DC Velocity - July 2019

26 DC VELOCITY JULY 2019 www.dcvelocity.com t h ou g ht l e ad er s

The book publishing industry has been rocked by a series of disruptions in recent years, from the shift to a digital marketplace to the displacement of printed volumes by e-reader editions.

The publishing conglomerate Penguin Random House (PRH) has survived the turmoil, thanks in part to the efforts of Annette Danek-Akey, the company’s senior vice president, supply chain. A lifelong reader, she says it has been a “joy” to help bookstores and fellow book lovers through her work.

Danek-Akey, who has a master’s degree in industrial engineering from Purdue University, started out in the publishing business as an industrial engineer before moving into supply chain management. Today, she manages the company’s distribution, transportation, customer service, and fulfillment systems, overseeing an operation that employs more than 1,700 people and ships an average of 1. 5 million books per day.

Colleagues say she will roll up her sleeves and confront any obstacle, displaying a willingness to contribute in any capacity that belies her senior position. They also describe her as equally comfortable interacting with top company executives as with hourly warehouse associates.

In addition to her day-to-day responsibilities, Danek-Akey is committed to giving back to the profession. In April, she was appointed president of the board of the Warehousing Education and Research Council (WERC), where she serves as a mentor to women working in the warehousing and logistics profession.

Q What drew you to the field of logistics?

A Utilizing my degree in industrial engineering, I found that logistics was the perfect intersection of people and process. I have a process-improvement mindset, and there is always something to improve.

Q What are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen during your career? A I’ve seen enormous change and evolution in WMS and TMS and ERP systems during my career. It used to be that you might have to adjust a process to fit a system, but today, if you can dream it, you can code it.

I’ve also seen more women enter the logistics field over the past few decades. I’ve had the pleasure of being mentored by some awesome women and have, in turn, convinced many young women that logistics is a great career choice.

Q What hasn’t changed?

A People remain the most import- ant asset a company has, and with advancements in technology, those people are truly working smarter, not harder. Also, peoples’ love of the written word and stories is extremely stable.

Q What are some of the truisms that should be forgotten? A One is that you can’t find good people these days. If a company says it is having trouble recruiting talent, it should evaluate its policies. Companies need to truly honor their employees and evaluate and update the benefits offered. In the 21st-century workplace, people need more than two weeks’ vacation.

PRH offers our employees four weeks’ vacation after two years of service. Proper paid time off, sabbaticals, health benefits, parental leave, and so forth … these programs help us maintain and motivate our loyal and dedicated work force.

Q What advice would you give someone just begin- ning a career in supply chain management? A I am a huge advocate of continuing to learn—par- ticularly in the supply chain field. You can’t end your education in our industry because the warehousing and logistics space is changing so fast. Make it a practice to learn one to two new subjects a year.

Q How is PRH dealing with the ongoing shortage of DC labor? A In logistics we like consistency, but we’ve found that offering flexible schedules is a great retention tool. By broadening our definition of the work week beyond the traditional 9 to 5 Monday through Friday, PRH has been able to offer our employees alternative work schedules that let them choose what works best for them.

Flexible schedules have allowed us to be more inclusive—as an example, our fulfillment work force is close to 60 percent female. The management teams can create on-demand flexible shifts through a work-force management app. We expected that this app would attract younger workers, but we’ve seen more interest from stay-at-home parents or people with full-time jobs who are looking for a flexible second, part-time job. Also, in continuing to offer the very best in healthcare programs and making it as affordable as possible for them, we’ve been able to retain our dedicated and loyal employees year over year.