Speaker: Pier Luigi Sigismondi, Chief Supply Chain Officer at Unilever

Presentation Title: A World Class Supply Chain that Delivers Sustainable and Profitable Growth

Abstract:

Unilever's vision is to double the size of the business, whilst reducing its environmental footprint and increasing its positive social impact. The supply chain, through its unique model of leveraging global scale whilst maintaining local agility, through a set of world class capabilities is proving to be a true competitive advantage for the business and recognized externally too. The main focus of the presentation will be how the supply chain is at the heart of Unilever's world renowned sustainability program and how it is driving the frontiers of sustainability and positive social impact to make the world a better place.

Bio:

Pier Luigi Sigismondi joined Unilever and its Executive Board (UEx) in September 2009. As Chief Supply Chain Officer he heads a global operation consisting of 270 factories delivering €23bn of cost of goods sold. He is accountable for Unilever's end to end value chain and tasked with creating the best Supply Chain in the FMCG industry. Pier Luigi Sigismondi was appointed as a Non-Executive Member of the Supervisory Board of Rexel in May 2013.

Pier Luigi is a Computer & Engineering scientist and holds a Masters of Science in Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Pier Luigi started his career with Booz Allen & Hamilton as an industrial engineer and worked in several industries (aerospace, automotive and appliances among others), heading several multi-national assignments in the US and Europe.

He joined global management consultancy A T Kearney in 1997 and became Vice President of operations in Italy. Focusing on strategic procurement, manufacturing and logistics across industries, including fast-moving consumer goods, appliances and retail, he led numerous assignments in South East Asia, Europe and the Americas. In 2002, Pier Luigi joined Nestlé SA as Vice President of Corporate Operations Strategies, based in Switzerland. He was responsible for industrial strategies and the restructuring of the group worldwide, as well as for management of global cost improvement programmes. Pier Luigi led the Innovation Acceleration initiatives for Nestlé across all the business categories. He moved to Nestlé Mexico in 2005 as Vice President of Supply Chain and R&D.

Pier Luigi has attended the Management Development Programme at S. Gallen University and the Senior Programme for Leadership Development at London Business School, as well as IMD.

Married with three daughters, Pier Luigi's main interests are flying planes, sports, and reading.