With eye on growth, Orgill realigns purchasing

Global independent hardware distributor Orgill, has announced changes to the structure and operations of its purchasing department. These organizational changes reflect the company’s long-term plans for accelerated growth and a continued focus on its mission to help its customers be successful.

Orgill’s purchasing department will now be divided into separate merchandising and replenishment divisions. This reorganization will allow the merchandising division to focus on vendor relationships, promotions, pricing, sales, reviews and revenue generation. The replenishment division will focus its efforts on conditioning inventory, maintaining service levels, inventory turnover and supply chain management.

“This division of merchandising and replenishment within the purchasing department is a change that we have seen coming for some time now,” said Jeff Curler, executive vice president of purchasing. “The company’s rapid growth and the new market realities we have seen develop over the last couple of years made this realignment even more important. This change helps us better address the distinctly different, yet connected, functions our Purchasing department deals with daily.”

According to Boyden Moore, company president and CEO, this realignment will position Orgill’s teams to better serve its customers while improving efficiency and vendor relations.

“We know how critical it is that we evolve as a company and constantly look for ways to respond to market changes and create efficiencies within our own operation,” said Moore. “This is a perfect example of how we can achieve those goals. These changes will position Orgill and its customers for even greater success in the coming years, and I’d like to congratulate all of our team members involved in these changes for their hard work and dedication.”

As of Jan. 1, the purchasing department is organized as follows:

Purchasing Leadership

• Jeff Curler was promoted to executive vice president of purchasing.
• Jim Wilson will continue as vice president of Exclusively Orgill (formerly known as Worldwide Sourcing).
• Lisa Pirtle was promoted to vice president of Replenishment and Vendor Support.

• Alan Shore was promoted to director of Merchandising, Seasonal.

• Heath Kennedy was promoted to director of Merchandising, Hardlines.

• Karen Meredith will continue as director of LBM Sales.

Moving forward, the split responsibilities of the merchandising and replenishments divisions within the purchasing department will allow Orgill to focus more resources on these interconnected yet unique functions, according to Lisa Pirtle, who will oversee replenishment and vendor support in her new role.

“There are so many functions that are critical to the smooth flow of products, information and program support, and this new alignment allows us to continue working together as a team but have individuals who are dedicated to all the different functions we need to perform effectively,” said Pirtle.

Headquartered in Collierville, Tenn., Orgill, the industry’s fastest growing hardlines distributor, founded in 1847, serves more than 12,000 retail hardware stores, home centers, professional lumber dealers and farm stores throughout the U.S. and Canada, and in over 50 countries around the world.