RONALD J. HUBBARD
ronhubbard51[at]hotmail.com


PROFESSIONAL SKILL SUMMARY


PURCHASING
MATERIALS ALLOCATION
IMPORT/EXPORT
SPECIALTY MATERIALS
ESTIMATING
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
SALES
CUSTOMER SERVICE


PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

Innovative buyer with a high level of integrity and more than 10 years of purchasing/procurement experience in the dimensioned stone industry. Extensive experience in product development, cut-to-size, import/export, inventory management and capital/budget expenditures.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Stone Connection, Inc.10/2005 - 11/2009
Norcross, GA
Sr. Buyer

Stone Connection, Inc. is one of the largest distributors of natural stone slabs and tiles for interior design and construction in the southeast. As part of the Finstone Group, Stone Connection fits into a global network of integrated dimensional stone companies with offices and investments on six continents spanning the full spectrum of the industry including quarrying, distribution, processing, wholesale and retail distribution, finished product and stone processing equipment.

Experience in negotiating pricing, payment terms, and all duties associated with purchasing and importing of natural stone to include marble, granite, travertine, onyx, slate, and semi-precious stone from: Brazil, Italy, Spain, China, India, Turkey, Mexico, Peru, and Canada.
Developed and maintained relations with foreign and domestic suppliers.
Made frequent factory and quarry visits, overseas and domestic, to maintain working knowledge of monthly/annual production capacity, quality, service, and material availability and to service relationships with vendors.
Seek out and pre-qualify new materials based on color, structure, natural quality characteristics, monthly production capacity, cost, and future availability in order to successfully generate new exclusive markets.
Evaluated suppliers on basis of price, quality, service, support, reliability, and material selection.
Tracked global market conditions, price trends, and analyzed future markets for economic and social changes that would affect current or future supply.
Analyzed sales trends and inventory levels to forecast monthly requirements of each material and maintain required stock levels to support sales.
Updated master purchase order/shipment schedules and broadcast shipment updates to all area managers.
Increased profit margins by reducing costs and negotiating lower prices for materials and services from suppliers and freight forwarders.
Inspected materials for quality tolerances, filed claims and implemented corrective action with suppliers as required.
Worked closely with the Vice President of Finstone and the President of Stone Connection to incorporate and implement new inventive strategies.
Provided quotes for all specialty items i.e., blocks, tiles and non-typical items.
Developed and coordinated a cut-to-size program for commercial and residential applications with suppliers in Italy, China, and India. Performed in-depth quantitative and value estimates from architectural drawings for cut-to-size projects. Maintained records and cost analysis for cut-to-size quotations.
Acted as technical bridge between architects, contractors, and suppliers overseas.


Top South, Inc.4/2004 10/2005
Marietta, GA
Production & Purchasing Engineer

Responsible for requisitioning and maintaining inventory of stock and custom granite to meet production demands.
Work with vendors of materials in order to determine product availability.
Coordinate deliveries and distribute supplies to expedite flow of materials to meet production demands.
Examine documents, materials and shop drawings, and monitor work processes for completeness, accuracy, and conformance to standards and specifications.
Confer with establishment personnel, vendors, and customers to coordinate processing and shipping and to resolve problems.
Analyze market and delivery systems in order to assess present and future material availability.
Purchase the highest quality merchandise at the lowest possible price.
Monitor shipments to ensure that goods come in on time and in the event of problems, trace shipments and follow up undelivered goods.
Responsible for coordinating all aspects of importing, including proper documentation, customs clearance and inland delivery schedules.
Maintain relationships with quarry owners and stone brokers overseas in order to maintain a constant supply of granite material and to stay informed as to local processes and potential shipping and production issues.
Maintain a weekly/monthly stone usage system in order to forecast and coordinate future stone orders and delivery schedules.

United Enterprises, Inc.3/2003 4/2004
Duluth, GA
Project Manager

Managed projects totaling $2.5 million for natural stone, tile, and terrazzo applications.
Responsible for overseeing and coordinating projects from bid to closeout, which included estimating from blueprints, bidding, purchasing, job costing, and delivery schedules for stone, tile and terrazzo projects.
Responsible for developing new relationships with general contractors and architects, while maintaining strong relations with existing accounts.
Coordinated multiple job tasks with architects, general contractors and field crews.
Developed close relations with stone and tile suppliers.

McCleskey Construction Company5/1999-1/2003
Norcross, GA
Purchasing Agent/Project Manager

Responsible for overseeing and coordinating all aspects of cut-to-size stone orders; from the architectural phase of stone drawings through placing stone orders for $250,000 to $7Million+ mausoleum projects.
Experienced with tile, marble and granite floor applications.
Directly involved in stone selection, design, finish, workmanship, etc. for stone orders of up to $750,000.00.
Built and maintained close relationship with reputable stone fabricators and quarry owners in Italy and domestic stone companies.
Deal directly with freight forwarders in Italy and customs brokers in the U.S. for all shipping and handling of orders.
Interact directly with clients for consultation of stone configuration, stone types, stone sizes, and overall queries related to stone purchases.
Act as liaison between clients and fabricators and accompany clients on quarry/production line visits.
Responsible for coordinating all ordering of artwork to include marble statues, engraved/etched/bas relief feature panels, mosaics, and any other specialty form of stonework available.
Responsible for calculating material quantities by performing take-offs from blue prints.
Order all specialty materials for mausoleum construction that are not readily available in the field.
Responsible for all facets of project management including job costing, forecasting, scheduling and subcontractor coordination from start to finish of project while maintaining quality control.
Assist Vice President of Production in scheduling 40+ current and future projects for signed negotiated contracts.

Black Diamond Slate1995 1999
Atlanta, Georgia
Sales Representative/Estimator

Responsible for estimating cost for all roofing materials to include natural slate, clay and concrete tile, pressure treated pine and synthetic slate.
Worked directly with architects, designers, builders, roofing contractors and home/business owners to coordinate job tasks for $1M+ homes and businesses.
Responsible for calculating material quantities by performing take-offs from blue prints.
Dealt directly with slate quarries and material manufactures.
Coordinated all domestic transportation through brokers and independent trucking lines.
Assisted in coordinating international import of slate from quarries in mainland China to various seaports in the United States.

Other Employment
Jensons Building Services1994 - 1995
Frankies Food & Spirits1991 - 1995
Eastern Airlines1989 - 1991
Scott Company of CA1987 - 1989

United States Air Force
Air Conditioning/Refrigeration Specialist8/83 3/87
Whiteman AFB Missouri8/85 3/87
Ramstein AB West Germany8/83 8/85
Honors: Air Force Achievement Medal
Air Force Good Conduct Medal
Overseas Service Long Tour Medal

EDUCATION
Project Management course
Estimating course
Completed CABO Certification Course
Boiler Operation and Maintenance Course Awarded 3rd Class Boiler Operators License

U. S. Air Force
NCO Management Course
Air Conditioning Controls Course (Honor Graduate)
Career Development Course Air Conditioning/Refrigeration
Air Conditioning/Refrigeration & Cryogenics Specialist Course

LANGUAGE SKILLS

Intermediate Italian

COMPUTER SKILLS

Axapta, MAS 200, MS Project, Quest for Contractors, MS Office, Windows 2000/XP, AutoCAD LT, MS Visio