Purchasing & Planning Employee Spotlight:

For the month of September, we’re shining a spotlight on our incredible purchasing and planning department! This hardworking group wears many hats—ensuring we have the supplies to keep things running, getting products out the door, and tackling countless tasks in between.

They’re a vital part of the GPI puzzle, and we’re so grateful for everything they do (even those who prefer to stay behind the scenes 😉).

Join us in showing some love to this amazing team! 

MARIA MIRANDA

With four years at GPI, Maria Miranda plays a crucial role as a buyer, responsible for sourcing components essential for production. In fact, one of the most important aspects of her job involves supporting the scheduling team by obtaining parts needed to build projects that are held due to lacking parts. Her day begins with a team briefing to review tasks, projects, and team updates. Her responsibilities are dynamic, involving vendor negotiations, sourcing hot items, and frequent system updates to adapt to changing demands. Maria thrives in this role due to her ability to prioritize and adapt quickly in a fast-paced environment. 

She values the strong, supportive culture at GPI, where her team feels like a work family. Outside of work, Maria enjoys spending quality time with her family, hiking, and participating in outdoor activities. She is passionate about helping the homeless and has been involved in various initiatives to support those in need. Additionally, she has a hidden talent for drawing and has been known to do some songwriting, blog, and write poetry. 

OSCAR INTERIANO

Production buyer Oscar Interiano brings to his position a background in international imports and exports as well as international sales. He currently manages multiple commodity lines and suppliers along with numerous cost savings/avoidance projects. An employee of seven years, Oscar enjoys working for GPI mainly because he truly believes the products we build have a significant impact not just domestically, but internationally as well and he enjoys being a part of that. 

A typical day in Oscar’s shoes would be analyzing buying trends based on current consumption rates, following up on raw materials that are in transit mainly on the ocean, working with internal teams to resolve any non-conforming material issues, meeting with various vendors and providing input on new and upcoming projects.  His understanding of supply and demand trends based on historical data and current market trends helps him make better decisions in his role. Having worked in sales for 11 years and purchasing for 5 gives him an advantage, as he has seen both sides of the spectrum. 

Oscar is fully bilingual in Spanish and partially fluent in Portuguese. One of the causes he cares greatly about is equality. Being an immigrant from immigrant parents, Oscar tries to do his part in helping people who are new to the U.S. learn the language and culture…in fact, he taught U.S. citizenship classes for 9 years! 

In his free time, Oscar loves to spend time with his family. He has three beautiful boys and for him, when they are together, there is not greater joy! 

CINDY CUNNINGHAM

Scheduler Cindy Cunningham has held worked in many departments at GPI in her nearly 25 years with the company! She started her career here in the marketing department making calls to potential customers before moving to quality. During her time there, she was in charge of all gauge calibrations and equipment, as well as writing up discrepant material. She learned so much in quality that when a job in scheduling opened up several years later, that is where she planted her feet and has been ever since. Her position in scheduling involves planning and scheduling production jobs to meet demand. Additionally, she expedites parts and communicates with all involved for production to run as smoothly as possible without interruption. 

At GPI, Cindy has made lifelong friends with some co-workers, which is one reason she loves the company. She appreciates that GPI supports everything having to do with family and supporting their employees in any way they can. 

In her time off, Cindy helps care for her mother and spends as much time as possible with her granddaughters! She loves attending their many soccer and softball games. 

Did you know that Cindy was a hairdresser for 22 years before coming to GPI? She knew little to nothing about pumps and now she knows more than most people!