Supply Chain Innovation by William Crane

Brian Diephuis, CEO at thyssenkrupp Materials North America, joins William to talk about leading the team to grow their supply chain services, the tremendous impact that inventory management has on the overall supply chain, how they help customers better manage inventory and materials flow, and how important organizational culture is to driving both internal and customer success.

Phil Ross, Director of Global Supply Chain Management at automotive OEM Flex-N-Gate, is joined by William on site in Warren, MI to share his knowledge and advice on supply chain best practices, including the deployment of Kata for continuous improvement, how and why his team uses Plan for Every Part (PFEP), personal traits to look for when building your supply chain team, and some vital tips for launching new products.

Wil Knibloe III, Principal at advisory services firm Crowe, LLP, joins William to discuss the topics of procurement and strategic sourcing, including what type of roles procurement and sourcing play in an organization, leadership methods that consistently maximize results, and which strategic sourcing metrics matter the most.

Alan Shevela, Global Director of Supply Chain at lightweighting solutions and components supplier Aludyne, links up with William to discuss the professional and supply chain skills that are "automation-proof," how to prepare your teams for future changes in strategy, and how having multiple facilities in different geographic regions and countries impacts the company's approach to supply chain and operations.

Samantha Huang, Principal at BMW i Ventures, joins William to share her venture capital perspective on investing in new supply chain innovations, highlighting two examples of optimization solutions developed by startups, her recommendations for companies with new products/technologies looking to move beyond the perpetual pilot cycle, and the factors her team considers when looking to invest in AI or ML applications.

Mark Whitten, President & CEO of Spartanburg Steel Products, joins William as the two dive deep into the significance of organizational culture, including where Mark gets his belief system and leadership style from, specific steps you can take to start leading change on Day 1, strategies to supercharge cultural change and to drive waste out of the supply chain, and why employee engagement has such a profound impact on the customer experience.

Jim Rock, CEO of autonomous material handling robot manufacturer Seegrid, joins William to talk about the process of helping craft and shape the company\'s core values, how the pandemic accentuated growth opportunities in the material handling and robotics markets, how their three-pronged product-service-software offering helps address the low supply of labor and safety concerns, and what the future trends look like for material handling and flow with autonomous robots.

Tony Milando, SVP & Chief Supply Chain Officer at global water technology provider Xylem, joins William to share how his background in finance and understanding financial metrics has helped him as a leader to drive business performance, the supply chain elements that have helped Xylem strengthen its market position, and where he sees the most opportunity for growth with new technologies and products across the manufacturing and industrial sector.

Mark Bruckman, North American CEO & Managing Director at industrial innovation firm Segula Technologies, joins William to chat about his leadership style and the necessity of being able to work with a variety of people and personalities, some of the unique challenges organizations face when bringing new mobility technologies to market, new product development and digitization macro trends' impacts on collaboration, and successful examples of Industry 4.0 implementation.

Jason Forcier, COO and EVP Infrastructure and Solutions BU at digital infrastructure provider Vertiv, joins William to discuss what data centers really are and where they fit in the telecommunications supply chain, how looking at traditional supply chain strategies in a new light with Lean and Onshoring improves working capital and shortens lead times, his experience and results practicing "Servant Leadership", and how the company is implementing Industry 4.0 into their manufacturing operations.

Ryan Yost, Vice President and General Manager of Printer Solutions at materials science company Avery Dennison, joins William to shed light on the value of giving unique identities to products and putting their "digital twins" in the cloud, how RFID technology increases a product's supply chain visibility, substantially raises inventory accuracy, and improves load optimization, and all of the ways RFIDs can reduce inefficiencies in your operations and processes.

Anoop Balachandran, Business Manager of Bosch Digital & Bosch Connected Industry (Americas) joins William to discuss several Industry 4.0 and IoT topics, including why it's important for machines to be self aware, how using information from connected devices can help eliminate waste from the end-to-end value chain, how capturing data from electronic signatures helps correct or remove improper or undesirable machine behavior/performance, and how digitizing all touchpoints and interactions downstream of partners and customers will maximize your supply chain benefits.

Hear what it's like to develop and launch an all-new electric vehicle as Carolyn and Jim Maury, CEO and President (respectively) of electric vehicle manufacturer Zero Electric Vehicles (ZEV), join William to share their experience building a company and designing a product with an "inclusive" business model, what supply chain and manufacturing practices they use to be able to compete with existing companies and OEMs in the EV space, and where they think the future of the EV 2.0 movement is headed.

Igino Cafiero, CEO of autonomous farming technology company Bear Flag Robotics, joins William to share his experience commercializing a connected ag-tech solution, along with his insights on how partnering with suppliers for low-volume prototype builds saved time and boosted prototype quality, why investing in their supply chain up front will allow them to scale more quickly, and how they plan to achieve their organizational goal to increase global food production while reducing the cost of growing food through autonomous technologies.

Frances Hogsten, VP of Global Supply Chain at furniture manufacturer Haworth, Joins William to discuss the evolution of supply chain and how purchasing has shifted from lowest-cost sourcing to considering the total cost of ownership, how to be creative to drive progress with negotiations when you don't have high-volume buying power, why their supply chain and manufacturing operations vary based on geographic markets, and how they partner with other specialists and suppliers to reuse or recycle materials and components to reduce their impact on the environment.

Gio Sordoni, COO of electric commercial truck startup Xos, talks with William about solving some of the pain points surrounding low-cost fleet sustainability for last-mile delivery, including the driving factors for designing a fully electric medium- and heavy-duty truck platform, their transition from service provider to manufacturer, what to consider when deciding between air-cooled and water-cooled battery systems, and the elements they incorporated to help optimize manufacturing and assembly processes.

CJ Rutten, Director of Supplier Quality & Development at off-road and recreational vehicle manufacturer Polaris, joins William to shed light on how supplier quality enables the company to reduce costs and risk across operations, why it's crucial to take the time to understand what your customers value, what positive effects working from home has had on his team's productivity and morale, and several lean and continuous improvements tips that have helped the organization meet its goals and keep their commitment to quality.

Randy Pappal, Vice President of Purchasing, Supply Chain and Business Development at Tier 1 automotive supplier Shape Corp, joins William to discuss how fostering an organizational culture supporting collaboration and partnering with OEMs/suppliers has benefited customer programs, how supplier performance data and transparency improve purchasing decisions, and why relationships with suppliers matter and are critical during times of crisis.

Eduardo Muñoz, CEO of EVShare and ArqBravo Group, joins William to discuss how the two companies implemented a mobility community in a remote region of South America, how blockchain technology aids transactions and smart contracts for customers and drivers, why partnerships and transparency will create the strongest supply chain for the the future of electric vehicles, and how "augmented efficiency" will make electric vehicles a key piece of infrastructure in future cities.

Engineering veteran Rob Willison, Ph.D., COO of last-mile delivery vehicle manufacturer Workhorse, talks all things electric vehicles with William and sheds light on some of the keys to growing successful long-term customer partnerships, how collaborating with suppliers can multiply innovation, and how to balance improving every day as an organization with creating that "next big thing".