Tarbinlam Lafon

Director- Travel, Card & MEetings Procurement
Merck

Tarbinlam (Tar) is currently Director of Global Travel, Meetings and Payments Procurement at Merck & Co., Inc., whose corporate headquarters are in Kenilworth, New Jersey; he has worked at Merck since September 2012. In his current role, Tar and his team are responsible for global category strategy development/ execution and supplier relationship management for Travel, Meetings and Payments in concert with internal business partners and regional procurement peers. Prior to his current role, he had responsibility for Global Transportation Procurement, where he led the delivery of transformational value and stretch performance in savings, working capital conversions, supplier rationalization among other procurement initiatives.
His broad experience includes several years of increasing responsibility in diverse supply chain functions in the pharmaceutical industry, including supply chain logistics, order-to-cash business operations, ERP systems implementation, project management and other procurement categories.
Tar holds an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business and both Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in Industrial Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology. In addition to English, he speaks German and French.

Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining Tarbinlam.

Download The Latest Agenda

Strengthening Internal and External Partnerships to Further Today’s Procurement Organization

Tuesday, December 5th, 2017

16:05 Roundtable Discussions

Be sure to join these interactive roundtable sessions and take a deep dive into the specific areas you came to discuss. Opportunities to sit and learn from life science executives like these do not exist elsewhere. Take control of your own event experience. Don’t be shy! Ask questions (or answer them!) of other conference attendees who are dealing with the same challenges as you.

Network with industry peers with very similar challenges, interests and responsibilities
Take a deep dive into a niche topic in an intimate and informal setting moderated by a subject matter expert
Don’t miss out on the discussions you want to participate in—you’ll get to select a new topic after 40 minutes

1. Supplier Discovery Based on Collective Intelligence
Mary Kachinsky, Vice President Strategic Sourcing and Operations, FORMA Therapeutics
Stephany LaPierre, CEO, Tealbook

2. Do’s and Don’ts of Creating a Successful Global Provider Partnership
Kevin Shea , Senior Label Program Director, Clintrak Clinical Labeling LLC., a part of ThermoFisher Scientific

3. The Evolution of a Contingent Workforce Management Services Program and Partnership
Ken Serviss, Senior Account Director, PRO Unlimited
Jack Schink, Director, Procurement, Novartis Business Services NEW

4. Supporting Mid - to Late Lifecycle Brands More Effectively Through An Evolved Operational Model
Art Chavez, Partner, The Bloc
Kristy Kershaw, Associate Director, US Marketing, Surgery & Anesthesia, Merck

5. Your Category Management Toolbox: Travel and Meetings Procurement
Talia Mashiach, CEO, Founder and Product Architect, Eved
Tarbinlam Lafon, Director – Travel, Card & Meetings Procurement, Merck

6. Welcome to the Future of Procurement: Vision 2020
Richard Stack, Director, Value Engineering, SAP Ariba

Procurement of the Future: Meeting the Needs of Your Business in 2026

Tuesday, April 10th, 2018

10:05 Roundtable Discussions:

1. Network with industry peers with very similar challenges, interests and responsibilities

2. Take a deep dive into a niche topic in an intimate and informal setting moderated by a subject matter expert

3. Don’t miss out on the discussions you want to participate in—you’ll get to select a new topic after 35 minutes

Roundtable Discussions:
1. Building a Procurement Function from the Ground Up
Scott McKinney, Associate Director of Procurement, bluebird bio

2. Topic to be Determined
Tarbinlam Lafon, Director – Travel, Card & Meetings Procurement, Merck

3. Approach, Applicability and Importance of Understanding Multi-tier (or sub-tier) Suppliers
Raj Kshatriya, Program Manager -J&J Global Supply Chain, Johnson & Johnson

4. Building Career Ladders to Keep Your Team High Performing and Engaged
Eliza Gonzalez, Director, Global Procurement Talent Management, Johnson & Johnson NEW

5. Best Practices in Category Management
Samuel Friedman, Director, Strategic Procurement Leader, Bristol-Myers Squibb

11:25 Roundtable Discussions:

1. Network with industry peers with very similar challenges, interests and responsibilities

2. Take a deep dive into a niche topic in an intimate and informal setting moderated by a subject matter expert

3. Don’t miss out on the discussions you want to participate in—you’ll get to select a new topic after 35 minutes