About Us

The Institute is a forum for sharing insights on key business challenges, case studies on what’s really working, and practical tips that manufacturers can easily implement to improve their supplier relationships.

The Institute helps manufacturers create strategic alignment with their suppliers to lower operating costs, advance quality and innovation, increase their speed to market and strengthen their profitability.

 

Leadership

 

Jim Tarabori – Director of the ISC

 

Prior to joining the Institute, Jim served as Caterpillar Inc’s Director of Purchasing for North America and as its Director of Supplier Relations & Development. In this later role, Jim was asked to lead the development of the Supplier Relationship Management program for Caterpillar and its global supply base. To complete this task, Jim benchmarked with companies, consultants and individuals known to be leaders in this field to gather best practices and key insights. This SRM effort was a major factor in aligning key suppliers to corporate goals to achieve Caterpillar’s Vision 2020 strategies.

 

Sundeep Maini - Director of Collaborative Processes

 

Sundeep has a diverse background in the areas of business strategy, supply chain management, business intelligence, program management, and finance across a range of industries namely, healthcare, utilities, finance and insurance, manufacturing etc. Sundeep’s current interest and focus has been in the area of supplier collaboration. He has expertise in repositioning relationship between suppliers and OEMs that are better aligned to respective business strategies and are a source of improved competitiveness and profitability for each. Some of his recent work has resulted in 7+% reductions in annual procurement costs across a portfolio of about $500M for a large manufacturer while improving quality and supplier profitability.

 

L. Srinivasan (LS) - Director of Communications

 

LS has a diverse background in the areas of information technology, supply chain management, sales and marketing. He has 30 years of industry experience and has led high performance global teams delivering innovative information technology and business solutions. LS brings the right combination of strategic and tactical skill sets used to drive and deliver business growth. He has MBA from Bellarmine University, is a Certified Purchasing Manager and Certified Six Sigma Black Belt. His has been focused on facilitating structural transformations by leveraging lean principles supported by efficient information systems. LS consults in the areas of Strategic Planning and Execution, Lean Process Re-Engineering and Information Systems, and Supply Chain.

 

Nelson Jones - Technical Director

 

Nelson served as Technical Manager for Diesel Engines at Caterpillar Inc. for 30 plus years. In that role of engine product development, Nelson provided leadership for supplier collaboration in the global design and development of key engine sub-systems. After Caterpillar’s acquisition of Perkins Engines, Nelson played a key role in the successful integration and rationalization of the combined supply chains. Nelson received his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Bradley University. He is part of the senior staff assigned to strategic planning for the Institute.