Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

CSCMP EDGE 2020

Target exec talks transformation on day 2 of CSCMP EDGE 2020

Arthur Valdez Jr., executive vice president and chief supply chain and logistics officer for Target, discusses the retailer’s evolution from traditional to omnichannel business, focusing on authenticity, engagement, and problem solving.

Valdez, Blasgen onDay 2 CSCMP EDGE 2020

Day 2 of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals’ (CSCMP) EDGE 2020 conference opened with a one-on-one talk with Target executive Arthur Valdez Jr., covering the retailer’s transformation from a brick-and-mortar company with an e-commerce side business into a fully integrated omnichannel business leader. 

CSCMP President and CEO Rick Blasgen interviewed Valdez about Target’s efforts to transform local stores into fulfillment hubs designed to serve customers no matter how they want to purchase from Target, as well as the corporation’s focus on authenticity, engagement, and problem-solving, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. The wide-ranging interview also touched on Valdez’ background as the son of Mexican-American and Cuban parents and the first in his family to attend college, and how that experience continues to shape the way he approaches his work at Target and beyond. Valdez said he and his wife sponsor a scholarship for minority students at his alma mater, Colorado State University, and he described diversity and inclusion as one of his passions.


“My Hispanic Latinx roots are very important to me,” Valdez told Blasgen, emphasizing the value of inclusion programs within Target and in the broader business community. “Helping mentor others around [those issues] is important [as well].”

The half hour interview tied those themes to broader issues of supply chain transformation, transition, the “guest experience,” and the opportunities available to supply chain professionals as a result of a newfound focus on and appreciation of the discipline.

Valdez said Target team members have worked hard to transform the company and to keep it running successfully during the pandemic. He praised both the company’s in-person and remote team members and cited Target’s focus on authenticity and engagement as guiding principles during the shift. He said Target transformed from a traditional to a fully integrated  omnichannel retail format by focusing on four key areas: 

  • Inventory management—effectively, figuring out how to manage with one inventory for multiple buying experiences.

  • Transportation—particularly, focusing on the speed of its logistics operations.

  • Automation and robotics.

  • And operational excellence.

He also talked about the need to focus on employee health and well-being during the pandemic, likening the experience to managing people during the 9/11 tragedy in 2001. Staying in contact with team members and making sure they “were okay” was job one, he explained. He also cited three lessons he learned during 9/11 that serve as guiding principles for managing supply chains now: 

  • Control the situation, don’t let the situation control you.

  • Go as far upstream as you can to manage the business, looking for signals that may create supply chain problems.

  • Don’t relax your standards; he cautioned that supply chain operations must execute to the same or higher standards during times of crisis to keep things running smoothly.

Those issues tie directly to Target’s focus on the “guest experience.” Valdez put it this way: “We work from the guest backwards,” again emphasizing the retailer’s shift to using stores as a hub for the local experience, where customers can shop in person, via curbside pickup, or home delivery.

The interview ended with a nod toward the growing importance of the supply chain profession and a look at the opportunities ahead for industry professionals. The pandemic is shining a light on the vital role logistics and the supply chain play in daily life, Valdez said, and he predicted a greater need for supply chain skills at the highest corporate levels going forward.

“Many more CEOs will come from supply chain [and] logistics backgrounds,” he said, adding that professionals from across the discipline will “continue to rise to the top.”

The Latest

More Stories

autonomous tugger vehicle

Cyngn delivers autonomous tuggers to wheel maker COATS

Autonomous forklift maker Cyngn is deploying its DriveMod Tugger model at COATS Company, the largest full-line wheel service equipment manufacturer in North America, the companies said today.

The deal was announced the same week that California-based Cyngn said it had raised $33 million in funding through a stock sale.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

photo of self driving forklift
Lift Trucks, Personnel & Burden Carriers

Cyngn gains $33 million for its self-driving forklifts

Study: Industry workers bypass essential processes amid mounting stress

Study: Industry workers bypass essential processes amid mounting stress

Manufacturing and logistics workers are raising a red flag over workplace quality issues according to industry research released this week.

A comparative study of more than 4,000 workers from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia found that manufacturing and logistics workers say they have seen colleagues reduce the quality of their work and not follow processes in the workplace over the past year, with rates exceeding the overall average by 11% and 8%, respectively.

Keep ReadingShow less
photo of a cargo ship cruising

Project44 tallies supply chain impacts of a turbulent 2024

Following a year in which global logistics networks were buffeted by labor strikes, natural disasters, regional political violence, and economic turbulence, the supply chain visibility provider Project44 has compiled the impact of each of those events in a new study.

The “2024 Year in Review” report lists the various transportation delays, freight volume restrictions, and infrastructure repair costs of a long string of events. Those disruptions include labor strikes at Canadian ports and postal sites, the U.S. East and Gulf coast port strike; hurricanes Helene, Francine, and Milton; the Francis Scott key Bridge collapse in Baltimore Harbor; the CrowdStrike cyber attack; and Red Sea missile attacks on passing cargo ships.

Keep ReadingShow less
diagram of transportation modes

Shippeo gains $30 million backing for its transportation visibility platform

The French transportation visibility provider Shippeo today said it has raised $30 million in financial backing, saying the money will support its accelerated expansion across North America and APAC, while driving enhancements to its “Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platform” product.

The funding round was led by Woven Capital, Toyota’s growth fund, with participation from existing investors: Battery Ventures, Partech, NGP Capital, Bpifrance Digital Venture, LFX Venture Partners, Shift4Good and Yamaha Motor Ventures. With this round, Shippeo’s total funding exceeds $140 million.

Keep ReadingShow less
Cover image for the white paper, "The threat of resiliency and sustainability in global supply chain management: expectations for 2025."

CSCMP releases new white paper looking at potential supply chain impact of incoming Trump administration

Donald Trump has been clear that he plans to hit the ground running after his inauguration on January 20, launching ambitious plans that could have significant repercussions for global supply chains.

With a new white paper—"The threat of resiliency and sustainability in global supply chain management: Expectations for 2025”—the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) seeks to provide some guidance on what companies can expect for the first year of the second Trump Administration.

Keep ReadingShow less