MHI Solutions Improving Supply Chain Performance
Where Are They Now?
Catching up with an MHEFI Scholarship Recipient
MANAGER, GLOBAL SUPPLY PLANNER, HARRY’S INC.
While he was still in high school, Peter Pranata set his sights on manufacturing as a career field, which led to his pursuit of undergraduate and graduate degrees in industrial engineering at the University of Buffalo.
“During my senior year, an internship at Nissan Motor Corporation gave me an opportunity to work on the design of a warehouse rearrangement,” said Pranata. “I never realized what a science it was to design such a complex facility. I found the design of the warehouse and the movement of material through the supply chain fascinating.”
Pranata learned about MHI and the MHEFI scholarship when he and his teammates were finalists at the internal College Industry Council on Material Handling Education’s 2018-2019 Design Competition held at his school. After participating in the national competition, he applied for and was awarded the scholarship.
Following his experience at Nissan, Pranata shifted his educational focus to supply chain courses. “I liked the idea of working with people to find out what theories about improving the organization’s supply chain are practical and effective,” he said. Two internships at Dyson—one in logistics and one in supply planning—led to a full-time position as a supply planning analyst.
Now a manager and global supply planner for Harry’s Inc., Pranata gets involved in the end-to-end planning for new or redesigned products. “I am usually brought into the team once the design and artwork are complete, and we are moving on to the operational aspects of manufacturing the product,” Pranata said.
Pranata points to inflation pressures as the impetus for a project that he considers an achievement of which he is most proud. “I led a project that developed a model that predicts the cost of inventory, including the holding costs as it sits in a warehouse, and projects the future costs,” he explained. Although inventory has been tracked, the costs associated with holding inventory have not been tracked closely, which hinders projections for future costs, he said.