DC Velocity - October 2019

Gartner’s annual “Supply Chain Top 25” list.

Wengel believes the initiative’s success lies in the diverse and global supply chain teams the company has spent years building. Johnson & Johnson is committed not only to bringing people with diverse experiences and perspectives onto its teams but also to broadening those team members’ perspectives by moving them through varied roles around the globe.

Wengel herself is an example of this. During her 31-year career at J&J, she has served in a variety of positions in a variety of places, including manager of manufacturing engineering at a J&J site in Puerto Rico and general manager of one of J&J’s largest production facilities in Italy. She has also served as vice president of quality and compliance for the company’s Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) and Asia Pacific regions and as the corporation’s first chief quality officer.

In addition to her day-to-day activities, Wengel has made time to give back to the profession. She is active in many industry organizations, including the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), the global standards organization GS1 Global, the National Association of Manufacturers, and AWESOME (Achieving Women’s Excellence in Supply Chain Operations, Management, and Education).

In recognition of her service and leadership, CSCMP recently presented Wengel

with its Distinguished Service Award (DSA), which honors an individual for significant, consistent, and career-long contributions to the logistics and supply chain management disciplines. She recently talked with DC VELOCITY Editor at Large Susan Lacefield about her career path and her vision for the profession’s future.

QWhat do you see as the top challenges facing supply chain executives going into 2020, and how is Johnson & Johnson addressing those challenges?

A In my opinion, a top challenge for every supply chain executive is a question I ask myself every day: How
do we find the best talent to drive future innovations
for patients, and ultimately the growth of our company?
I spend more than a third of my time working on this
challenge: accelerating talent development, identifying the
most promising future leaders, establishing a culture of
self-direction and accountability, and ensuring we equip
our entire workforce with the skills and capabilities they
will need for the future.

From artificial intelligence (AI) to automation and the Internet of Things, the world of supply chain is quickly evolving as technology challenges us to think bigger and innovate faster. To deliver top-quality products to our patients, customers, and consumers, our Johnson & Johnson workforce needs to include the best and brightest minds. We must also continually expand our pool with respect to diversity and experience, searching for and developing talented people from all backgrounds who have the right blend of skills, curiosity, and passion that will continue to fuel our company’s innovation engine and maintain our position as a leader in the industry.

Q What is your proudest work-related achievement, and why?
AI’ll actually give you two. The first is the excellence with which we implemented our redesigned supply
chain model for J&J. Over the past decade, we have com-
pletely transformed the role of supply chain for our cor-
poration and, more importantly, for our customers. While
this journey never ends, I want to recognize our more than
50,000 supply chain associates for their fantastic work.
Second, and very much related to the first, would be
building more diverse global teams at every step of my
career. I’ve seen so many times how results are dramati-
cally improved when you put people with different expe-
riences, from different backgrounds, and with different
perspectives together and give them a problem to solve.

We are very proud of the external recognition we’ve received, including being ranked this year by Gartner as one of the Top 10 supply chains in the world across all industries and the top-ranked health-care company. And I’m extremely honored and humbled at being named the recipient of the 2019 Distinguished Service Award from CSCMP. Each of these recognitions is due to the strong, dynamic, and diverse teams we have that are tackling the complex challenges that come at us in health care each day.