Frank Denig, a specialist in procurement and information systems with more than 25 years experience in industry, has been appointed as the University's first executive director of procurement.
At Yale, Denig will lead the Project X team that is redesigning and streamlining the procurement process and installing new information systems for University purchasing and accounts payable transactions. He reports to Janet Ackerman, associate vice president for finance.
"Yale is fortunate to have Frank's talent and leadership as we forge ahead with improvements in the way we purchase the goods and services necessary for carrying on the research and teaching programs of the University," says Ackerman.
Before coming to Yale, Denig was procurement vice president for Schindler Elevator Corporation and had previously served for seven years as information systems vice president there. A graduate of Princeton, he has also worked for Carborundum, Westinghouse Broadcasting and Cable TV, and Westinghouse Elevator. He is a member of several professional organizations and served for a term as president of the Purchasing Management Association of New York.
Procurement is one of the major areas being redesigned under Project X. The goal is to consolidate the University's "buying power" while improving service and controlling costs. Denig says Yale will only benefit from streamlining and unifying its purchasing and disbursements systems. "If you have 10 watches," he says, "you never know what time it is."
Based on his experience creating procurement and information systems for companies with worldwide operations, Denig believes that a central ERP (enterprise resource planning) system such as Oracle is ideally suited to Yale, since it is capable of managing diversity without compromising the integrity of the individual parts.
Once the planning and reorganization stage of Project X nears conclusion, Denig will turn his attention to implementing the new plan. He will eventually have an office at 155 Whitney Ave., where the Purchasing Office staff is located.