Avon has appointed its first-ever vice president of sales and operations, Rob Lowndes.

Formerly Avon's vice president of global fashion and home, Lowndes will now drive integration and innovation to transform Avon's supply chain -- to enhance service, reduce cost and build agility. 

Lowndes' expertise is in commercial operations to drive critical improvements. He will be responsible for matching objectives to new technologies, while adopting an integrated value chain perspective to manage sales and order planning to improve product availability and service levels across Avon's global markets.

Lowndes will report to Avon's Global President, Miguel Fernandez.

Jan Zijderveld, chief executive officer, says, "We are making significant progress to our service supply chain...Through the application of targeted demand planning software, we are building a smarter supply chain that better understands the immediate needs of our Representatives, and responds and reacts to them with greater efficiency and effectiveness." 

Zijderveld continues, "We look forward to benefitting from Rob's leadership as he advances our positive momentum in this crucial area. We are extremely focused on finding new and better ways for Avon to deliver the level of quality and service our Representatives deserve."  

Photo and more information: Avon's media center.