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growth plans, our customers’ expectations, and our cost
pressures. We include them as part of our staff meetings
and truly operate as though they were an extension of our
organization.
QTurning to your own DCs, are you having difficulty finding the labor and talent you need, and if so, how
are you addressing that?
AIt can be challenging to find good, qualified people, especially for the more technical roles in some of our
rural locations. We are constantly in search of the next
great way to attract, retain, and develop talented people.
We have found that our teams are most effective when
we create the right work environment for them and provide the right tools to succeed. This includes giving teams
the freedom to own their work and results by promoting
independent decision-making and eliminating bureaucracy, as well as ensuring that they are both accountable
for their results and recognized for their contributions.
We also put a lot of emphasis on modernizing our processes, including investing in the right technology to help
bring it all together.
QYou provided a nice segue into another topic I want- ed to touch on with you, which is technology. What
are some of the technologies you’re using to manage your
DC and fulfillment operations?
AI think we have a great track record at Conagra of leveraging technology to stay competitive in today’s
world. We use a suite of best-of-breed technology solutions to manage our supply chain operations. And we
are constantly looking for new opportunities we can take
advantage of, whether it’s cloud computing, artificial
intelligence, or predictive analytics solutions.
QAre there some technologies on the horizon that you think hold a lot of promise for your operations?
AYes, one example would be technologies like sensors that have the potential to provide true end-to-end
visibility across the supply chain—visibility that in the
past was sometimes hard to get.
Another area is automation—distribution center automation not just for e-commerce operations but also for
facilities that are still shipping a combination of traditional truckloads, full pallet loads, and e-commerce
orders. We are looking to take advantage of that both
internally and with our third parties.
QLet’s talk about the future. If you were to come to work tomorrow and it was Q4 2029 rather than 2019,
what would look different to you?
AThe future of how food will be purchased and deliv- ered will be very different, and as a result, I think
that the forward-thinking nature of our operations
will be very different. We will be focused on more predictive analytics of events that will occur months in the
future—largely because we’ll have access to cross-functional operations data that will enable us to foresee
potential constraints and obstacles, and then respond to
them.
The folks doing that will work across a broader swath
of the supply chain. As the lines between transportation
planning, inventory planning, and warehouse planning
begin to blur, I think we will have fewer people in functional roles and more in cross-functional roles who will
have a better understanding of the implications of their
decisions.
QWhat should supply chain organizations be doing now to prepare for the future you just described?
AGet the right people, with the right skills, and with the right structure, and then make the right investments in processes and technology to meet the goals of
the company and its customers. Structurally, work to
merge supply chain disciplines with analytic disciplines.
Recruit people who not only have good operations skills
and want to work with the products but also bring that
analytical skill set. When you bring the operational and
the analytic together, I think that is where you have your
future supply chain.
