Yash Walekar

About Yash Walekar

Quite enigmatic that yet as our understanding deepens, the “basics” continually resurface. As the pandemic has revealed frailties in global supply chain and operations, it is the people who are reconfiguring the systems. Industrial Engineering, I believe is the perfect blend of human efforts and complex problem solving aspects of a work system. Pursuing a branch of study, therefore, was not difficult for me. Author E. Goldratt intrigued me into Industrial Psychology and Management Science during high school with Thinking Processes and Theory of Constraints but what captured me even more was the way he questioned the existing assumptions to find newer ways of doing things. He inspired me to “think”. I spent days reading Jeffrey Liker’s \"The Toyota Way\" to understand architecture of TPS that led paradigm shift about the role of people in Toyota\'s operations. Relinquished fixated, rigid ideas of classroom and joined an FSAE project in college to harness learning through hands-on projects. Had an intensive training in engineering DFMA, Ergonomics Design, Vehicle Engineering and Arc Welding. Working with SAE-grade materials, fasteners and a budget close to USD significantly facilitated my familiarization with agile methodology of project development. Shifting from campus to a corporate mindset, I sought Tata Group to understand Tata Code of Conduct, their ethical roadmap and Malcolm Baldrige-based business excellence model. I trained for kaizen, TPM and visual management in Tata Steel. I opted a live project at Tata Motors to tackle problems with business impact outcomes. On the assembly line, I studied welding processes used in automobile industries and approached production department for guidance on their QMS. This broadened my learning horizons multifariously. Someday, I hope to be able to implement the concepts of TQM, Lean, advanced manufacturing, SCM and safety engineering to establish seamless production, manufacturing and supply chain values and thus, catch the industry in its upstream. I see an exciting opportunity to develop highly responsive production facilities for sustainability and resilience during emergency management. It makes me all the more confident that my skills set me on the right path to be an important cog in the manufacturing and supply processes of a business. Industrial Engineer has potential even to negatively affect lives which is why ultimately, I seek to design structures to accommodate personalities and elevate human-work systems. Looking forward to connecting with you over intriguing conversations!

Experience

1. Inventory Control Analyst

   Van Marcke Trade Supply USA

   Jul 2023 — Present · Phoenix, AZ, US

   I am helping Van Marcke improve and expand North American Supply Chain Business Operations and Inventory Planning, which spans the state of Arizona, Nevada and Texas. I report to Vice President (Sales) and IT and Analytics Manager at their corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona. My initiatives: 1. Build a culture of using MCDA (Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis) techniques for decision-making company-wide. Emphasizing Just-in-Time practices for Warehouse-store stock transfer to lower inventory holding costs. Habituating Use of Six-Sigma DMAIC approach for project initiation, development, and results tracking. My Project Undertakings: 1. Stratification of Inventory based on multi-criterion analysis. Investigating reduction of stock levels for 3500 SKUs each at 24 stores to reduce cycle counting errors due to possible overstocking. Analyzing location-specific Slow Moving and Obsolete inventory and investigating the cost of selling on eBay. With over 1,400 employees active in the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Malta, and the United States, Van Marcke is globally positioned to continue strong positive growth. The United States hosts over 25 stores to date.

Education

• Manipal Institute of Technology

  Bachelor of Technology - BTech, Industrial & Production Engineering (Manufacturing)

  2016 — 2020

• Arizona State University

  Master of Science - MS, Industrial Engineering (Industrial Statistics)

  2021 — 2023