Author: Stefan Dinu

Two award-winning women in supply chain, Maria Villablanca, CEO and Co-Founder of Future Insights Network, and Sarah Barnes-Humphrey, Host of the Let’s Talk Supply Chain podcast and Founder of Shipz, sit down to discuss their experiences of being women in a male-dominated field, reflecting on why it’s so important to keep sharing these stories and learning from one another. Together, they shed light on the difference between diversity and inclusion, discuss the moral and business case for championing it, and address the impact of creating safe spaces to facilitate the conversation on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

 

About the Speaker

Sarah Barnes-Humphrey is the host of Lets Talk Supply Chain, a popular supply chain podcast, and the Founder of Shipz, a neutral bid-and-ship platform for mid-market shippers. Sarah is very passionate about supply chain, so much so that she considers supply chain to be in her DNA. Prior to becoming an influencer, podcast host, and founder, Sarah dedicated several years to her family business and helped build it.

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Many major global companies are progressing on their own sustainability roadmaps as we proceed into the ‘Climate Decade.’ But the science is clear that we must do more and quickly to avoid the worst-case consequences of climate change and take advantage of the economic opportunity offered by the transition to a zero-carbon economy. Supply chain transparency and working closely with suppliers to reduce scope three emissions will be a challenge for companies with complex supply chains. Tessa Lee, Senior Corporate Engagement Manager at the Climate Group, joins us to discuss how going public with a net-zero or other supply chain sustainability pledge needn’t become a stick for your company to beat itself with, rather, an enabling driver of your sustainability goals.

 

About the Speaker

Tessa Lee is the Senior Corporate Engagement Manager in the Climate Group’s New York offices. She incubates new workstreams and strategic program areas for the Business Action campaigns, including RE100 and EP100, and provides a suite of member engagement services to corporate members. She is also leading the Climate Group’s newly launched Sustainable Supply Chain efforts. Previously, she led monitoring, evaluation and learning at 100 Resilient Cities, pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation, and before that, business development and program implementation at the Rocky Mountain Institute and the Carbon War Room, for industries including freight trucking and maritime shipping, global energy access, mining and islanded economies, low-carbon cement, and agriculture and forestry. She has a MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics, and a BA in International Relations from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Thanks to the growth of consumerism and globalization, supply chains have become increasingly sensitive to geopolitical tension, bureaucracy, and transportation disruptions, with the onset of the pandemic playing a crucial role in exposing this. Supply chain leaders are tasked with placing their sourcing, inventory management, and logistics strategies under a microscope, and are under immense pressure to simplify and strengthen their operations. In this episode, we’re joined by Former CEO and Chairman of the board of the American Apparel and Footwear Association, Rick Helfenbein, to find out more about the scope of the situation and the implications on the American apparel industry.

 

About The Speaker

Rick Helfenbein is the former Chairman, President, and CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association, the national trade association representing more than 1,000 brands in the apparel, footwear, and accessories industry. Previously, Rick was president of all USA operations for Luen Thai Holding Limited, the largest publicly listed apparel manufacturing and supply chain services company on the Hong Kong Exchange. Rick often appears on TV networks including CNBC, CNN, Fox Business, Newsy, Yahoo Finance, and the BBC, with industry and political commentary and is a regular Forbes contributor.

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In this session, we’re joined by Deborah Dull, Principle, Manufacturing Product Management at GE Digital, and Founder of Circular Supply Chain Network, to discuss why shorter, more circular supply chains are the future. Deborah addresses the misconceptions surrounding circularity and tells us why the circular economy is imperative for long-term profitability and shorter-term revenue generation. Embracing circularity may be the key to long-term supply chain resilience. The question is, are you prepared to embrace it?

 

About The Speaker

Deborah Dull, Principal, Manufacturing Product Management at GE Digital & Founder of Circular Supply Chain Network, explores the intersection of circular economy and supply chain and the relationship between circularity and continuous improvement. She focuses on the needs of supply chain strategies and operations worldwide, providing thought leadership on circular supply chains as a strategy for reducing waste and cost, and improving time to value. Deborah builds digital industrial lean and kaizen products that address these needs and pave the way to a circular economy. Deborah holds Supply Chain & Operations Management degrees from Western Washington University (BA) and the University of Liverpool (MSc), with a thesis focused on the digital supply chain.

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Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, supply chain has enjoyed an unprecedented level of attention from the media, organizations and the general public. With this wider appreciation of supply chain and what it entails, organizations are finding themselves open to a new level of scrutiny and accountability. This has led to growing pressure from regulatory bodies, NGOs, and customers to disclose information on their suppliers, labor, and origins of their raw materials. In this episode, Dr. Alexis Bateman, Research Scientist and Director of MIT Sustainable Supply Chains joins us to shed light on why transparency is a business imperative today and why organizations need to take it seriously.

 

About the Speaker

Dr. Alexis H. Bateman is a Research Scientist and Director of MIT Sustainable Supply Chains. Her research has been featured in numerous academic and industry outlets, including Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, Sloan Management Review, Supply Chain Management Review, and many others. Dr. Bateman also serves as a course lead and instructor for the MITx MicroMasters in Supply Chain Management, a pioneering program in digital education reaching 100,000s of supply chain professionals worldwide. Dr. Bateman boasts over fifteen years of experience in sustainability in the public sector, industry, and academic settings and engages closely with industrial partners, public agencies, and sits on several sustainability committees and advisory boards for major companies, industry associations, and non-governmental organizations. Dr. Bateman has won numerous awards, recently winning the Global Woman Supply Chain Leader Award in Academic Excellence in 2020.

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In this episode, accomplished supply chain leader Srini Raghavan joins us to discuss the origins of digital transformation success and failure and how to deal with workforce resistance to transform. Drawing on his past experiences of leading supply transformation as VP of Supply Chain, Procurement & Logistics of Diodes Incorporated and VP Supply Chain & Procurement of PrimeSource Building Products, Srini addresses how important inspiring ‘aha’ moments early on is key to fostering workforce buy-in, along with reskilling and upskilling your teams.

 

About the Speaker

Srini Raghavan is an accomplished supply chain and procurement executive who helps companies improve their top and bottom line by transforming their supply chains from siloed and underperforming to resilient and high performing using best-in-class business processes and automation. His transformational experience spans Asia, Europe, and North America and across multiple sectors such as semiconductors, industrial, and retail.

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In this episode, Ivanka Janssen, Chief Supply Chain Officer of Philips, joins us to share her biggest learnings of the past year, Philips’ supply chain strategy for 2021 and beyond, and the role that culture and teams play in successful transformations. Ivanka addresses how Philips is closing the skills gap and empowering teams in the day-to-day running of the supply chain and what benefits you can expect to see when you welcome diversity and invest in inclusivity.

 

About the Speaker

Ivanka Janssen is one of the most highly regarded supply chain leaders of our time. After holding senior leadership positions at Philip Morris International, Diageo & PepsiCo, Ivanka now holds the prestigious position of Chief Supply Chain Officer of Philips. Ivanka is renowned for leading best-in-class transformation programs and has particular expertise in planning transformation. Her specialties include customer-driven supply chain strategies, direct-to-consumer, e-fulfillment, digital supply chain, AI & ML, Amazon & pure player relationship management, personalization & late customization, customer collaboration, sales & operations planning, customer service, logistics & procurement, route-to-market strategies, and leading large scale manufacturing in the food & beverages industry.

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In this full-on, bold interview, Michael Stietz, SVP and Chief Procurement Officer of Korber, sheds light on how the procurement function has changed over the past few decades and since the Covid-19 pandemic ensued in March of 2020. Michael shares with us his advice on navigating the trade-off between cost reduction, quality, and supplier-led innovation for competitive advantage and gives us a rundown of the next chapter for procurement and his golden rules for digitization.

 

About The Speaker

Michael Stietz is Senior Vice President & Chief Procurement Officer of Körber AG in Hamburg, Germany. Michael is responsible for the management and development of the Group Procurement and Supply Chain Management function. For more than 15 years, he has been working in various Operations, Procurement, SCM functions. He is the initiator and co-founder of the first Procurement Chair at the University of Mannheim, Germany, and a guest lecturer at the Universities of Mannheim, Berlin, and Karlsruhe.

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The ‘people’ pillar of digital transformation is often overshadowed by the exciting technologies that power it. Stephane Piat, SVP Supply Chain Strategy & Transformation at Schneider Electric, reminds us why taking people along with you in your digital transformation journey is imperative for success, comparing digital transformation without ‘people’ as having a high-end car driven by someone that cannot drive. Sharing with us the Schneider Electric strategy underpinning top-level performance, building resilience, and becoming more customer-centric, Stephane outlines the four key ingredients of the successful adoption of digital and the outcomes of following this recipe.

 

About the Speaker

Stephane Piat has devoted over 25 years to Schneider Electric and held various roles, including global supply chain and IT transformation leadership positions and operational roles driving manufacturing, planning, and regional logistics operations in France, Europe, MEA, and Asia. He was promoted to Head of Supply Chain and Quality for the Industrial Automation business unit in 2018 and Senior Vice President Supply Chain Strategy & Transformation in March 2020, responsible for driving Schneider Electric’s global supply chain strategy and performance.

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Trevor Miles is one of the most revered thought leaders in the supply chain space. Throughout his career Trevor has worked for well respected brands such as Kinaxis, i2 Technologies and SAP. What makes Trevor so unique is his global understanding of not only market needs but also customer requirements. 

On this week’s episode Trevor and Maria discuss: 

• How companies typically deal with disruptions and black swan events.
• Why businesses must operate in this way consistently.
• The role organizational structure and people play in balanced decision-making.

Make sure to like and subscribe to Transform Talks to never miss the supply chain conversations that matter. New episodes are released every Wednesday.

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About The Speaker

Trevor Miles has been in the software industry since 1985 and the supply chain planning area since 1994 when he joined i2 Technologies in Europe. Trevor was with i2 for 16 years, first in deployment and then as an Industry Leader in Europe for Automotive before moving to Dallas in Industry Product Management. He’s dedicated 10 years to Kinaxis holding the roles of Product Marketing, Industry Principal, and Thought Leader. After brief periods as Chief Strategist at SAP Digital Supply Chain and VP Supply Chain Solutions at Celonis, Trevor joined Bluecrux in October 2020 as Thought Leader with a focus on LOP.ai. Trevor has watched the supply chain planning space move from a niche solution into a cornerstone of every manufacturing company’s operations management capability. In that time, Trevor has seen the transition from on-premise, on-disk solutions to cloud, in-memory solutions, and narrow-focused, functional applications to broad, cross-functional solutions. Trevor is fascinated by the opportunity and threat of the rapid pace of adoption of machine learning and AI in supply chain planning, which is a key capability in LOP.ai.

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