At the 2022 edition of the North American Supply Chain Executive Summit series we spoke with Ed Elsbury, a Partner with Reveal USA, on how supply chain leaders are leveraging their technology and their data to empower their people to cut through the noise and make informed decisions that improve service levels. Navigating an evolving business landscape after a period of crisis and in a 'new normal' of frequent disruption can make new tools an attractive panacea, but Ed maintains as much and more can be achieved by getting the most out of the existing systems, processes, and teams already working the problem. How should supply chain executives optimize their existing organization? Give this interview a listen to learn more.

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Reveal USA: As supply chain experts we use vast experience and proven methods educating and empowering organizations to use powerful capabilities already built in SAP. We help organizations harness SAP to improve service levels, increase profitability, optimize inventory, and drive operational efficiencies. Ultimately, enabling supply chains to utilize their SAP platform for digital innovation and industry leadership.

The result; no spreadsheets, only organizations running world-class supply chains delivering improved performance. Typical outcomes include service level increases of 20%, improved operating costs by 10%, reduced working capital tied up in inventory by 15% and increased data integrity.

revealvalue.com

Bill Good will be presenting a case study at the North American Manufacturing Excellence Summit next month in Fort Worth, Texas, but first he shares some of what he wants to talk about with The bluEPrint!

In this wide-ranging interview, we talk about several new programs and approaches GE Appliances has found success with in its Talent and Workforce Development efforts as businesses everywhere adapt to the still being defined 'New Normal of Work.' We explore how Lean thinking —which has always been one of the company's great strengths— has allowed GE Appliances to continue to grow and continuously improve before, during, and after the pandemic. We discuss agility and resiliency in a still turbulent business landscape, as well as the future of manufacturing in the United States with a special emphasis on some of the career paths and leadership opportunities now available to a wide range of people from all walks of life. The whole interview is underpinned by how the culture at GE Appliances and identity as a company founded by a great inventor continues to inspire a culture that believes in innovation and a can-do attitude. Give this episode a listen!

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Bill Good began his career in manufacturing on an assembly line while working his way through college. His experience sparked his passion and interest in manufacturing as a career, and he set a goal to one day lead manufacturing for a large U.S. company. Over the course of Bill’s 35-year career, he has honed his knowledge of supply chain management through his various roles of increasing responsibility at Tri-Glass, Charbroil, Whirlpool, and now in his dream job as the Vice President of Manufacturing at GE Appliances, a Haier company.

Bill holds a BS in Operations Management from Auburn University and an MBA and a MS in Human Resources from Troy State University.

Bill is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt, with expertise in Theory of Constraints, HOSHIN Planning, and the Toyota Production System. He places a high value on employee engagement, building relationships, and leading transformational change.

Currently, Bill and his team are focusing on expanding plant capacity, increasing automation in the supply chain, and implementing new digital tools to create a Zero Distance approach with consumers.

At North American Food Safety & Quality 2022 in Chicago, we spoke with Giannis Stoitsis, a Partner & CTO of Agroknow, about what Artificial Intelligence can offer FSQ professionals.

Emerging risks are becoming more frequent,  which reduces consumers’ trust in the food supply chain. Predictive analytics using AI drawing on Big Data gathered throughout the value chain offers the food industry a powerful tool to become proactive in identifying and mitigating issues before they make it to the customer. In this interview we talk about how FSQ can get up to speed with these new tools and capabilities quickly to transform their existing strategies around Risk by leveraging the power of Artificial Intelligence.

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Giannis Stoitsis is a business partner and the CTO of Agroknow, the data & analytics company that uses AI to predict risks & prevent food recalls. He is the creator of FOODAKAI (https://agroknow.com/foodakai/), the food risk prediction platform that has been described as “The Ferrari of food risk intelligence solutions” and is being used by global food manufacturers like the Coca-Cola Company, Conagra Brands, the Yili Group and Unilever. Giannis is an Electronics & Computer Engineer that holds an MSc and a PhD on Biomedical Informatics. During the past 15 years, he has led the design, development, and deployment of prestigious data platforms for organizations such as the Michigan State University and FAO of the UN. He is frequently speaking about the application of AI & predictive analytics in food risk prevention and has created the video series “Explaining Food Safety Predictions for Busy People.”

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Agroknow is the data & analytics company that uses AI to predict risks & prevent food recalls.

We offer FOODAKAI, a cloud-based risk intelligence platform that helps safety, quality and supplier assurance teams in food manufacturers, retailers, and food service chains.

We’re global experts in food supply chain data & analytics, helping people make better decisions with food & agriculture data and we have been working with prestigious international food companies and world-class academic institutions since 2008.

Find out more about us here: www.agroknow.com

Bart Talloen will deliver a keynote address at the North American Manufacturing Excellence Summit next month in Fort Worth, Texas, but first he gave an extended interview to The bluEPrint!

In this wide-ranging conversation we talk about understanding the customer to build supply chain strategies that keep businesses innovating and building competitive advantage. We highlighted the power of partnerships and viewing the supply chain network as an ecosystem. We also explore people as the difference makers on an individual, team, and organizational basis. How do we stay goal oriented to achieve great things in difficult times? What does agility and resiliency mean in real terms, and how do organizations as large as Johnson & Johnson coordinate, collaborate, and communicate so effectively? What should future leaders be doing to prepare themselves for the careers they have in front of them? What should current senior executives be learning and working on to remain at the forefront of what they do in the years ahead? All this and more is discussed in this episode. Give it a listen!

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Bart Talloen has a lot of drive, energy and passion for excellence in all he does. He thrives on big challenges and stretch targets.

He is workout & pushup fanatic, is a fan of running & cycling.

As an executive supply chain leader for 30 years, Bart has a proven track record of success across several key SC functions such as Planning, Engineering, Manufacturing Operations, and General E2E Supply Chain Mgt. in Asia, Europe, North America.

During his career in pharma, OTC, consumer goods, Bart has managed large supply networks, has acquired/divested operations, built new plants/closure of plants. He has successfully executed a Consent Decree & re-certified plants by FDA and lead major large scale strategic programs.
Bart is a leader focused on:

• Coaching & develop talent to reach their highest potential
• Putting the needs of J&J’s customers & employees first
• Leverage collaborations and learnings from others

Bart’s peers describe him as: “a dynamic leader with vision, can mobilise & guide others through transformations, and is result oriented, confident & resilient.”

In his current role as the Vice President Strategy, Innovation & Deployment (and member of the J&J Supply Chain Leadership Team), Bart is responsible to develop & deploy J&J SC strategy across J&J businesses, through:

1. Activate leading edge customer strategic & innovation insights & foresight to fuel the SC strategy & turn in competitive advantage.
2. Leverage ext. eco-systems to develop new & innovative SC capabilities, driving growth and differentiating customer outcome.
3. Drive E2E SC orchestration by leveraging advanced planning cap & evolving J&J operating system.
4. Develop & deploy culture, train / learning & leadership programs.
5. Provide centralized capabilities / services for J&J SC eg. SCRM, Strat Partnership Mgt,OT systems

Bart has a broad network across industry, consortia, academia, ext thought groups eg. WEF, Gartner. He is a speaker in mfg., supply chain, innovation etc. conferences

He and his wife live in Skillman, New Jersey USA, and have two grown up sons.

Victoria Pasquale is the SVP of Human Resources of Pritchard Industries a commercial cleaning and janitorial services company with 18,000 employees in 30 states. She hosted a roundtable lunch and learn roundtable discussion on, "Navigating Cost Controls in the World of Private Equity" at the 2022 edition of the North American HR Executive Summit this past December in Orlando. Afterwards she sat down with us to share what the people around her table discussed.

Companies owned and backed by private equity are not known for being spendthrifts when it comes to the HR function. How should Human Resources do more with less, and find economic ways to do what needs doing with limited resources? How does recruiting work without a lot of funding? How do you build and support DEI when that is not typically included in a portfolio budget? What are some of the ways talent attraction, development, and retention work a little differently in a company built upon private equity? All this and more are discussed in this interview.

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Victoria Pasquale is a Certified Senior Professional in Human Resources who leads the HR and Talent Acquisition teams for Pritchard Industries.  Victoria has over 17 years’ experience in both Human Resources and Field Operations, focusing on development of the team and strategic planning for the corporation.  Over the years, her key successes are shown through her future planning and performance development of teams.

Victoria spent two years as the Regional Vice President for Aramark foods, where she was responsible for all operations and Human Resources in the Northeast territory.  Before Aramark, she spent 15 years at Target stores, in both field operations and field Human Resources.

Mrs. Pasquale earned her Master of Science in Legal Studies, from Cornell University, an MBA, with a concentration in Human Resource Ethics, from Bellevue University and her Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Johnson & Wales University.

At the 2022 edition of the Biomanufacturing World Summit series held November 13th to 15th in San Diego, we spoke with Jack Garvey, the CEO of Compliance Architects. Jack is a long-time supporter of Executive Platforms' pharmaceutical manufacturing series who has co-chaired many of our events on content related to Quality and Risk, and in this interview we discussed how CMC maturity connects to the speed to market of commercialization for both early-stage medical companies and larger biopharmaceutical manufacturers, options for addressing the ongoing workforce and talent crunch, as well as comparing and contrasting the challenges and opportunities facing companies of different sizes throughout the industry.

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Jack Garvey is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Compliance Architects, a leading consulting and advisory firm specializing in innovative quality and compliance solutions for FDA-regulated manufacturers. Jack possesses over 30 years of hands-on technical, operational, quality, regulatory and legal experience at top-performing life science companies including Johnson & Johnson, C.R. Bard, Ciba-Geigy, BASF Corporation and Ayerst Laboratories. As both a chemical engineer and practicing attorney, Jack possesses the legal, regulatory, quality and compliance expertise that allows him to excel at the complex interplay of science, law and business.

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Compliance Architects LLC delivers high-value compliance, quality, and regulatory consulting services to companies directly regulated by the U.S. FDA and other global regulatory authorities. With capabilities ranging from quality systems implementations to audits, inspection readiness, enforcement remediation, and outsourced compliance services, Compliance Architects LLC has the experience, expertise, and delivery capability to significantly improve your company’s business outcomes. Jack Garvey is CA’s founder and CEO, a chemical engineer and a practicing regulatory attorney, and has spent his entire career helping companies navigate the challenges at the intersections of science, engineering, business, and law.

www.compliancearchitects.com

Natalie Wilkinson will be doing a fireside chat at the North American Manufacturing Excellence Summit next month in Fort Worth, Texas, but first she shares some of what she wants to talk about with The bluEPrint!

In this interview we discuss some of the exciting transformations happening at Toyota today, especially in relation to Sustainability, electrified vehicles, and how technology continues to change the way manufacturers operate. All of this, of course, is happening within the Culture of Continuous Improvement that is synonymous with the Toyota Production System. For everyone interested in what's new and what's next for one of the world's largest and most successful manufacturers, give this episode a listen!

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Natalie Wilkinson is the Vice President Manufacturing Production Innovation Center (MPIC) and dual capped as General Manager of Strategic Business Management and Production Support Center for Toyota North America.  A graduate of Oakland City University with a Bachelor’s in Marketing, Natalie began in 2001 at Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Indiana.  She worked through different aspects of Production Control including parts ordering, logistics, packaging, supplier development and new model management before she moved to the manufacturing floor as the Sr. Manager of Body Weld Conveyance and then continuing to become the Sr. Manager of the East Body Weld production shop and body weld SOAR leader.  In 2017, she transferred from TMMI to TMNA to take on a newly developed position supporting the executive office in Plano and from there joined Corporate Strategy & Planning and then rotated back to Manufacturing SBM/NAPSC in 2020 and now into Production Engineering, June 2022.

During her time at Toyota, she has also started two main Business Partnering groups at TMMI, the Women’s Leadership Forum (WLF) and the African American Collaborative and led the development of Department Diversity Committees while being a member of the Diversity Advisory Council.  Also, an active participant in the regional WIIT group and supports the Annual Toyota Women’s conference.  Outside of Toyota, she has served as the Vice-Chair of the Girl Scouts of Southern Indiana Board of Directors where she has been a delegate at the National Council Meeting and became Chair of the Board in 2018.

In her spare time, Natalie and husband Greg enjoy attending the many functions of their two sons, Triston & Chase.   Triston is pursuing a career on the west coast as a personal trainer & Chase attends Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and plays football there.   Golf, sports, Steelers Football, musical events, and a large extended family keep them busy the rest of the time.

At the 2022 edition of the North American Supply Chain Executive Summit series held September 11-13 in Chicago, we spoke with Jeff Miller, a Solutions Architect with Board Americas, on how supply chain leaders can establish a foundation of communication, collaboration, and coordination upon which to build a modern supply chain organization that will stand the test of time. How should teams share information? How should leaders avoid being overwhelmed by data? How does having one source of truth upon which everyone can make informed decisions work, and what does it allow organizations to do that they could not do before? What does building a system like this look like in real terms?

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Jeff Miller spent more than 20 years in Finance and Operations before becoming a solutions architect to enable success for his customers. He has worked in large companies as a finance manager and in smaller companies wearing many hats (including finance manager, sales controller and sales operations roles).

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Board Americas is the Intelligent Planning Platform, that offers smarter planning, actionable insights and better outcomes for more than 2,000 companies worldwide.

Board Intelligent Planning enables end-to-end visibility of supply chain resources and assets, allowing organizations to balance demand with supply and assess resilience, responsiveness, and profitability of plans before, during, and after every operational decision. Intelligent Planning accelerates continuous improvement across all departments and facilitates alignment through responsive S&OP, helping organizations to assess dynamic scenarios at speed, improve product performance, and enforce better control over inventory.​

www.board.com/en

At the 2023 edition of the North American Sustainability & Responsibility Summit series held January 31st through February 1st in Austin, Texas,  we spoke with Suzanne Long, the Chief Sustainability and Transformation Officer of Albertsons Companies, about how her organization plans to eliminate food waste going to landfills by 2030, as well as the power of "Systems Thinking" to make the big things possible and make lasting impacts on how organizations think and act when it comes to ESG. Suzanne also offers insights into how Sustainability professionals engage and collaborate both among themselves and with other partners to drive shared success. Give this one a listen!

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Albertsons Companies is one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States, with over 2,200 stores in 34 states and the District of Columbia. Our well-known banners include Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen, Carrs, Kings Food Markets, and Balducci's Food Lovers Market. We support our stores with 22 distribution centers and 19 manufacturing plants.

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Suzanne Long began her career at Accenture leading process improvement, change management, and IT integration projects for Fortune 100 companies.  She joined Albertsons in 2001, and in 2003 was asked to develop and lead the company’s Lean Six Sigma program – this first of its kind in the food and drug industry. In 2008 she left Albertsons (then SuperValu) to become the Retail Practice Leader for SSA & Company, a New York-based consulting firm, directing and overseeing engagements with clients such as Kroger, Harris Teeter, Staples and Office Depot.

Suzanne joined Albertsons Companies in 2012, and over the following 6 years led the integrations of SuperValu, Safeway, A&P, United and Haggen, including the conversion of all corporate functions, ~1000 stores, 10 distribution centers, and 13 division offices as Group Vice President of Business Improvement.  In 2017 she was additionally given the assignment of delivering $500M in cost savings over a three-year timeframe. Suzanne became Group Vice President, Strategic Sourcing in January of 2020, where she was responsible for optimizing ~$13B in annual spend (~$6B of opex, ~$1B of capex, and ~$6B of direct Own Brands goods) to deliver $300M+ in savings over three years. That same year she was also asked to lead the development of the company’s ESG strategy and capabilities. She currently serves as Chief Sustainability and Transformation Officer, responsible for driving both the company’s ESG strategy and the numerous enterprise-wide large scale change initiatives.

Suzanne graduated with honors from Duke University with majors in both History and Art History and a minor in Women’s Studies.  She serves on two nonprofit boards, is the chair of Duke’s Career and Professional Development Committee for its Northwest Alumni chapter, and is a member of the EDGE Advisory Council at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business.

At North American Food Safety & Quality 2022 held September 27th and 28th in Chicago, we spoke with Angela Nardone, the Chief Operating Officer of Share-ify. How should FSQ teams leverage technology to better understand their products as it moves along the value chain from supplier to consumer? What is possible when the front-line workers have access to the information and instructions they need at all times, and when the data they collect is communicated up and down the network to allow true visibility, traceability, agility, and resiliency into supply chains that have never functioned that way before? This is an exciting time for the Food industry, and Angela Nardone is one of the leaders putting a new generation of tools, technologies, and capabilities in the hands of Food Safety, Food Quality, and Food Compliance professionals to allow them to do what they do even better. This interview is well worth a listen!

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Angela Nardone is the Chief Operating Officer for Share-ify and oversees product management for all Share-ify solutions.

Angela brings over 20 years of experience in strategy, business development, market development and innovation. Angela began her career as an investment banking analyst for Larrabee Ventures evaluating systems, hardware, and software technologies as an industry expert in security applications. This included such technologies as RFID and application and industry standards such as GS1.

In 2008, Angela purchased the company that later became Share-ify. When arriving, the company had a focus solely in the produce industry. Now nearly 15 years later, Share-ify is in 59 countries and has customers in the retail, foodservice, distribution, food processing, manufacturing, and packaging industries.

Since 2008, Angela was named ‘Top 20 Women in the Industry’ by The Packer and “Top 40 Under 40’ by Produce Business Magazine and many other industry awards for company performance. Under her leadership, the company was also the winner for IBM’s prestigious Beacon Award for Midmarket technology company.

Angela has served on numerous industry boards and committees including the Board of the International Fresh Produce Association (IAFP) and the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) Council. She currently serves on the Audit and Finance committees for the Conference for Food Protection. She is also a member of the IEEE.

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Share-ify offers cloud-based, enterprise services to companies around the world. Share-ify’s all-in-one modular platform provides a broad range of solutions including product inspections, audits, specifications, document management, supplier approval, ESG, product recalls, workflows, supplier management, contact relationship management, foreign supplier verification (FSVP), HACCP plans and product lifecycle management (PLM). www.share-ify.com