Flextronics appoints Tom Linton CPO

The former chief procurement officer at LG Electronics will now be in charge of managing the global supply chain lead of the EMS provider

01/13/2012

Tom Linton, former chief procurement officer (CPO) at LG Electronics, has been appointed CPO of electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider Flextronics.

In his role, Linton will be responsible for managing and optimizing Flextronics’ global supply chain activities in 30 countries, overseeing a worldwide team of purchasing professionals.

Linton has also served as chief procurement officer at Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., and Agere Systems, Inc. He was also founding vice president of E2Open, Inc.

Prior to those positions, Linton worked for more than 20 years at IBM where he was director of hardware procurement.

During his tenure at LG, Linton transformed purchasing at the company. LG had a decentralized sourcing operation and Linton changed it to a more centralized organization.

He instituted a global sourcing strategy, established commodity councils to manage commodities, formed a general procurement team and involved purchasers in design. His strategies and initiatives resulted in $1 billion savings in 2009 for LG.

His work was recognized by the Institute of Supply Management, which in 2010 awarded LG the R. Gene Richter Award for Leadership and Innovation in Supply Management.

“We are pleased that Tom has joined the company,” said Francois Barbier, president of Flextronics Global Operations. “His reputation for transformational leadership is unmatched.”

Linton is a graduate of the University of Vermont, and has completed executive education programs at the University of Virginia. He is a member of the board of directors of the Institute of Supply Management.