Some measure success by salaries and titles. Others use a different yardstick altogether. Take the 10 professionals selected as our 2020 Rainmakers, for example. When asked about their proudest professional accomplishments, several cited the satisfaction of mentoring younger colleagues and seeing them go on to greater glory, while another spoke proudly of his company’s pioneering work in predictive supply chain software. Yet another described the gratification of being involved with the American Logistics Aid Network’s humanitarian relief work.
So who are these Rainmakers and how were they chosen? As in the past, DC Velocity selected the 2020 Rainmakers in concert with members of the magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board from candidates nominated by readers, board members, and previous Rainmakers and DCV Thought Leaders. This year’s selections represent different facets of the business—from practitioners and association executives to technology specialists, consultants, and academics. But as the profiles below will show, they’re united by a common goal of advancing the logistics and supply chain management profession.
If you’d like to nominate someone for our 2021 Rainmakers report, please send your suggestions to DC Velocity’s editorial director, David Maloney, at dmaloney@dcvelocity.com.
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Kevin Condon
It’s often said that the most satisfactory job a person can have is one that combines their work responsibilities with a personal passion. That’s the case with Kevin Condon, who has been able to turn his passion for food into a supply chain career optimizing how food moves throughout the country. Condon is currently vice president of engineering and optimization for the food and beverage supply chain at the retail chain
Before joining Target last year, Condon worked at grocery chain Kroger for eight years in various supply chain leadership roles. He shepherded many Kroger initiatives, including e-commerce fulfillment and pilot programs for deliveries using autonomous vehicles. Condon is a graduate of The Ohio State University, where he studied industrial and systems engineering.
Q: Your bio says that you “turned a passion for food into a career optimizing how food moves throughout the country.” How did that come about?
A: Like many people, I didn’t enter the business with a predetermined idea of what path my career would take, but once I started working in the food distribution industry, I knew I’d found where I wanted to be. I grew up in a large family where gathering and sharing a meal has been a tradition that’s both important and rewarding. Food is a key part of bringing people together.
Throughout my career, I’ve come to recognize how many people struggle with food insecurity, and I’ve appreciated more deeply the role that our food supply chain plays in providing support and comfort, putting food on the table for so many families. Target’s mission to help all families discover the joy of everyday life provides tremendous motivation for my work in the food and beverage supply chain.
Q: Covid-19 has caused extensive disruption to the food supply chain. What adjustments have you had to make?
A: The changes and disruptions from Covid-19 have certainly been numerous. I would group them into three major categories: safety, process capacity, and working routines. In order to support our stores as a safe place to shop, we’ve focused on the safety of our team and food distribution operations through providing PPE (personal protective equipment), social distancing measures, and rigorous cleaning routines. In terms of process capacity, rapidly shifting sales patterns as well as supply fluctuations have challenged our operational capabilities. Decisive evaluations and quick strategies to support assortment change and optimizing delivery frequencies have proved critical in supporting our over 20% growth. Finally, for an engineering discipline where “going to the Gemba” [a Japanese term referring to the act of visiting the shop floor or other “real place” where the work gets done] has been an indoctrinated requisite, working from home away from the Gemba poses various challenges to our ability to create value and support change. Leveraging technological solutions and a culture of collaborative problem-solving have been essential in continuing to support our operations remotely as we work to optimize and improve processes.
Q: You were trained as an industrial engineer. How has that background helped you in your current role?
A: Industrial engineering at its core is about improving quality and cost through optimization of complex processes. When you consider the complexities of the food supply chain—farmers and manufacturers, temp-controlled logistics, automation and robotics, and quality and perishability—it’s hard to imagine an industry more suited to an industrial engineer’s skill set. That complexity is compounded by various challenges of major national retail operations along with the ever-evolving expectations of consumers, so my experience and development as an industrial engineer has been paramount for the work I do today.
Q: What’s one supply chain project or initiative you’ve worked on that you found to be particularly memorable?
A: My involvement and critical roles played in many recent supply chain evolutions has definitely been the most remarkable part of my career. Working with Kroger on the functional design and launch of its curbside pickup program, extending that work into automated fulfillment centers for home delivery, and now seeing massive growth in Target’s digital grocery adoption through the Covid-19 crisis have all been incredible, and I’m excited for what the future holds for digital grocery.
Matt Elenjickal
Talk with any shipper, carrier, or retailer, and you’ll soon hear about companies’ growing need to have real-time visibility of the freight shipments they’re sending and receiving. That information is crucial for maintaining top performance in an era of rising consumer expectations for speedy home delivery, retailers’ mandates for on-time/in-full (OTIF) delivery, and restrictions on truck drivers’ hours of service.
In 2014, Matt Elenjickal saw that need and founded FourKites Inc., which uses machine learning and specialized algorithms to analyze data from its network of more than 4 million global positioning system (GPS) and electronic logging device (ELD) platforms. Prior to founding FourKites, Elenjickal had worked at Oracle Corp., i2 Technologies, and JDA Software Group (now known as Blue Yonder).
That startup has grown into an enterprise that now maintains offices in Chicago and Chennai, India, and whose client base includes Fortune 500 companies and third-party logistics service providers (3PLs) across 70 countries. It has received venture capital backing from Bain Capital, August Capital, and Hyde Park Venture Partners.
As CEO of FourKites, Elenjickal is now moving the company’s focus beyond visibility, expanding its collaborative abilities to help supply chain partners improve processes like appointment scheduling, capacity management to eliminate deadhead miles, and warehouse and transportation operations.
Q: What’s your proudest professional achievement, and why?
A: This is my first startup, and what we are all really proud of as a company is the creation of a new software category. Visibility is not a new thing—it has been around for ages. But real-time visibility only began in 2014. I feel really fortunate to have been able to drive that conversation forward.
Q: What drew you to the field of logistics?
A: It was by accident! My first job out of school was at [consulting and software company] i2 Technologies, which hired me and gave me training in supply chain. While I was sitting on the bench waiting for an assignment, an opportunity to work on a transporttion-related project with Anheuser-Busch came along. So they gave me transportation management system (TMS) training for a week and said to me “Now, go make it happen.”
We worked 24/7 and the project was successful, so after that, I was “the transportation guy,” which led to projects with Procter & Gamble, Pepsi, Ikea, and others. Looking back, that was the best thing that could have happened; it opened my eyes to the lack of real-time visibility.
Q: What are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen during your career?
A: I’d say there have been three. One was the rise of real-time visibility as the market was going through a lot of changes, like the government’s ELD mandate and Amazon reshaping the business-to-consumer (B2C) experience. Business-to-business (B2B) companies were also craving real-time visibility—in their case, as a way to avoid the fines and penalties imposed by the Walmarts of the world. Companies wanted to get more lean and boost their on-time performance, because the transportation operating environment was becoming more and more stringent.
Then there was the rise of the digital freight brokers, like Convoy and Uber Freight. Who would have thought they’d be giving C.H. Robinson a run for its money?
I would also point to the rise of collaboration, as people became more willing to share data that in supply chain and logistics, had previously existed only in silos.
Q: What hasn’t changed?
A: Consolidation in the carrier community hasn’t happened; fragmentation still exists. Some 90% of trucking companies have 20 or fewer trucks, and they’re still dispatching with a whiteboard or Post-it Note.
And in the freight industry recessions of 2008 and 2018, we saw that when rates are good, trucking companies go buy more equipment, and when rates drop, they go bankrupt. There hasn’t been a solution to reduce the cyclicality of the industry.
Q: What advice would you give someone just starting a career in supply chain management?
A: Supply chain is fascinating. If you’re not in it, you tend to assume that supply chain is a well-oiled machine. But even now, there are Fortune 200 or Fortune 50 companies that don’t know where their trucks are! Even with all the advances we’ve made, there’s lots of room for improvement. So there are a lot of opportunities. If you’re intellectually curious, you can definitely make a mark.
Q: What are some of the truisms that should be forgotten? In other words, what rules do companies need to break?
A: Supply chain is a network game; it’s not just “my supply chain.” A company can’t say I want to make “my supply chain” the best, because if their ecosystem is not on par and if they’re not collaborating with suppliers and partners, it’s not going to happen.
Nate England
Nate England has achieved as much in his comparatively brief career in logistics as many accomplish during a lifetime in the profession. That should come as no surprise, as he is a man with logistics in his blood. Not only did England grow up in a trucking family, but he also knows how to operate a truck and has earned a commercial driver’s license (CDL) to boot.
Today, England is manager of supply chain and transportation at Stein Mart, a fashion retailer with over 280 stores across the country. Prior to joining Stein Mart, he spent time on the carrier side of the fence, with stints at the Florida East Coast Railway helping grow its service offerings as well as several years in the refrigerated truckload sector with Pride Transport and C.R. England. All told, England has 15 years’ experience in the profession, during which time he has demonstrated a talent for financial management and operational improvements, according to one of his nominators for this award.
England is also active on the industry association front, currently serving on the National Shippers Strategic Transportation Council’s (NASSTRAC) board of directors. He is also active with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP).
Q: What drew you to the logistics field?
A: I was raised in a trucking family and have spent a lot of time in and around trucks throughout my life. The logistics of moving goods around the country has always fascinated me.
Q: What’s the biggest change or advancement you’ve seen in your 15 years in the industry?
A: Technology and data have been the biggest advancements in the industry. I remember when trucking companies had time cards that were used to track their trucks and drivers around the country. Replacing them with satellites and computer systems was revolutionary. The flow of information continues to help improve all aspects of supply chain management around the world.
Q: What hasn’t changed?
A: The need for good people to work in the industry and to keep things moving.
Q: What’s on your short list of the biggest challenges facing logistics professionals today?
A: I see great value in implementing improvements to logistics based on new technology and new information. It is a great and exciting challenge to make sure that those changes are for the betterment of the company I am working for.
Q: What advice would you give to someone just entering the profession?
A: I would encourage them to find ways to keep learning and growing in this industry, and to become members of industry trade groups to help grow their knowledge and network. By joining NASSTRAC and CSCMP, I gained access to a vast network of professionals, experts, and industry leaders who have helped guide me in my work in the profession.
Q: What’s your proudest professional achievement, and why?
A: My proudest achievement has been getting my CDL and learning to drive a truck. My grandfather, Gene England, drove a truck until he was 90 years old. I always admired his love for trucking and his work ethic, which motivates me to this day.
Kevin Gue
Kevin Gue has long put theory into practice, applying his work in academia to real-world problems in the DC. Since January, he’s been blending those disciplines full time as senior director of research and development for supply chain systems design and integration firm
Since he received his Ph.D. from Georgia Tech in 1995, Gue’s research has been focused on the design and control of distribution processes, including warehousing, order fulfillment, and material handling. In 2009, he received the Technical Innovation in Industrial Engineering Award (with Russ Meller) for his research on aisle designs for unit-load warehouses. He has written numerous award-winning papers and is co-inventor of GridSequence, a material handling system patented in 2015. He is a past president of the College-Industry Council on Material Handling Education and a recent recipient of the Reed-Apple Award for lifetime contributions to material handling education.
Gue is a 1985 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, a husband, father of eight, and grandfather of eight and counting.
Q: What drew you to a career in logistics?
A: Early in my graduate school experience, I met my adviser John Bartholdi. John had served in the Navy as I had—we hit it off, and I had the great privilege of working with him. Most of John’s research was in warehousing and material flow, so I fell right in line. Once I visited a couple of facilities on my own, I was hooked.
Q: In what ways has the industry changed over the years?
A: Two things come to mind: First, as with so many fields, technology has changed almost every part of the industry, from planning and design right down to how workers pick orders. And I think we are on the cusp of an absolute revolution, as robotics, AI [artificial intelligence], and other advances break through the cost and capability barriers to become viable solutions. Second, I think the challenges have moved from solving relatively static problems (“How many warehouses do I need and where should they be?”) to controlling very complex, dynamic situations—dealing with peak days and peak hours in retail, for example.
Q: You joined Fortna in January. How does your long history in academia influence the work you’re doing today?
A: Working at Fortna has been a great opportunity to join forces with the best and brightest people in the industry to solve the most interesting and challenging problems in the field. The exciting part is using the theory to produce proprietary, practical tools and algorithms that solve real-world challenges and allow our clients to gain real competitive advantage.
Q: What would you say are some of the most important economic contributions of the logistics industry and the broader supply chain? Has this changed in light of the global economic challenges we face in 2020?
A: Well, it’s hard to overstate the contribution of e-commerce. Imagine what going through the Covid-19 crisis would have looked like in the mid-1980s. And I think we’re still in the early stages. If you think of e-commerce as a technology going through the standard S-shaped adoption curve, I would say we are less than halfway in—meaning, e-commerce last year was only about 10% of retail, so there is tremendous room for growth.
Q: What advice would you give to young people looking to start a career in logistics?
A: Find a way in through technology: Study robotics, automation, or data science, or learn how to maintain and repair technical systems. Logistics will always require people, but automation is the path forward. The industry needs talent that can help solve challenges through greater understanding and application of technology.
Q: What is your proudest professional accomplishment, and why?
A: At the top of my list would be walking into a DC run by [power equipment manufacturer] Generac in 2007 after they had implemented the “fishbone layout” that Russ Meller and I had developed and written about in an academic journal. They did the whole thing without contacting us, so it was a surprise to see it in real life. To make it even sweeter, one of the reviewers of our article had said, “No real company would ever do this.” I still smile when I think about that. Anyway, seeing an idea move from your head, to a computer, to a real distribution center is incredibly satisfying. And now you understand why I’m at Fortna.
Candace Holowicki
In a profession dominated by specialists, Candace Holowicki stands out for her broad cross-functional expertise. While she’s spent much of her career managing domestic and international logistics operations, Holowicki also has experience in everything from customer service and procurement to returns management and trade compliance.
Holowicki’s career journey has most recently taken her to Dayco Products, a manufacturer of engine drive systems and parts, in a newly created position as global transportation/logistics sourcing manager. Prior to joining Dayco, she served as director of global transportation and logistics for TriMas Corp., a diversified manufacturer of engineered products for the aerospace, consumer products, and industrial end markets. At TriMas, she developed and implemented global logistics strategies and programs to support various corporate operational objectives. Those programs led to TriMas being selected as NASSTRAC’s (the National Shippers Strategic Transportation Council) Shipper of the Year for 2016. She also worked at Masco Corp. as manager of logistics and in national accounts for Con-way Transportation.
Holowicki holds a master’s degree in global supply chain management from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Michigan. She is a long-time member of NASSTRAC, an association for logistics professionals. She was named Member of the Year in 2013, is a past president of NASSTRAC, and has served on the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals’ (CSCMP) board of directors.
Q: What work and life experiences led you to the position you’re in today?
A: My career began working in customer service for an electronics manufacturer. I was given responsibility for repair and return orders, which I was not excited about. It turned out to be my first opportunity to handle what we now call “reverse logistics.” The shipping manager worked with me, and I learned about the domestic transportation modes and service levels. This assignment became both my most notable work and life experience. It sparked my interest in transportation and logistics, putting me on a new career path. I also ended up marrying the shipping manager, who still encourages my work in supply chain and logistics to this day.
Q: What has been the biggest change you’ve seen in the industry during your career?
A: The advancement of technology—and the development of software tools specifically for logistics—has fundamentally changed the industry. Logistics professionals can now send and receive information with a click, and they have visibility we never imagined back when our best tools were a typewriter, telephone, and a binder full of rate tariffs. The biggest change I have seen in the industry is the increase in the rate of change that technology has enabled.
Q: What hasn’t changed?
A: What has not changed in the industry is the importance of relationships and collaboration. It is important within your department, between functional areas, as well as with your suppliers and logistics service providers. For instance, sharing upcoming projects or potential logistics issues with your key vendors and relevant functional areas can prevent costly missteps and lead to enhanced results.
Q: What’s on your short list of the biggest challenges facing logistics professionals today?
A: The biggest challenge facing logistics professionals today is preparing for the next unknown disruption. Covid-19 exposed many weaknesses in the global logistics network, so logistics professionals need to be better prepared to deal with the next major disruption.
A second challenge is the continuing trade war uncertainty. Will China tariffs be eliminated? Will they increase? Will tariffs be applied to other trading partners? Preparing for any or all of these scenarios requires a cross-functional response.
Lastly, the perennial challenge for logistics professionals is always reducing costs. To continue year-over-year savings, you must go beyond just beating down suppliers on price. Innovation and business process improvement are needed to continue reducing costs.
Q: What advice would you give someone just entering the profession?
A: Join an industry association. It’s a great way to continue expanding your logistics knowledge, find a mentor, or just grow your network of logistics professionals. A Google search cannot compare to the insight you’ll get from a conversation with someone who has been in the situation you’re trying to navigate. NASSTRAC and CSCMP are a great place to start.
Q: What’s your proudest professional achievement, and why?
A: My proudest professional achievement was mentoring three entry-level logistics professionals and seeing them continue on to higher-level positions in the industry. I would like to say that they learned a lot from me, but the reality is that we learned a lot from each other.
Michelle Meyer
When you speak to Michelle Meyer, you can hear the excitement and passion in her voice when she talks about her 30-plus years’ experience working in the supply chain. During that time, she has worked as both a practitioner and consultant in areas ranging from transportation/logistics, distribution operations, and order management to strategy development, business process improvement, and large-scale systems implementation. Meyer says her work in the supply chain has given her tremendous opportunities to move across organizations in many different roles and to understand how the various parts are connected. “To me, this is part of the uniqueness and the fun part of being in supply chain,” she notes.
Currently, Meyer is a client executive for global research and advisory firm Gartner’s Supply Chain Strategic Accounts team. In addition to her “day” job, she is the 2020 chair of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) board of directors. She has also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Denver, Daniels College of Business, where she received the universitywide “Excellence in Teaching” award. Meyer graduated from the University of Colorado-Boulder’s Leeds School of Business in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in transportation and logistics.
Q: What drew you to the field of supply chain management?
A: I’m actually one of the rare birds that found [the supply chain field] in college. They didn’t call it “supply chain” at the time, of course. In fact, companies didn’t even call it “supply chain.” However, the University of Colorado-Boulder did have a transportation and logistics program in the business school.
I attended a career fair my sophomore year and ended up in a session with the professor who ran the transportation and logistics program. There, he introduced a couple, a husband and wife, who had both graduated from the program and had gone to work for the now-defunct Digital Equipment Corp. The couple talked about what they did in transportation and logistics, operations, and planning. The professor was young and fun, and so were the couple. After leaving the session, I immediately went and signed up for the class. I was hooked.
Q: What are some of the industry trends you’re seeing, and how is Covid-19 challenging logistics and supply chain professionals today?
A: I’ve heard people comment recently on how various supply chains are “broken” or not working. What I try to insert into the dialogue is that generally, the outcome of a supply chain—in terms of its performance and capabilities—is really based on financial decisions. It’s based on somebody making the decision not to buy the supplies, or to reduce the inventory, or to not open the idle lines in a plant to deal with unexpected demand.
Supply chain professionals over the past couple of decades have really been pushed to drive financial results —which means boosting efficiency, reducing costs, reducing inventory—and it’s not necessarily a system that’s designed to absorb or manage the impact of something as dramatic as [Covid-19]. There are a lot of companies that do prepare disaster plans and do design supply chains to absorb certain amounts of risk and disruption, but this pandemic is an unprecedented situation.
I do think supply chains are going to change. I also think companies might now make other financial decisions to better deal with disruptions.
Q: You’ve worked with people in various supply chain roles. What do you look for in the people you choose for your team?
A: I look for people who are able to understand the bigger picture, can sense what’s beyond what they can see, and understand that the supply chain is a network and operates like a network. In fact, the term “supply chain” is somewhat of a misnomer. A chain indicates something linear—one thing following the other—while really, supply chains are a living network. So I try to find people who understand the fundamentals of a network, the importance of collaborating and working with people, and what it takes to elevate the performance of a living network.
Q: What advice would you give to someone just entering the supply chain profession?
A: My advice is to find something that resonates with you, something that you like and seems interesting, and see if you can start there. In supply chain, it almost doesn’t matter where you start, as long as you get yourself into a supply chain-specific position. Once you are in, try to gain an understanding of how the pieces are connected and then migrate to the areas that most interest you.
The other thing I tell young people is to move toward things that feel good and move away from things that don’t. It’s OK to make a mistake and end up somewhere that’s not right for you, as long as you have an exit plan in place.
Q: What has been your most satisfying career achievement, and why?
A: One of my most satisfying achievements actually occurred very early in my career. I was assigned to work on a big company IT project to develop a paperless process for tracking an order from the time we received it to the time it left the plant. Our team was asked to design both the system and the supporting technologies—which included custom RF (radio-frequency) and handheld technology. The project took 18 months from start to finish, and I was responsible for the process design.
About a month after the program went live, I was at the plant helping to load a [chemical] tank truck. The operator, who had been on the project from the beginning and was a bit of a curmudgeon, hadn’t voiced his opinion about the project during the process. When I asked him how the new process was going, he replied, “Well, before we started, I would have told you this new process was never going to work. But now, you couldn’t pry it out of my dead hands!” We made improvements, and better yet, the people who really needed to use it had become advocates of the process.
Mark Richards
The two things that have defined the supply chain career of Mark Richards are hard work and giving back. His 40-plus years in logistics began at Distribution Centers Inc., a multi-city public warehouse company. From there, he went on to roles at Nabisco, where he served as regional director, distribution and customer service for the company’s Food Service Division, and Gillette, where he was national distribution manager for the Oral-B health-care products group.
Richards has spent the bulk of his career, however, at Associated Warehouses Inc. For the past 30 years, he has served as vice president of AWI, a consortium of more than 50 third-party logistics service providers operating over 110 million square feet of space throughout North America and Europe.
In his limited spare time, Richards has been heavily involved in industry organizations. He is the former president of WERC (Warehousing Education and Research Council), former board chair of CSCMP (Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals), and has been an active member of ILWA (International Warehouse Logistics Association). He was also one of the founders of the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN), an organization that mobilizes the logistics community to support humanitarian relief efforts during times of disaster, and currently serves as chair of ALAN’s board.
Richards received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa, and his MBA from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Q: You’ve had a wide range of experience in many facets of supply chain, including being responsible for transportation, warehousing, inventory, and packaging. How have those experiences helped shape you as a supply chain manager?
A: I started my college career as a physical education major with the goal of becoming a coach. I’ve always been energized by opportunities to build a team and have found great satisfaction in being involved in teams of diverse people with unique perspectives who have come together to work toward a common goal. Having this experience and perspective coupled with having had responsibilities in numerous activities throughout the supply chain has helped me understand the importance of all aspects of the supply chain and realize that the most effective supply chains are those where the organization’s leaders take a team or system approach to managing the supply chain.
Q: You’ve been very active over the years with industry organizations, including CSCMP and IWLA. Why do you find this valuable to your career?
A: One of my favorite sayings is a line from the movie “Jerry Maguire”: “Your net worth is equal to your network.” Being involved with industry organizations has given me the opportunity to develop relationships with amazing people all over the globe: People who have mentored me. People who have encouraged and inspired me. People to whom I can reach out at a moment’s notice for advice or to help me solve a problem.
These relationships are one of the main reasons why I have had some measure of success in my career. I simply couldn’t have created these relationships without being actively involved with these professional organizations.
Q: What’s your proudest professional achievement, and why?
A: I wouldn’t categorize it so much as “proud,” but I’d say the most gratifying has been the opportunity to be involved with the formation and leadership of the American Logistics Aid Network, or ALAN.
What we do day to day is extremely important, and being involved in an organization that, as we say at ALAN, “saves lives through logistics” brings purpose to my professional life. I was raised to give back and serve the community. I believe the vast majority of supply chain professionals share this desire to give back and humbly serve others.
There is a study that showed 80% of the cost of humanitarian relief is directed to logistics and 40% of that is waste. ALAN gives me and others a chance to help lower this sad statistic. I can’t not be involved.
Q: What advice would you give to someone just starting a career in supply chain?
A: My advice is to not only become a member of industry organizations but to be actively involved. The payback in giving back is immeasurable.
Also, take advantage of any opportunity you have to gain experience in all aspects of the supply chain even if it means making what you see as a lateral move. This will enable you to appreciate those involved in all aspects of the supply chain and make you a better leader.
Finally, always look for ways to encourage others and let them know you respect and appreciate them. If you genuinely do this, people will always be there for you, and together you can accomplish more than you ever thought possible.
Q: How has the Covid-19 crisis affected the third-party logistics (3PL) market and your work in it?
A: The people working in 3PL distribution and fulfillment operations have truly been among the heroes of the pandemic. I’ve heard numerous reports from 3PLs that are part of our network across North America about how the initial wave of hoarding resulted in some operations experiencing outbound volume that was four times their norm and associates literally working 24/7 for several weeks to meet the demand. Even now, operations that warehouse and distribute food, consumer goods, and other essential items continue to be extremely busy.
One of the positives of the crisis is that the general public has gained a clearer understanding of just how critical supply chains are to our quality of life. As a result, they have a greater appreciation for those who work in the supply chain profession.
We’ve also seen a significant increase in inquiries from companies needing to either implement a direct-to-consumer channel or enhance their current capabilities as consumers shop from home. This trend has been building for several years, but the crisis has significantly accelerated the rate of change.
Doug Romain
When you sprinkle some sweetener in your morning coffee or order a dessert after dinner, chances are the sugar you’re enjoying came from
It’s up to Doug Romain, the company’s senior vice president for global supply chain, to keep the whole operation running smoothly. In that capacity, he is responsible for some 450 supply chain employees across seven countries and an annual operating budget of more than $300 million. Romain joined ASR 12 years ago to support its global growth strategy, following almost 20 years of industry and consulting experience at organizations like Toys R Us, Del Monte Fresh Produce, and CapGemini Consulting.
Colleagues say he has established a long track record of success, through his leadership, team development, and business transformation skills. Romain has also been praised as an effective communicator who leverages his talents to build strong relationships with customers, stakeholders, and suppliers.
Q: What’s your proudest professional achievement, and why?
A: I would have to say that my proudest professional achievement was my transition from an industry role into consulting. I did this around the midpoint in my career, and it was a risk not just because of the career change, but also because I made the change just after 9/11, when a number of industries including consulting were hard hit. Not only was I able to effectively make the transition, but I also ascended to a leadership position in the firm after a few years.
Q: What drew you to the field of logistics?
A: I started my career in big-box retail store management, moved into regional inventory management, and went from there to distribution and logistics. It always felt right to me, and I was excited to have the opportunity to drive improvements and efficiencies. After more than 34 years, I still get up every day thinking about how I can add more value to the business, and for me that is energizing.
Q: What are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen during your career?
A: The greatest change I’ve seen is the broader availability and use of data, and the pace of change enabled by technology. The ability to quickly make fact-based decisions is such a game-changer compared to the early part of my career, and the advent of cloud technologies has further accelerated these capabilities. Technologies that once took dozens of people, a couple of years, and millions of dollars to deploy can now be implemented in a matter of months, delivering a value proposition almost immediately.
Q: What hasn’t changed?
A: The need to create and develop a great team. People have always been the key to success, and that is no different today than it was at the start of my career. I’ve always valued having talented people on my team and to this day get great satisfaction out of supporting my team’s development and seeing its members succeed in their careers.
Q: What advice would you give someone just starting a career in supply chain management?
A: Learn the business/industry, not just the function. I’ve often seen people who are very talented and knowledgeable about a specific discipline but don’t have a broad enough understanding of the business to effectively apply that expertise. To do this, individuals have to be willing to venture out of their comfort zone to gain new experiences, and that means taking risk. This also means their value to the organization will be that much greater, and who knows, just maybe they will find an alternative career path that they are excited by.
Q: What are some of the truisms that should be forgotten? In other words, what rules do companies need to break?
A: That decision-making rights and approval processes need to be hierarchical. Rigid authorization processes stifle individual development and accountability, while forcing all decision-making and ideation into a small segment of the organization. It becomes too easy and convenient for junior and middle-level managers to sit back and wait for approval to move forward, minimizing their accountability and decreasing their job satisfaction. Leveraging the entire organization and rewarding prudent risk-taking at all levels of the business accelerates both individual development and the ability for the organization to accelerate the pace of change.
Remko Van Hoek
As Remko Van Hoek was finishing up his master’s thesis on postponed manufacturing in the supply chain, he found himself thinking: “Is this it? I feel like I’m barely scratching the surface of this subject. There are so many more unanswered questions here.”
That sense of unfinished business not only drove Van Hoek to pursue a Ph.D. in international economics at Utrecht University in the Netherlands but also has propelled his entire career. Over the years, Van Hoek has wended his way through roles in both academia and industry, where he has sought to uncover, understand, and analyze new tools and techniques that can be implemented to improve supply chain management. Currently a professor of supply chain management at the University of Arkansas’ Sam M. Walton College of Business, Van Hoek has also worked for organizations such as the Cranfield School of Management, PwC, and the Walt Disney Corp.
Recognized as one of the world’s top supply chain researchers, he co-wrote the books Logistics Management and Strategy: Competing Through the Supply Chain; Leading Procurement Strategy: Driving Value Through the Supply Chain; and the recently published Integrating Blockchain Into Supply Chain Management: A Toolkit for Practical Implementation.
Van Hoek also has a long history of giving back to the logistics and supply chain management profession, including his volunteer work with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP). He has served in numerous roles with the organization, including chairman, and is now CSCMP’s longest serving board member. Currently, he is helping to create a physical exhibit for CSCMP’s Hall of Fame, which recognizes individuals and groups who have made significant contributions to the discipline.
Q: What continues to interest and excite you about supply chain management?
A: We’re a young field. We’re really just getting started here. We have so much more to innovate and achieve. And it keeps getting better.
It’s so clear that it’s not just about connecting operations around the world to enable commerce. It’s also about consumer access. It’s about consumer well-being. It’s about making the world a better place. The agenda keeps broadening, and the more we learn, the more enthused I get about what we have yet to achieve.
Q: You recently co-wrote a book on blockchain. What do you think are the biggest misconceptions about blockchain in the supply chain?
A: I think we’re getting beyond some of the misconceptions. There was a fair amount of hype initially, and now people are beginning to realize that [the early predictions] may have been a bit overblown. Instead, it’s true that blockchain is not going to revolutionize the world overnight.
I will say that Covid-19 may just be the “superuse case” for blockchain. A colleague and I recently published a digital article in the Harvard Business Review that points out that there is now a great need for time-sensitive information that is confidential and widely distributed instantly and safely, as opposed to sequentially. Blockchain can help provide that.
But I should also point out that proof of concept does not mean the technology is here. There are a lot of proofs of concept for blockchain. We know it works. It’s not difficult technology. That doesn’t mean that we are using it. I think that’s the reality that we are in right now.
Q: Now that the book is out, what are you working on?
A: First, we’ve started work on the CSMCP Supply Chain Hall of Fame that the University of Arkansas will be hosting as a service to CSCMP, its membership, and the profession. We’ve started work on articles and exhibits for the Hall of Famers, and we hope that that might eventually lead to a book.
Second, we have been working in the Covid-19 space. We’ve started developing some case studies, and we’re collecting some data. As an academic and as an adviser to companies, this is a small societal contribution I can make in this pandemic crisis situation.
The reflection that is coming out is that we have a lot of hard work ahead of us. Beyond the short-term mitigation and mid-term risk recovery, we need to structurally improve the resiliency of our supply chains. That’s not something we can do overnight or even in a couple of months. For example, you can say we need to do more near and local sourcing, and I agree with that. But finding new sources, qualifying them, evaluating them, contracting with them, implementing them … you don’t do that in a couple days or weeks.
Once we start coming out of crisis mode, I hope we don’t shy away from actually doing that work. There are some key learnings that are coming out of this crisis, and hopefully, we will not fail to capture those and build those into the DNA of our profession.
Q: What advice do you give to students graduating with a degree in supply chain management?
A: Three main things. First, early in your career, make sure you “travel the supply chain.” Take on a couple of different roles. Spend some time in warehousing. Spend some time in procurement. Spend some time in transportation. Really develop a rounded profile and an understanding of how broad this field is. Second, help advance the toolkit. We’re a young field. While there are lots of tools and techniques already out there, we are not done building out the toolkit. The third is enjoy your ride. This is an exciting place to be.
Ellen Voie
For many, Ellen Voie is the voice of women in trucking and transportation. As president and CEO of the nonprofit trade group
Her mission mirrors her own journey through the trucking industry. Voie started as the assistant traffic manager and later traffic manager for a steel fabricating plant in central Wisconsin. She went on to work as a dispatcher for a grain-hauling carrier before becoming co-owner of a small fleet. She spent 16 years working as a transportation consultant to carriers in Wisconsin, licensing and permitting trucks. And prior to founding WIT, she served as manager of retention and recruiting programs at Schneider Inc.
Q: What drew you to a career in logistics and transportation?
A: Like many women in the transportation industry, I wasn’t focused on a career in supply chain in my early years. In fact, I went to school for broadcast journalism and ultimately earned my master’s degree in communication. However, while working for a steel fabricating company, I was offered a move into the traffic department. They sent me to school to earn a diploma in traffic and transportation management, which I completed in 1979, just before deregulation. With that training, I was able to work my way into the role of traffic manager and later run my own consulting company while I raised my family. The education I received has been invaluable to my career, but the passion I have for the individuals employed in the industry has been a greater force in my momentum.
Q: What were the driving forces that led you to found Women In Trucking in 2007?
A: In 2006, I was hired by Schneider National to work in the area of retention, and more importantly, to better understand how to attract and retain demographics that were under-represented in the driver population. That led to my research on why women were such a minority among professional drivers. Once I started exploring the reasons women enter the industry and why they leave a carrier or a career, I realized we had a long way to go to accommodate their needs. At the time, most companies claimed they didn’t target drivers by age, gender, or ethnicity, but my response was that they didn’t understand them either.
That is changing, and once we started benchmarking female drivers and exploring best practices, the industry has responded by targeting women in a more aggressive manner. We’ve moved from about 3% to over 10% (female drivers) in the last decade, but we still have a long way to go.
Q: How do you view the role of WIT in the industry today? How has the organization evolved?
A: WIT has evolved to be viewed as a credible resource. It takes time to establish a new organization as being the data leader, but we’ve worked hard to ensure that we have accurate and pertinent information the industry needs. For example, we have a recruiting and retention guide, an anti-harassment guide, and best-practices research that we offer our corporate members. We have an annual conference that has grown beyond my expectations, with over 1,100 registered attendees last year, which was our fifth event. We’ve also expanded our geographic reach and have over 5,200 members in 10 countries!
Q: How has the industry’s attitude toward women drivers—women in all business roles, really—changed?
A: The industry is finally recognizing the value women bring as drivers, technicians, managers, and directors. Instead of being gender blind, more companies are looking at the need for diversity because they appreciate the perspectives and leadership styles women bring to the table. Companies are actually celebrating their female drivers, leaders, and others, and asking for feedback on how to bring more women into the industry. I’m seeing a lot more events devoted to female drivers as well as initiatives at the corporate level to empower female executives.
Q: What advice would you give to young people, especially women, looking to start a career in logistics and transportation?
A: My advice for women who enter a transportation career is to be genuine and inquisitive. Don’t pretend to know things or understand something if you don’t. It’s OK to ask questions. Find a mentor—male or female—and learn to avoid the mistakes he or she made and leverage their expertise to expand your network. Be a sponge and soak up everything you can find to enhance your career. Once you have established yourself, the opportunities are limitless.
Q: What would you say are some of the most important contributions made by the logistics industry and the broader supply chain? Has this changed in light of the global economic challenges we face in 2020?
A: In light of the challenges we are facing now, the average citizen is finally recognizing the importance of the supply chain. In the past, people would tell me they didn’t really understand the industry, and now they are learning how a truck and a driver make all the difference in whether their family has enough food, toilet paper, and sanitation supplies. We’ve always said that without trucks, the world stops, but now people have seen firsthand the empty shelves and how our professional drivers are making sure they have the items they need. My own hope is that this appreciation continues in the coming years.
