On September 1, Daniele Rossi joined Electrolux Group as the new Head of Procurement. Find out more about his plans for procurement in the Group.
Daniele, what drew you to Electrolux Group and your new role?
What excites me about Electrolux Group is the combination of its rich heritage, seen in its comprehensive product portfolio and global brand equity, and its forward-looking strategic transformation.
I firmly believe that procurement is central to unlocking the value needed for this next chapter, and I want to help to lead this.
How do you see Procurement supporting the Group’s wider goals?
As a function, we will further leverage Electrolux Group’s global scale to drive structural efficiency and cost leadership and develop the next generation of global leaders to drive success within procurement across the company. We will also focus more on unlocking our suppliers’ innovation potential to codevelop cutting-edge, sustainable products.
What are your thoughts on our Procurement strategy?
Procurement is now fully integrated into the new Product Organization so we have a window of opportunity to drive more ‘design-to-cost’ initiatives in the early stage of R&D. By aligning component standardization and platform-sharing across global product families, we can reduce complexity and cost before a product ever hits production.
What trends are currently shaping global procurement?
Global procurement is being reshaped by three macro trends: a continued shift toward sustainability, the critical need for more agility, and the acceleration of AI.
First, sustainability is fully integrated into sourcing decisions, meaning we need to evaluate suppliers based on their carbon footprint, environmental performance and respect for labour standards. Second, agility and responsiveness have become our main form of defence. In the current times of geopolitical turmoil and trade disruption, procurement must build highly adaptive, diversified supply networks that can move quickly to absorb uncertainty.
Finally, AI and digital transformation are the enablers behind all of this, moving us away from manual tasks and toward predictive analytics. This means we can better anticipate market shifts and automate the tracking of indirect spend.
How can we balance responsible sourcing with cost savings?
Sustainability and responsible sourcing are no longer optional; they are interconnected strategic imperatives and a ‘must-have’ for modern procurement.
We must leverage our industry leadership in sustainability further to position our products and brands as market champions. By doing this, we can command a better selling price in the market.
What opportunities do you see for Procurement over the next few years?
The biggest opportunity is to evolve from a traditional cost-control function into a strategic driver of innovation and cost leadership.
Rather than just negotiating prices, we can engage with our direct material suppliers much earlier in the product lifecycle to codevelop sustainable solutions, improve time-to-market, and build supply resilience. Also, by standardizing and automating our global indirect spend, we can unlock efficiencies. I believe the Procurement function is a competitive advantage for Electrolux Group.
More about Daniele:
Background: Daniele has over 30 years of experience in procurement, supply chain, quality, product development and leadership roles. Most recently, he was Chief Procurement Officer for Italian steel company Acciaierie d’Italia (formerly ILVA). He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from La Sapienza University in Rome.
Based: Susegana, Italy, reporting to Michelle Shi-Verdaasdonk, Chief Product Officer.
