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Sarah Mally has had a career’s worth of
experiences in a fairly short time. She
is currently vice president, sourcing
category manager at Comerica Bank
in Auburn Hills, Mich. While her current role is managing procurement
for the operations spend category at
Comerica, her previous positions were
heavily weighted toward logistics.
These include stints at TNT, Ceva,
and UTi Worldwide, where she gained
valuable experience working in Lean/Six Sigma cultures that emphasized operational improvements.
Prior to that, Mally received her Bachelor of Science
in Business Administration in logistics management
and marketing from Central Michigan University’s
Honors College.
Mally believes in giving back to those organizations
that have helped her grow in her own career. She
was a founding member of the Council of Supply
Chain Management Professionals’ (CSCMP) Young
Professionals (YP) Committee, which serves those
under 30 years of age. The aim of the YP committee
is to offer support and encouragement to members
as they navigate the early years of
their supply chain careers. The group
currently boasts over 300 members.
She also served from 2008 to 2012
as the first YP representative on the
CSCMP board of directors. Mally still
serves as an adviser to the YP commit-
tee, though she has now graduated to
“non-YP” status.
Q How have your previous positions in logistics management prepared
you for your current work at Comerica?
A I am able to rely on my former experience with process improvement and my understanding of
supply chain operations to apply logistics concepts in
terms of procurement to obtain products and services
at the best value that meet the needs and time constraints of the organization. When I was at UTi, I was
in a sales role, selling logistics services. I had a good
bit of contact then with procurement people, which
prompted my interest in procurement. I think my
background in logistics was attractive to Comerica,
as I had operational experience that is now helpful in
Sarah (Giffin) Mally
