Fossil Group establishes chief supply chain officer role

Watch specialist Fossil Group has appointed Laks Lakshmanan to the newly created role of chief supply chain officer. Lakshmanan stepped into the position on June 16, with the company only just confirming the appointment in a press release.

In this role, Lakshmanan has been tasked with overseeing Fossil’s global end-to-end supply chain, from manufacturing and sourcing to distribution and logistics, across all brands and regions. He is also responsible for the company’s Global Business Services, which operates from Bengaluru, India.

Lakshmanan is already familiar with Fossil, having worked as the group’s interim head of supply chain during its partnership with Alvarez & Marsal, where he served as managing director within the firm’s Consumer and Retail Group.

During this time, Lakshmanan was credited with playing a “pivotal role in reshaping Fossil’s distribution strategy, driving significant progress against operational goals and helping improve the company’s manufacturing responsiveness”.

He now officially joins Fossil as it rolls out a transformation plan, which has continued to progress according to the company’s Q1 report. With this, Franco Fogliato, the group’s CEO, said that establishing a “high-performing, diverse leadership team remains a top priority” as the company continues to execute the plan.

He added: “We’re excited to welcome Laks to the executive leadership team. His deep operational expertise, strategic mindset, and understanding of the watch category will be invaluable to our turnaround.”