inperson
Scott Watts is executive vice president, North America, and CEO, Americas, at Dematic,
an international provider of material handling systems and solutions and part of the Kion
Group. Watts has had success in building and managing technical service businesses in
several industries, including a previous stint as president and COO of Celerity Logistics.
He recently spoke with DC VELOCITY Editorial Director David Maloney.
Scott Watts of
Dematic
pace, and I wanted to make sure the change we
drive at our company is truly customer-cen-tered, purposeful, fact-driven, and effective.
The temptation to flutter from change to
change in search of an answer is difficult to
resist in an environment where there are
more questions than answers. Having been
around practitioners of Lean/Six Sigma in the
past, I believed theirs is a great method for
clarifying our change focus and for translating
our objectives into concrete and controlled
actions. My decision to study this field was
based solely on my desire to understand the
concepts more deeply and to understand the
language of Lean better, so I could provide
effective support to those people in our company who are true practitioners of Lean/Six
Sigma. It has been valuable.
Q: DEMATIC IS A COMPANY THAT HAS ADDED
MANY DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS, AND TECHNICIANS
AS IT HAS GROWN OVER THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS.
FINDING GOOD PEOPLE IS ALWAYS DIFFICULT.
WHAT DOES DEMATIC DO TO ATTRACT TALENT?
A: We are doing a number of things to bring
more and more people in our doors, including
hiring into our regional offices and recruiting
from a more diverse base of trade schools
and universities, but keeping people is the
far more important piece for us than is the
initial recruitment. Ultimately, we believe we
will attract and retain the best by being the
best. We work hard to create an environment
where our team members can contribute, create, innovate, collaborate, and succeed for our
customers.
Q: SCOTT, IN YOUR ROLE AS AN EXECUTIVE WITH A LARGE MATERIAL HANDLING COMPANY, WHERE DO YOU SEE
THIS MARKET HEADING IN 2019?
A: There are many differing opinions
on that topic, but everyone agrees
that wherever it is going, it is trying
to get there fast. We see plenty of
cause for continued strength in MHE
[material handling equipment] as
our customers place their omnichannel bets, but we live in interesting
times and things can pivot quickly.
We are strengthening relationships across our entire supply chain in
order to quickly respond to changes in our market.
Q: YOU’VE HAD EXPERIENCE WITH A NUMBER OF FIRMS IN YOUR CAREER,
INCLUDING FOOD MANUFACTURING, TECHNICAL SERVICES, AUTOMOTIVE, AND
TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANIES. HOW HAS THAT BACKGROUND SERVED
YOU IN YOUR CURRENT LEADERSHIP ROLE?
A: It has taught me to be comfortable with uncertainty, and regardless
of the impression we might try to give about how much we have things
under control, a significant amount of our roles as leaders is to engage
with the uncertainties faced by our teams and organizations. My varied
experience has also taught me the value of relying on my team as co-part-ners in the leadership of the organization. I value the contextual knowledge I have gained from different companies in different industries, but
I rely heavily on the domain knowledge of the professionals I work with
in my team who have built their careers in this industry. We have a great
group of leaders in our organization who are driven to do more and better things for our customers.
Q: YOU ARE PROBABLY ONE OF THE FEW MATERIAL HANDLING SENIOR EXECUTIVES TO HOLD A BLACK BELT IN SIX SIGMA. WHY DID YOU FEEL THAT CERTIFICATION WAS IMPORTANT TO YOUR WORK WITHIN THE INDUSTRY?
A: Change is happening in our industry and our business at a lightning
In the first of our series of
discussions with top supply
chain company executives,
Scott Watts of Dematic
shares his views on the
industry, experience and
leadership, and the
ongoing search for talent.
