Mali Nachiappan is a Director of Purchasing for Case New Holland (CNH) Industrial. With an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and a Masters Degree in Industrial Engineering, he knows his way around a factory and a shop floor. At the beginning of his career, he “spent a lot of time in semiconductor manufacturing” and in assisting companies set up new plants from the ground up. He joined CNH Industrial 19 years ago, starting in Supply Chain Project Management, and then as a Buyer for the Metallics Commodity, Senior Buyer for the Mechanical and Chemical Commodity, Manager for the Mechanical Commodity including Whole Goods and is today a Director of Purchasing. In his role as Director, he had to temporarily handle the Tire Commodity, which is highly technical and had to find a way to quickly learn this domain.
“I had done a lot of things — managing many suppliers and many commodities — but never learned about tires, so I was curious, and I was going through THORS and I saw there were three courses on tires and one course on wheels. I took three out of the four, and I probably spent maybe six to eight hours just on my personal time. It was well worth it.”
Mali Nachiappan | Director of Purchasing CNH Industrial
Nachiappan was not exposed to the finer aspects of tires, such as whether a tire was tubed or tubeless, radial or biased. “I learned quite a bit,” said Nachiappan.
“I did the courses just before I visited the supplier, so I put my knowledge into play right away. It was very useful to me.”
Mali Nachiappan | Director of Purchasing CNH Industrial
He has a team of buyers across the globe reporting into him and suggested to his team members that set a goal of completing 4 courses that are relevant to their commodities. He believes that the courses helped him and his team members in the following:
- Ability to hold their own and interact with their colleagues in Engineering and Quality, and with the supply base.
- Cross train on other commodities that would help them hit the ground running when they inherit that specific commodity.
- Help move faster and accurately, which promoted increased productivity.
When asked “How likely is it that you would recommend THORS to a colleague, supplier or an industry peer”, he indicated a rating of 9 out of a maximum of 10.
“It’s a great tool if people invest their time, and they’ll definitely see some benefit out of this.”
Mali Nachiappan | Director of Purchasing CNH Industrial
