Szymon Gonera

Expert and professional with long years of expertise in supply chain, especially in Directs and Indirects purchasing. First individual experiences  gathered in direct categories as buyer, responsible for raws and packs in ICI Paints (today Akzo Nobel). Apart from a number of different optimization programs, he used to implement projects with main suppliers VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory), finalised with success counted in millions as savings in working capital.

The following years he supported the development of Tchibo retail coffee bars & stores as a purchasing partner. He coordinated the construction and opening of the first Tchibo non-food stores in Poland

Later on, over 8 years he continued to gather the practical expertise on various  managerial positions in supply chain of Unilever in CEE. At that time he had an honour to manage a multinational team of buyers responsible for Indirects in CEE region. He managed to implement the global strategy in the region. He rolled out a number of e-procurement tools, delivering significant business improvements, proving thto e meaning and role of professional team of buyers in organization.  The achieved results are not only savings but other added values  related  to purchasing , like transparency or  business growth stimulants through innovating tools and market cost advantages.

In Unilever he used to control the centralization process of logistics. He finalized effectively the restructuring of local logistics team, reduced the operational costs, ensuring at the same time an improvement of all key factors defining service quality. In 2012 the Unilever logistics  was awarded by AGS survey as the best logistics in Poland

In 2014-2016, as a senior manager he supported the negotiations of logistics terms with all suppliers of Leroy Merlin, In one of the biggest worldwide DYI player, he also managed the teams responsible for import and transport operations on Polish market.

In the recent years. he fulfilled managerial tasks in purchasing within Danone group in Poland. He was initially responsible for marketing and sales categories for all Polish business units in Danone,  later on he took over the management of primary packs procurement and co-manufacturing in Żywiec Zdroj – Danone water division.

Jacek Wieczorek

Experienced manager with 15 years of practice ce in corporate management of purchasing departments in Poland and abroad.

He started his career by joining Unilever’s Business Management Trainee program, where after completing an intensive training program he was responsible for Capex and MRO procurement for 2 Unilever food factories that were in a dynamic development process at that time. Later on, he took over the leadership of factory procurement as well as the coordination of logistics and planning of  selected raw materials’ deliveries for the other Unilever factories in Poland.

In 2004, he was delegated to Unilever raw materials’ procurement center in Switzerland where, for many years, he was the global Purchasing Manager of oils and edible fats, strategic raw materials for the Unilever group. It was there, where he gained his experience in global commodity trading, hedging techniques and risk management in international supply chain processes. Took part in multiple supply chain improvement programs, led and supported multinational negotiations and contracted bulk oil deliveries for several dozen factories of the company.

After returning to Poland, he took the position of the Head of the Purchasing department of indirects Unilever in Warsaw, where he managed the team of NPI buyers. The scope of his responsibility covered POS and marketing materials, travel services, fleet related procurement, factories’ shared services and many others. Additionally he coordinated the legal and tax part of the SAP implementation integrating the local system with the European part of the concern.

In 2011, he went abroad again taking the position of the Purchasing Manager and later the Head of Procurement of the Neste Geneva trading office/.

Within the next few years, he extended his experience in the global trade, negotiations on multi-million dollar budgets as well as got familiar with the specifics of legal and commercial aspects of biocomponent trading within the global fuel industry. He initiated and implemented numerous savings programs, resolved issues related to spot disturbances in intercontinental marine transport as well as supported  activities targeted at de-bottlenecking company’s production constraints thus releasing new potential of profitable sales.

During his professional practice he was both subject to numerous corporate audits as well as the internal auditor himself. This, together with an indepth experience in purchasing of multiple product & service categories on various markets, enables him to efficiently verify and model a corporate procurement process.