40 DC VELOCITY JULY 2018 www.dcvelocity.com
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Chris Norek considers himself blessed when it comes to his education in
logistics and supply chain. With degrees
from three of the top supply chain
schools—Penn State University (B.S.),
the University of Tennessee (M.B.A.),
and The Ohio State University (Ph.D.),
he has benefited from the tutelage of
some of the most prominent academics
in the field. When you learn the craft
from the likes of Dr. C. John Langley at the University
of Tennessee and the late Dr. Bud La Londe at Ohio
State, you end up well prepared for success in virtually
any facet of the profession.
Norek has put that background to use on a number of
fronts. On the academic side, he has taught at Auburn
University in Alabama, the University of Tennessee,
and Penn State, where he is currently an affiliated
faculty member. He is also a prominent consultant. Norek today serves as senior partner of Chain
Connectors Inc., an Atlanta-based supply chain consulting and software implementation firm he founded in 2001. Prior to founding Chain Connectors,
he worked for Cleveland Consulting Associates and
Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), consulting with
a number of high-profile clients, including Lowe’s, SAP,
and Cingular Wireless.
During his 25-plus-year supply chain career, Norek
has also made a point of giving back to the profession.
In addition to writing articles for leading journals
like CSCMP’s Supply Chain Quarterly, International
Journal of Logistics Management, and Journal of Business
Logistics, he has been active in a number of professional
organizations. He is a past chairman of NASSTRAC and
has served the Council of Supply Chain Management
Professionals (CSCMP) at both the national and local
levels.
Q What drew you to the logistics field?
A I took an “introduction to business logistics” course at Penn State with Dr. John Coyle. His
enthusiasm for the field rubbed off on me, and he was
a great mentor while I was getting my undergraduate
degree. Also, my brother suggested I switch my major
from accounting since he had recently graduated with
an accounting degree from Penn State. He said, “It’s too
late for me but not too late for you, get out of accounting!” I’ve never regretted my choice of logistics and
supply chain management as a career field and to this
day appreciate the advice Dr. Coyle gave me in terms of
my career.
Q What has been the biggest change or advancement you’ve seen during
your 25-plus years in the industry?
A The use of data analysis to identify opportunities in companies’ supply
chains along with the drastic improvements in computing power. I always say
to use data to take emotion out of arguments and to make your case. I don’t
necessarily mean “big data” or predictive
analytics, but rather some of the tried-and-true analytical methods, which can be as simple as ABC analysis. It
is so much easier to do analysis now either in Excel or
other programs than it was when I started. Computing
power now allows tools like network optimization
[software] to be run quickly on personal computers
rather than mainframes.
On a very different note, from a procurement perspective, we now need to employ multiple suppliers
for each material or component to reduce risk. The old
idea of working closely with one key supplier to create
a tight partnership and leverage volume doesn’t work
anymore. Risk mitigation or supply continuity planning
is now an enormous part of supply chain management.
You need two to three suppliers of each material or
component to mitigate risk.
Q What’s on your short list of the biggest challenges facing logistics professionals today?
A The shortage of supply chain talent with respect to both industry practitioners and the faculty needed
to teach supply chain management; the current transportation capacity crunch; and how to best employ
analytical techniques to create information from data.
Q You’ve been a very active member of several indus- try organizations. Why is that important to you?
A Three main reasons—to continue to learn, to net- work, and to give back to the profession.
Q What advice would you give someone just entering the profession?
A First, I would congratulate them for choosing the supply chain field. The future opportunities are
tremendous—the field is growing in total and also in
the eyes of CEOs. In addition, more and more supply
chain folks are becoming CEOs due to the broad training supply chain provides. I would suggest those new to
the field get exposed to as many areas of supply chain
as possible (procurement, inventory control, warehousing, transportation) even if they don’t seem too exciting
at the beginning. Also, they should get involved early in
professional associations like NASSTRAC and CSCMP.
Chris Norek
