Do you lose sleep at night worrying about your troubled suppliers?  What would happen if your supplier failed?  How would you manage?

Answers to these questions may be found at our June 9th PDM at the University of Indianapolis.  Teresa J. van Niekerk, Vice President of Purchasing and Supplier Quality at Allison Transmission, will share examples of troubled suppliers with financial risks; some suppliers that went bankrupt; and how to keep production running in situations when other manufacturers in the big three (automotive) had interrupted production.

As vice president of purchasing and supplier quality, van Niekerk oversees the procurement, supplier readiness and supplier quality functions for Allison Transmission. Van Niekerk is responsible for identifying and implementing best practices and a broad variety of purchasing strategies in support of global operational goals and objectives.

Van Niekerk joined Allison Transmission in 2012 as managing director responsible for all supplier relations and vendor contract management for direct and indirect purchasing as well as purchasing compliance and risk management.

Prior to starting with Allison Transmission, van Niekerk was the executive director of purchasing for Navistar Inc. truck division. With over 20 years of experience, she is skilled in the areas of contract and vendor negotiation, change management, strategic growth, leadership and problem solving. Van Niekerk has a sustained track record for improving key business metrics, a sound understanding of effective purchasing organizational structures and a profound knowledge of strategic supply chain management.

Van Niekerk holds a bachelor’s degree in Management from Indiana Wesleyan University.