440, Rockford, IL (1/10 – 3/11)
Advanced through promotions to become Regional General Manager of 1.5m sq ft facility with $38m annual budget, lead 19 senior leaders, 70 supervisors, and 800+ hourly employees across a three-shift operation. Assumed full responsibility for leading strategic, operational and fiscal processes. Serviced 148 Lowe’s stores across 9 states.
- Enhanced culture of safety throughout the facility resulting in a 40% injury rate improvement and 50% decreased severity rate (dollars) from 2009.
- Evaluate and improve work methods, procedures, controls, and staffing to achieve accurate and timely movement and processing of product; lead the team to anticipate and solve problems to ensure optimal facility layout for maximum efficiency.
- Implemented an Outreach Initiative Program through partnering with Illinois Growth Enterprise & National Organization on Disability.
- High employee engagement results with diversity and community sponsorship.
Assistant General Manager, RDC 0992, North Vernon, IN (5/06 - 1/10)
Responsible for all operational activities within the facility. Successfully led a four shift operation, 1.5mil sq ft facility. Developed and motivated 12 senior leaders, 33 supervisors, and 900+ operational hourly employees. Achieved the highest level of engagement over a three year period at the facility.
- Led team to review current warehouse management system and provide feedback for an upgraded system.
- Ensure operational excellence in all operational areas, efficient operation of warehouse management system and related equipment, inventory accuracy, proper layout of product and proper maintenance, housekeeping and organization of all facility areas.
- Assist general manager with the facility financial, operational, service, people, and process related objectives to drive continuous improvement and efficiency gains to reduce overall cost-to-serve; led operational team and peers to anticipate and solve problems, plan for upcoming events, seasonal changes, etc., which resulted in 8 Excellence Awards.
- Coach, train and develop leadership team informally and through formal training programs, providing both informal and formal job performance based feedback.
Operations Manager, RDC 0955, Mount Vernon, TX (4/04 - 5/06)
Responsible for the overall effective operation of all day shift operation functions. Accountable for 1 assistant manager and 250 operational hourly employees.
DOLLAR TREE STORES May, 2000 – April, 2004
Assistant General Manager, Distribution Center #5, Savannah, GA (3/03 – 4/04)
Responsible for operational activities and objectives of all department facilities. Recruit, train, and develop 3 operations managers and 20 department managers. Assist general manager to establish team vision, strategic direction, operational objectives, and assignments for three-shift facility.
- Budget creation, implementation and reconciliation.
- Manage the processing of merchandise, review and analyze reports to verify adherence to standards.
- Member of the Standard Operating Procedural Team writing SOP’s for the distribution network.
Operations Manager, Distribution Center #1, Chesapeake, VA (5/00 –2/03)
- Outbound Operations Manager (7/02-2/03): Responsible for overall effective operation of all Outbound functions, including Order Selection and Shipping. Accountable for 4 department managers and 83 hourly employees. Serviced 520 Stores and maintained a 96% Load Stability Rate and 95% On-Time Delivery.
- Inbound Operations Manager (12/00-7/02): Responsible for overall effective operation of all Inbound functions, including the Receiving Dock, Receiving Office, Putaways/Replenishments and Yard Management. Accountable for 4 department managers and 67 hourly employees. Maintained a 99.93% inventory level and 24-hour unload standard on Import Containers.
- Night Shift Operations Manager (5/00-12/00): Responsible for all Inbound and Outbound functions on the shift. Accountable for 4 department managers, 70 hourly employees, and 100 temporary employees. Serviced 660 stores and maintained a 96% Load Stability Rate and 95% On-Time Delivery. Responsible for three off-site seasonal storage facilities for the Inbound/Outbound processes.
FRED’S SUPER DOLLAR STORES February 1999 – May 2000
Inbound Operations Manager, Memphis Distribution Center, Memphis, TN (2/99 – 5/00)
Responsible for overall effective operation of all Inbound functions, including the Receiving Dock, Receiving Office, Putaway/Replenishment, and Yard Management. Accountable for 6 department managers and 150 hourly employees.
- Completed start-up and implementation of automation with Catalyst 7.0 Warehouse Management System.
- Reduced backlog from over 600 trailers with dates spanning 4 months to less than 80 trailers with dates spanning 7 days .
DOLLAR GENERAL September 1997 – February 1999
Receiving Supervisor, Distribution Center #6300, Ardmore, OK (9/97 – 2/99)
Responsible for overall effective operation of the Receiving Dock and Receiving Office, training and staffing for 31 employees, including, consistent dock flow, trailer movement and verification, daily production performance, adherence to personnel policies and procedures.
- Receiving Office involved scheduling trailer appointments, manifesting inbound trailers, downloading receipts from WMS to VAX system.
- Implemented the use of e-mail as a means of communicating vendor problems between distribution centers and the Merchandising Department in the home office, Scottville, KY.
WAL-MART October 1994 – September 1997
Staple Stock Receiving Manager, Distribution Center #6039, Midway, TN (10/96 – 9/97)
Responsible for overall effective operation of Staple Stock Receiving Area, along with staffing and training for 34 employees. Assisted in start-up of new facility, including, staffing 700+ new employees. Developed training procedural manuals for entire Receiving Department. Selected as Coordinator for the Children’s Miracle Network to organize charity fund raising throughout the distribution center.
Staple Stock Receiving/Traffic Manager, Distribution Center #6025, Menomonie, WI (11/95 – 10/96)
Responsible for overall effective operation of Staple Stock Receiving Area and Traffic, including scheduling trailer appointments, manifesting inbound trailers, establishing trailer priority and tracking. Completed Distribution Coach Development program.
Assistant Manager, Wal-Mart Store #1757, Hermantown, MN (10/94 – 11/95)
Responsible for direction, coordination and evaluation of six Homeline Departments, 12 Softline Departments, stockmen, and overall successful operation of store during store manager’s absence. Relocated to Hermantown, MN after completing 16-week management training program.
Education & Training
B.S., Industrial Management, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, 1991
Professional Development:
The Ken Blanchard Companies Situational Leadership II for Organizational Development
John G. Miller QBQ – The Question Behind the Question
Aubrey Daniels Bringing Out the best in People
Center for Creative Leadership Leading for Organizational Impact: The Looking Glass Experience