Winner. Business Leader of the Year 2025

Ravikumar Thinnatti Palanichamy

Position: Principal Software Engineer
Company: Andersen Windows Corporation
City: Woodbury, Minnesota
Country: USA
Economic/Business Sector: Industrial Goods

Ravikumar Thinnatti Palanichamy is a distinguished business and technology leader with more than 24 years of experience at the intersection of enterprise software engineering and industrial manufacturing. With a deep-rooted expertise in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, particularly within the context of complex supply chains and configured-to-order manufacturing, Mr. Palanichamy has become a strategic force in the industrial goods sector. He currently serves as Principal Software Engineer at Andersen Windows Corporation, where his work is critical to optimizing enterprise-wide digital infrastructure and operational effectiveness.

Mr. Palanichamy’s academic background forms a strong foundation for his technical and strategic expertise. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics and Communication, which equipped him with a rigorous understanding of systems design and automation. To complement his engineering acumen with business leadership skills, he earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin, River Falls. This combination of engineering precision and business insight has shaped his approach to ERP innovation, merging operational practicality with forward-thinking technology strategies.

Over the course of his career, Mr. Palanichamy has consistently taken on roles that required both technical mastery and organizational leadership. He began his professional journey with INFOR (formerly Baan Info Systems) in Hyderabad, India, where he worked as an ERP Consultant. There, he developed foundational skills in ERP customization and client-centric solution delivery. This role exposed him to global software implementation cycles and reinforced the importance of designing scalable, industry-specific solutions.

His next role at Flextronics, one of the world’s leading electronics manufacturers, marked a significant phase of growth. As a Senior Business Consultant, he led initiatives across global production planning, logistics, and manufacturing execution. He was responsible for implementing Configure-to-Order (CTO) systems and deploying solutions that coordinated multiple manufacturing sites worldwide. He also played a central role in designing and delivering technical documentation, leading user training programs, and troubleshooting issues in real-time factory environments. This hands-on experience in high-stakes industrial settings became a defining feature of his career.

Following his tenure at Flextronics, Mr. Palanichamy joined Inavista Solutions LLC in Wisconsin as an ERP System Analyst. There, he collaborated closely with distribution centers and business units to gather requirements, customize ERP functionality, and implement Snap-on pricing mechanisms across international sites. His role was instrumental in enabling global pricing flexibility and increasing the adaptability of core ERP systems to regional demands.

Since August 2013, Mr. Palanichamy has been serving as a Principal Software Engineer at Andersen Windows Corporation, a leader in the building materials industry. In this capacity, he is responsible for guiding the company’s ERP architecture across multi-site manufacturing operations. His contributions begin at the earliest stages of a project — often during “Gate 0” estimation — and extend through to architecture design, implementation, and post-deployment support. He collaborates with stakeholders across functions, including business analysts, production planners, IT architects, and operations leaders, to ensure that ERP solutions are both technically robust and aligned with long-term strategic goals.

What sets Mr. Palanichamy apart is his ability to view ERP not just as a software solution, but as a transformative tool that reshapes how manufacturing organizations operate. His approach integrates automation, advanced configuration, process sequencing, and data intelligence into a cohesive enterprise framework. He is also widely respected for his leadership in system design approvals, mentoring cross-functional teams, and driving large-scale transformation initiatives under challenging timelines.

With deep knowledge of INFOR’s Baan ERP platforms — including LN and Baan V — alongside tools like RedPrairie (for Warehouse Management), Infor ION, and Business Vault, Mr. Palanichamy brings a holistic, modern, and scalable approach to digital manufacturing. His expertise is not confined to a single plant or region; rather, his solutions serve as foundational blueprints for multiple facilities across the enterprise.

His longstanding commitment to excellence, continuous learning, and innovation makes him not only a technical expert but also a strategic business enabler — an essential asset to any organization operating at the intersection of industrial production and digital transformation.

Ravikumar’s professional accomplishments underscore his pivotal role in driving creative and innovative ERP solutions within the industrial manufacturing landscape. One of his most distinguished achievements was leading the end-to-end ERP implementation for Andersen Windows’ new manufacturing facility in Goodyear, Arizona. As the Principal Architect, he was involved from project estimation through go-live, managing both the technical framework and cross-functional collaboration needed for a successful launch.

A standout feature of this project was the integration of an Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS), designed to support the facility's fully automated fabrication process. This solution led to a 70% reduction in labor costs and a 50% increase in operational efficiency, metrics that highlight the profound impact of Mr. Palanichamy’s contributions. His ability to align automation technologies with ERP infrastructure allowed for seamless material handling, inventory accuracy, and labor optimization.

He also redefined business processes for planning and sequencing in configured manufacturing environments. By introducing new sequencing methods, he significantly reduced machine downtimes associated with product customization, especially color changes, resulting in higher throughput and more efficient scheduling.

Another major success involved the implementation of a multi-manufacturing location strategy for the company’s 100 Series Windows. This included the design of a scalable architecture that supported reconfiguration across sites, ensuring consistency in business processes and enhancing production agility. As part of a broader enterprise upgrade, Mr. Palanichamy led the modernization of the Business Process Management (BPM) framework, replacing outdated bus components in Baan with a more scalable, high-speed architecture capable of handling complex, concurrent operations.

His work also extended to customizing key ERP business objects, particularly for shipments and order processing, to enable RedPrairie WMS integration, further enhancing warehouse automation. Additionally, he played a crucial role in deploying Infor LN, ION middleware, Business Vault analytics, and enterprise reporting solutions at a new extrusion plant, contributing to a unified digital manufacturing ecosystem.

Notably, Mr. Palanichamy served as the product owner for the successful deployment of the Assembly Module ERP system at the Goodyear facility, demonstrating both technical leadership and project ownership in a complex, multi-stakeholder environment.

Through these and other initiatives, Mr. Palanichamy has proven himself to be a leader in creativity and innovation within the industrial sector, consistently pushing the boundaries of what ERP systems can achieve in dynamic manufacturing contexts.