DC Velocity - July 2017

www.dcvelocity.com JULY 2017 DC VELOCITY 45
side, and then I got my current opportunity while I was
still leading operations on the manufacturing side.
Q What drew you to logistics?

A I like problem solving. I like the complexity. I like the competitive nature of it. I like the fact that it is very easy to measure your performance, whether it’s from a customer-experience standpoint or an efficiency standpoint. All of that was attractive to me. It was something different after having done manufacturing for so long.

Q Were a lot of foundational skills from your manu- facturing days transferable? A Yes, absolutely. There is so much more to what we do than you would traditionally think of in terms of logistics and supply chain. Whether you’re on the management side, the operational side, or the technical side, you’ll find yourself doing a lot of industrial engi-neering-type activities. Even if you’re not necessarily an engineer, you will find yourself embedded in that. So yes, the foundation from an engineering perspective was critical.

Q A lot has changed since you entered the business, not the least of which are rising customer expec-
tations. What do you see as the biggest logistics-related
challenges in meeting those continuously escalating
expectations?

A The challenge at least in the world we live in today is that our customers’ demands only get more complex and they get more customized in a world where you are competing on cost and efficiency. Customization is often the enemy in terms of achieving those types of goals, but at the same time, that is how you add value. So what comes into play is the requirement to implement both an organization and an operation that can be competitive, agile, and fast yet still meet the client’s customization requirements and value-added requirements because we don’t just take a box off the shelf and ship it to somebody.