QIn general, what’s the biggest challenge facing supply chain professionals today?
A Attracting, developing, and retaining the best talent possible. Clearly, the field has much great talent.
However, our expectations are rising. Supply chains are
increasingly global and complex, and ever more essential to
the success of the overall business. We need supply chain
professionals who are not only experts in their specialty, but
who know how to think like a general manager and how to
be effective in a global environment. These demands place
greater emphasis than ever before on the ability to communicate compellingly and influence change in an organization, and at all levels of an organization, from the boardroom to the warehouse floor.
QWhat advice would you give to a young person considering a career in logistics or supply chain
management?
A The best professional advice I ever got was from my boss at RAND as I was leaving to go work at Disney.
He said: “As you are doing your job, aim to solve the problems of your boss’s boss.” In other words, don’t simply do
the tasks at hand but strive to understand how your role fits
into the greater objectives of your group or company. If you
can do your job in a way that clearly and creatively contributes to the overall mission of the company, you will be
more effective, gain the attention of senior leadership, and
make your boss look good.
For a young supply chain professional, that means thinking like a general manager. If you were the boss of your
company, what would you be concerned about? Enhancing
your company’s brand and the reputation. Growing your
business profitably. Using your company’s assets wisely.
Attracting and retaining great talent. As a young professional, seek out professional opportunities that will allow
you to develop your abilities in these areas.
Tony Davis
IN JUNE 2009, TONY DAVIS JOINED
Academy Sports + Outdoors, where he
serves as senior vice president of distribution and logistics. In that role, he oversees
the retailer’s distribution centers, domestic
and international logistics, and customs
compliance as well as the chain’s relatively
young e-commerce fulfillment operations.
The company operates DCs in Texas and
Georgia to stock its 140-plus retail stores.
Davis’s experience includes stints as vice president of
logistics for Circuit City and vice president of transportation for Dollar General. He also spent 14 years in various
logistics roles for Service Merchandise.
Davis is a graduate of the University of Tennessee,
Knoxville, where he majored in logistics. He has been active
in the Retail Industry Leaders Association, where he has
served as vice chairman of its Logistics Conference steering
committee. He is also a member of the Advisory Council of
Executive Shippers for the Port of Houston Authority.
QYou recently oversaw the launch of Academy Sports + Outdoors’ first e-commerce fulfillment operation.
What did it take to accomplish that, and how does it fit in
with your traditional store-centered distribution activities?
A The launch of academy.com as an e-commerce shop- ping destination required a significant effort on the
part of many Academy team members. We took 100,000
square feet out of an existing distribution facility and dedi-
cated that space to e-commerce fulfillment. We also had to
integrate multiple systems to run that entire division. Most
important was developing a team of professionals that
could help us build, launch, and then run
that business.
QHow has that initiative gone?
A We just launched in June of last year. We’re very pleased. We are learning
something every day about that side of the
business and how we can use that vehicle to
sell product, educate customers, and also
entice them to come into our stores.
QYou’ve spent your entire career in logistics. What drew you to the field?
A I stumbled into logistics as a student at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. I became interested in a co-op job where you could work for a quarter and go to school
for a quarter. I learned that a business degree in logistics
opened up more job opportunities than most business
majors. So I became a logistics major. Little did I know that
Tennessee had one of the most recognized logistics programs in the United States. I was just very fortunate that I
chose that path.
QTell me a little bit about developing talent in your organization.
A At Academy Sports + Outdoors, we have a great blend of people—some with a long tenure and deep experience at our company and who understand our culture, and
some who come from other backgrounds and have different
experiences in supply chain. Those complement each other
quite nicely. I’m a big believer in remembering where you
