Bill Thorn

609 Dover Heights Trail, Mansfield, Texas 76063

817-225-2733 / wt709fa6@westpost.net
Purchasing / Inventory Management / Sales Coordinator / Buyer
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS
An aggressive, proactive professional with solid experience in purchasing, inven
tory management, sales and keeping managers and sales personnel abreast of marke
t conditions in the lumber industry. Recognized for reliability, persuasive com
munication skills, and for maintaining good relationships with vendors while mee
ting company goals and servicing customers. Able to absorb information quickly,
and understand issues and provide logical solutions to problems. An enthusiast
ic self-starter with a personal goal of completing challenging assignments succe
ssfully and having an impact on the success of a company with initiative and tea
mwork. Key Strengths:
* Project Management * Strategic Planning * Market Analysis * Market Forecasting
* Communication * Negotiations
* Problem Solving * Analytical Skills * Training & Development * Coaching/Mentor
ing * Interpersonal Skills
* Planning/Coordinating * Organizational Skills * Self-Starter
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Seven D Wholesale a" Lumber Buyer and Panel Sales Coordinator 1997-2008
Coordinated contract block purchases and sales of OSB and plywood with producers
while buying lumber for distribution yards.
Managed reload inventories when market conditions warranted and sourced inquirie
s for sales personnel for direct shipment to customers.
Implemented a system to quickly find information regarding all rail carloads the
company had in transit by creating a car book listing car number, origin, vendo
r, PO #, ship date, destination, rail routing and customer by page number in the
book.
Ply-Trim, Inc. and Ply-Trim South, Inc. a" Purchasing Director 1995-1997
Made purchasing decisions and bought commodity softwood lumber, plywood and OSB
for a wholesale distribution yard and for an exterior plywood trim manufacturing
company.
Involved in day-to-day sales to lumber dealers and direct sales to manufactured
housing accounts.
Reduced wholesale inventory dollar amount by half and increased inventory turns.
Reduced stagnant inventory by 80% by blending inventory that was well above the
current market price with items at current market price. This was completed ove
r the course of a year without loss of revenue.
4 Guys Wholesale, Inc. a" Buyer 1990-1994
Buyer for a family owned and operated wholesale lumber and plywood distribution
yard and fence manufacturing plant.
Purchased all products for distribution and fence plant. Controlled inventory a
nd increased inventory turns for cost savings.
Involved in sales, pricing, sales management and sales training.
Lowered unit cost of fence shop production by revising the cutting schedule to u
se the least expensive length to yield the same pieces for mailbox posts with no
waste.
Corrected a problem of not having a viable form of computerized inventory contro
l resulting in lost sales on non-commodity items that were out of stock. Implem
ented a spot check of items in the same category from the same type of vendor ra
ther than relying on a bi-annual inventory and inaccurate input of sales figures
.
Established record keeping and cross-referencing systems including logs for purc
hasing and open and closed POas; and established receiving and shipping cross-ch
eck procedures.
Generated a uniform alpha/numeric product coding system.
Introduced new and successful product items.
Established working relationships with new suppliers and enhanced existing ones.
Previous employment included:
Diamond Lumber/Diamond International a" Senior Buyer
Nine years in multi-locations including Texas and New England.
Senior Buyer with purchasing, wholesale/retail sales and management responsibili
ties.
C & R Trading Co. Universal Commodities a" Commodity Futures Broker (Registered
Associated Person)
Registered Associated Person with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Spe
cialized in lumber and plywood futures, hedging and basis trading. Managed spec
ulative accounts.
Shepard and Morse Lumber Co. a" Product Manager
Purchased eastern softwoods, OSB and plywood for direct sales and five wholesale
distribution yards.
Accountable for making sound buying and selling decisions.
EDUCATION
Parsons College a" B.A. in Business Administration
Majored in Economics