From lipsticks to oil filters to SUVs, Nils has successfully built and deployed predictive models across a number of industries. His successes in the field include a world first - a real time forecasting model for evaluating marketing plans for cosmetics sales. In his current role as COO for Volvo Car Mobility, Nils is responsible for Operations, Go To Market and Data Science in a company providing an alternative to car ownership. He is responsible for finding solutions to the challenges of peak demand, congestion and parking by predicting geospatial demand based on consumer preference. Prior to assuming his COO role at Volvo Car Mobility, Nils spent 6 years as analytics professional/forecaster at Oriflame Cosmetics and 2 years as a management consultant at Ernst & Young. He holds a master’s degree in engineering from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

Aigul currently works as Head of Supply Chain at Burger King Kazakhstan where she leads operative and strategic management of the supply chain including materials planning, procurement strategy, supply chain structure and more. Prior to joining Burger King, Aigul worked as Supply chain Manager at Bosch Siemens Home Appliances, Demand Planner for Central Asia and Caucasus at Beiersdorf Kazakhstan, and as Supply Planner at Philip Morris Kazakhstan. She holds two Master’s degrees, one in Supply Chain from Edinburgh Business School, and one in Supply Chain Management from Moscow Business School. She is currently studying an MBA at Edinburgh.

Ugo Carolyn Ogwo is currently the Head of Planning for Suntory Beverage and Food in Nigeria where she is responsible for the implementation of S&OP process as well as the end-to-end planning and management of Demand, Supply, Materials (including Raw, Packaging and Engineering Spares) and Finished Goods. Prior to this, Ugo was an S&OP Manager responsible for the design and implementation of S&OP processes across Suntory Markets in Africa, the Middle East and Caribbean . Other markets where she has successfully deployed S&OP process include Kenya, Trinidad and Morocco. Ugo started her S&OP journey in October 2011 as Demand Planning Manager at GlaxoSmithKline in Nigeria and was promoted to the role of Head of Demand Forecasting looking after the West Africa business. She holds a Master’s in Engineering from The University of Nigeria, and an MBA from IE business school in Madrid.

Prior Roles

• Escalade Sports: Director of Demand Planning
• Berry Plastics: Director of Demand Planning
• Tempura Sealy International: Director of Demand Planning & S&OP

Industry Involvement

• Frequent speaker and panelist for many executive forums and professional conferences
• Written numerous articles in publications including The Journal of Business Forecasting and APICS Magazine
• Author of the books Cultural Cycles and Predictive Analytics for Business Forecasting & Planning

Award

• IBF Excellence in Business Forecasting & Planning

Certification

• IBF Advanced Certified Professional Forecaster (ACPF)

Thorsten has almost 20 years of experience and expert knowledge in international operational and strategic logistics and supply chain management in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, covering roles within Procurement Logistics, Material Planning, Transport Management and being Head of Supply Chain Management. As Global Manager Integrated Business Planning he was responsible for the successful transformation from S&OP to IBP and close consultant to the management of the global market leader in Pigments.

Thorsten is a passionate Supply Chain Business Partner, developing end-to-end Supply Chain strategies and concepts for Organizations, Planning, Processes and People. He coaches, mentors, challenges and gives advice to employees and peers in order to foster their continuous development and personal growth.

His leadership work is dedicated to the motto given by Mahatma Gandhi: “BE the change YOU want to see in the world!”

His positive attitude, his passion for Supply Chain and his sense of responsibility sets him apart. He is highly committed and believes in the digital transformation of supply chain and logistics, as well as in the sustainable advantages for the global economy & climate accordingly. His ideas are based on an innovative and visionary mindset and help driving decisions that positively impact customers, business targets, people and the environment. Thorsten is a certified professional forwarding agent and a certified expert in Logistics Management. He holds a Diploma in Business Administration of the University of Applied Science in Mainz, Germany. He is organizer and facilitator of the 1st IBF Chapter Germany of Institute of Business Forecasting & Planning. He is founding member of SCC Supply Chain Connect – Your Personal Transformation Partner.