Dr. Balakrishnan A.S.  – Bala has been working as Director of material planning and logistics (MP&L) department in Ford Motor Southern Africa Private Limited, Silverton, Pretoria, South Africa in an international assignment. Bala’s home location is Chennai, India. Bala has specialized in supply chain, inventory management, digitalization, NPD/Launch, engineering change management, strategic projects, material & vehicle logistics, robotics process automation, data analytics, and IT strategy. Bala had multiple international short- and long-term assignments across Ford product development and manufacturing locations (China, USA, UK/Germany, Australia, Brazil, South Africa, Japan). In his current role, Bala is in-charge of the development and operations of material planning and logistics activities. Bala holds bachelor’s degree in production engineering and master’s degrees in operations and finance, as well as a Ph.D. in management studies from the reputed institutions in India.

Prior to joining Ford, Bala held positions in the areas of Production Planning and Control, Strategic Sourcing, ERP implementation and support, primarily in the manufacturing arena for about 3 years.