The Future of Supply Chain podcast is a show hosted by Richard Howells, Sin To, and Oyku Ilgar. The trio discusses hot topics, best practices, and the latest innovations to deliver a risk-resilient and sustainable supply chain. The show features interviews with experts from the world of supply chain, sustainability, AI and automation, who will address the issues of today and tomorrow.
This is an ideal podcast for supply chain, R&D, manufacturing, logistics, and operations executives to learn and share ideas and best practices with their peers.
Episode 59: National Supply Chain Day 2024: Resilience, Technology, and Innovations with SAP’s Mindy Davis and David Vallejo
Apr 24, 2024
Show notes
April 29th is National Supply Chain Day in the United States and we thought of no better way to celebrate with two of SAP’s best – Mindy Davis and David Vallejo. On this week’s episode, we dive into the evolution of Supply Chain Management, a coined term since only 1982, covering how supply chains have adapted to disruptions, the role of SAP technology in building resilience, and the impact of geopolitical events, like elections, on global supply chains.
Come join us as we discuss the Future of Supply Chain.
Guest: Mindy Davis, SAP
Mindy Davis is Vice President of Global Marketing for SAP Digital Supply Chain. Mindy’s global marketing organization owns the marketing strategy of SAP’s supply chain solution portfolio, which encompasses cloud software for R&D/engineering, supply chain planning, manufacturing, logistics, and service & asset management. These solutions enable enterprises to become more intelligent and sustainable by developing new business models to avoid being disrupted, gaining efficiencies to fund innovation, and transforming mission-critical systems without business risk.
Mindy joined SAP in 2004, after establishing herself as a leader in product marketing in the software industry at both Siebel Systems and PeopleSoft. In her tenure at SAP, Mindy has held various roles in marketing, partner alliances, merchandising, and business development. Mindy is passionate about building world class teams to successfully launch exceptional products, and is a strategic thought leader and subject matter expert, possessing a depth and breadth of marketing and business knowledge to provide sound, innovative strategic leadership and initiatives while ensuring the preservation of and link between product, industry, field and marketing is maintained.
Mindy earned her B.S. in Marketing at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and later an MBA in Marketing from the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University.
Mindy was recently featured on the front cover of CIO Look Magazine in 2022 as one of the 10 most influential leaders in supply Chain. She hosted a very well received LinkedIn Live series for Women in Supply Chain and speaks regularly at events around the world, including SAP’s flagship customer event SAP Sapphire.
Guest: David Vallejo, SAP
David Vallejo is Vice President, Global Head of Digital Supply Chain Product Marketing. In his role, David is responsible for driving SAP’s product portfolio to the next level of innovation by setting strategy and direction for the future roadmap in close collaboration with SAP’s customers, Industry, and Product & Innovation teams.
Host: Richard Howells, SAP
Richard Howells has been working in the Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing space for over 30 years. He is responsible for driving the thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s ERP, Finance, and Supply Chain solutions and is an active writer, podcaster, and thought leader on the topics of supply chain, Industry 4.0, digitization, and sustainability.
Host: Nicole Smythe, SAP
Nicole Smythe is a marketer, blogger, and podcaster in the Digital Supply Chain and ERP space at SAP. With a Master’s degree in Global Supply Chain Management and various field experiences, she hopes to bring a fresh, new perspective to the space with her active marketing contributions, focusing on topics like market trends, emerging technology, and the next generation of workers.
Please give us a like, share, and subscribe to stay up-to-date on future episodes!
Episode 1: Ein Gespräch über Supply Chain Resilienz, Nachhaltigkeit, KI und die Hannover Messe mit Till Dengel von SAP (German Version)
Apr 18, 2024
Show notes
Die HMI 2024 steht unter dem Motto “Energizing a Sustainable Industry” und Lieferketten spielen eine Schlüsselrolle bei der Erreichung der Nachhaltigkeitsziele. In dieser deutschen Podcast-Folge sprechen wir mit Till Dengel über nachhaltige Lieferketten.
In Zukunft werden Lieferketten maßgeblich von Technologie geprägt sein. In den letzten Jahren haben sich innovative Technologien wie Künstliche Intelligenz, das Internet der Dinge, Blockchain und Robotik entwickelt. Diese haben das Potenzial, Lieferketten effizienter, transparenter, flexibler und nachhaltiger zu gestalten, um den bevorstehenden Herausforderungen besser zu begegnen.
Guest: Till Dengel, SAP
Till Dengel verantwortet die globale Marktforschung, Thought Leadership, kommerzielle Modellierung, Marketing und Kommunikation für das Lösungsportfolio Digital Logistics & Manufacturing der SAP. Als versierter Redner in diesem Bereich bringt er eine breite Perspektive auf die Marktdynamik und die neuesten Branchentrends ein.
Till Dengel hatte mehrere Führungspositionen inne, darunter die Leitung der globalen Geschäftseinheit für die Reise- und Transportbranche und die Funktion des Chief Strategy & Business Development Officer für den Geschäftsbereich Data Intelligence der SAP. Darüber hinaus war er als Kundenbetreuer für den CIO und CPO tätig. Seine SAP-Reise begann im Jahr 2000 als Senior Consultant im Bereich Supply Chain Management. Bevor er zu SAP kam, arbeitete Till als Teamleiter bei DHL.
Er hat einen Bachelor-Abschluss in Betriebswirtschaftslehre und einen Executive Master-Abschluss in Informationsmanagement.
Host: Sin To, SAP
Sin To verfügt über mehr als fünfzehn Jahre Erfahrung in der digitalen Medienbranche und im Technologiesektor in den Bereichen Marketing, Business Development, Thought Leadership und als mitwirkende Redakteurin. Seit 2019 ist sie im SAP Global Marketing, Thought Leadership & Awareness Supply Chain Team, um die Vordenkerrolle und das Bewusstsein für die Supply Chain Lösungen von SAP, neue Markttrends und Nachhaltigkeit zu fördern.
Wenn euch der Podcast gefallen hat, dann gebt uns gern ein „Like“, teilt und abonniert uns, um über zukünftige Episoden auf dem Laufenden zu bleiben!
Episode 58: Earth Day 2024: Planet vs. Plastics with SAP’s Stephen Jamieson
Apr 17, 2024
Show notes
This year, EarthDay.Org deemed the theme of 2024 Planet vs. Plastics, calling for widespread awareness on the health risk of plastics, and how they negatively affect not only people and corporations, but our biosphere as a whole. SAP’s Stephen Jamieson joins us this week to dive into the ways we can begin to change our world from the inside out, and steps we can take as both consumers and corporations to drive plastic waste out of our supply chains.
Come join us as we discuss the Future of Supply Chain.
Guest: Stephen Jamieson, SAP
Stephen Jamieson is Global Head of Circular Economy Solutions at SAP. In his role, Stephen leads the creation and development of the industry solutions needed to keep products in use, design out waste and regenerate natural systems.
As founder of the SAP’s Plastics Challenge, Stephen has been working collaboratively with industry, NGO and regulatory stakeholders to develop design-led solutions aligned to SAP’s 2030 Clean Ocean Vision. This has now culminated with the launch of SAP’s Circular Economy program where Stephen leads the Go-To-Market and commercialisation of solutions that deliver Sustainable Business Processes aligned to global impact.
Host: Richard Howells, SAP
Richard Howells has been working in the Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing space for over 30 years. He is responsible for driving the thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s ERP, Finance, and Supply Chain solutions and is an active writer, podcaster, and thought leader on the topics of supply chain, Industry 4.0, digitization, and sustainability.
Host: Nicole Smythe, SAP
Nicole Smythe is a marketer, blogger, and podcaster in the Digital Supply Chain and ERP space at SAP. With a Master’s degree in Global Supply Chain Management and various field experiences, she hopes to bring a fresh, new perspective to the space with her active marketing contributions, focusing on topics like market trends, emerging technology, and the next generation of workers.
Please give us a like, share, and subscribe to stay up-to-date on future episodes!
Episode 57: State of the Blockchain Transformation in Supply Chain with SettleMint's Matthew Van Niekerk
Apr 10, 2024
Show notes
Whether you’re a supply chain professional, a business leader, or simply someone curious about the latest technological advancements, we dive into the strategies you need to leverage blockchain for your organization’s success with SettleMint’s Matthew Van Niekerk. As we discuss the transformative power of blockchain in supply chain management, we see how this revolutionary technology unlocks companies’ potential to drive efficiency, resilience, and innovation.
Come join us as we discuss the Future of Supply Chain.
Guest: Matthew Van Niekerk, SettleMint
In 2016, after 12 year’s experience in the financial services sector, Matthew co-founded SettleMint and is the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors. Matthew has led the growth of the company and the geographic expansion of SettleMint beyond its home base in Europe to MEA, India, Singapore and Japan.
The vision of the company is to simplify the blockchain transformation journey for private and public organizations and in doing so, accelerate the adoption of blockchain technology globally. SettleMint is a Blockchain Transformation company recognized by Gartner and the World Economic Forum as an industry leader in supporting organizations transforming their business with blockchain technology.
He obtained his Hons. BA in Economics, specializing in Economic Development from Western University, London, Canada and later his Master in Business Administration (MBA) specializing in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from Vlerick Business School, Leuven, Belgium.
Host: Richard Howells, SAP
Richard Howells has been working in the Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing space for over 30 years. He is responsible for driving the thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s ERP, Finance, and Supply Chain solutions and is an active writer, podcaster, and thought leader on the topics of supply chain, Industry 4.0, digitization, and sustainability.
Host: Nicole Smythe, SAP
Nicole Smythe has been with SAP for almost 4 years now but has been working in the supply chain space for over 6 years through various field experiences. With a Master’s degree specializing in Global Supply Chain Management, Nicole hopes to bring a fresh, new perspective to the space with her active marketing contributions, blogs, and now podcasts, focusing on topics like sustainability, market trends, and emerging technology.
Please give us a like, share, and subscribe to stay up-to-date on future episodes!
Episode 56: A Nutty Journey to Supply Chain Synchronization with Blue Diamond Grower’s Steve Birgfeld
Apr 03, 2024
Show notes
From nuts to crackers to milk, Blue Diamond Growers’ (BDG) complex ecosystem is a force of nature. On this week’s episode, Steve Birgfield from BDG joins us to discuss how their company built a technical foundation tough enough to withstand expedited growth, through increased visibility, enhanced transportation methods, and redefining their logistics, whilst tackling the beast of burden that is Mother Nature.
Come join us as we discuss the Future of Supply Chain.
Guest: Steve Birgfeld, Blue Diamond Growers
Steve leads the overall strategy, design and implementation of Blue Diamond Growers information technology services, working closely with the business to define solutions that provide value to our growers and our customers.
Steve has led strategic efforts of large scale innovations and digital transformations throughout his career. He brings a strong balance of business, technical, resource and financial management leadership.
Steve has been with Blue Diamond since March 2016. Prior to that, Steve has held a variety of Information Technology leadership positions including VP of IT and Workplace Services for Unisys; Chief Information Officer for Hostess Brands and CompuCom; VP of Information Technology for Quaker State; and acting Chief Information Officer for Booz Allen Hamilton. In 2012, Steve was named one of Computerworld’s Premier 100 IT Leaders.
Host: Richard Howells, SAP
Richard Howells has been working in the Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing space for over 30 years. He is responsible for driving the thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s ERP, Finance, and Supply Chain solutions and is an active writer, podcaster, and thought leader on the topics of supply chain, Industry 4.0, digitization, and sustainability.
Host: Nicole Smythe, SAP
Nicole Smythe has been with SAP for almost 4 years now but has been working in the supply chain space for over 6 years through various field experiences. With a Master’s degree specializing in Global Supply Chain Management, Nicole hopes to bring a fresh, new perspective to the space with her active marketing contributions, blogs, and now podcasts, focusing on topics like sustainability, market trends, and emerging technology.
Please give us a like, share, and subscribe to stay up-to-date on future episodes!
Episode 55: Focusing on Volume-Based Growth with Artificial Intelligence in the Supply Chain with IBM’s Sammy Soufi
Mar 28, 2024
Show notes
Generative AI and volume-based growth have more similarities than what meets the eye. This week, IBM’s Sammy Soufi joins us to discuss their beneficial partnership, and how companies in both the Retail & CPG spaces can utilize both to not only meet customer demand, but exceed it.
Come join us as we discuss the Future of Supply Chain.
Guest: Sammy Soufi, Senior Managing Consultant, IBM Consulting
Sammy Soufi is a Senior Managing Consultant at IBM Consulting with experience across the CPG, Retail, Automotive, Utilities, Healthcare, and Agricultural industries, focusing on helping organizations navigate through business transformations and benefit from emerging technologies.
By bringing a strong analytical approach to solving complex business challenges with technological solutions; harnessed with hands-on experience leading business transformations across South America, Central Europe, Australia and in several North American locations.
Host: Richard Howells, SAP
Richard Howells has been working in the Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing space for over 30 years. He is responsible for driving the thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s ERP, Finance, and Supply Chain solutions and is an active writer, podcaster, and thought leader on the topics of supply chain, Industry 4.0, digitization, and sustainability.
Host: Nicole Smythe, SAP
Nicole Smythe has been with SAP for almost 4 years now but has been working in the supply chain space for over 6 years through various field experiences. With a Master’s degree specializing in Global Supply Chain Management, Nicole hopes to bring a fresh, new perspective to the space with her active marketing contributions, blogs, and now podcasts, focusing on topics like sustainability, market trends, and emerging technology.
Please give us a like, share, and subscribe to stay up-to-date on future episodes!
Episode 54: Talking Supply Chain Resiliency, Sustainability, AI, and Hanover Messe with SAP's Dominik Metzger
Mar 20, 2024
Show notes
Technology will play a crucial role in the future of supply chain. In recent years, new technologies such as AI, the Internet of Things, blockchain, and robotics have emerged that can help to make the supply chain more efficient, transparent, agile, and sustainable to meet future challenges. This year’s theme for HMI 2024 is ‘Energizing a sustainable industry’, and supply chains are an important part of the problem when it comes to carbon emissions, waste, and human rights. In this episode, we talk to Dominik Metzger about how companies are making sustainability part of their supply chain solution. And how technology such as AI or GenAI can help to achieve these goals.
Come join us as we discuss the Future of Supply Chain.
Guest: Dominik Metzger
Dominik Metzger is SAP’s Global Head of Software Engineering and is responsible for running a global development Line of Business (LoB). This organization provides innovative Digital Supply Chain solutions, including design, product management, engineering, and customer co-innovations for all products within the LoB including the product portfolio of Planning, Manufacturing and Delivery & Logistics.
Host: Richard Howells, SAP
Richard Howells has been working in the Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing space for over 30 years. He is responsible for driving the thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s ERP, Finance, and Supply Chain solutions and is an active writer, podcaster, and thought leader on the topics of supply chain, Industry 4.0, digitization, and sustainability.
Host: Sin To, SAP
Sin has more than fifteen years of experience in the digital media industry and technology sector in the field of marketing, business development, thought leadership, and as a contributing editor. In 2019, she joined SAP’s digital supply chain team to drive thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s supply chain solutions, emerging market trends, and sustainability.
Please give us a like, share, and subscribe to stay up-to-date on future episodes!
Episode 53: Resiliency in the Making: Turning Adversity into Advantage with Accenture’s Sunita Suryanarayan
Mar 13, 2024
Show notes
Investing, adopting, and developing – three words that that hold a greater meaning to Accenture’s Sunita Suryanarayan, as she dives into their recent study, Resiliency in the Making. This week, she joins us to discuss the incredible findings of their research, three key steps to building resiliency, and why the time is now to start investing into your future.
Come join us as we discuss the Future of Supply Chain.
Guest: Sunita Suryanarayan, North America Supply Chain & Operations, Resiliency Lead, Accenture
Sunita is Accenture’s North America Supply Chain & Operations Resiliency Lead. She’s a global strategist leading digital risk transformations in tech, media, automotive and consumer products for over two decades. She specializes in designing robust strategies to fortify supply chains against disruptions, leveraging a comprehensive approach that integrates risk prioritization, mitigation, and resilience building measures. Sunita is at the forefront of leveraging cutting-edge technologies and collaborates with MIT’s data science lab to revolutionize supply chain operations. With a keen eye for emerging trends, she champions the integration of AI models into supply chain processes, harnessing the power of predictive and prescriptive analytics to optimize decision making and drive efficiencies across the board. Sunita has successfully led numerous digital transformations for Fortune 500 companies, spearheading the adoption of AI-driven solutions that have yielded measurable improvements in supply chain agility, responsiveness, and overall performance.
Sunita has published several articles on the future of supply chain and presented at numerous industry conferences. She is also involved in multiple foundations and organizations to champion diversity, equity and inclusion in the workforce. Sunita is on the board of Braven – a national non-profit that focuses on empowering students from underrepresented backgrounds with the skills, confidence, experiences and networks necessary to transition from college to strong first jobs, which lead to meaningful careers and lives of impact. She is also an advisor at komunity.io, a Silicon Valley tech start-up focused on redefining professional networking.
Sunita is based out of San Francisco, has an MBA from Creighton University and a bachelor’s in accounting and economics from University of Mumbai.
Host: Richard Howells, SAP
Richard Howells has been working in the Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing space for over 30 years. He is responsible for driving the thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s ERP, Finance, and Supply Chain solutions and is an active writer, podcaster, and thought leader on the topics of supply chain, Industry 4.0, digitization, and sustainability.
Host: Nicole Smythe, SAP
Nicole Smythe has been with SAP for almost 4 years now but has been working in the supply chain space for over 6 years through various field experiences. With a Master’s degree specializing in Global Supply Chain Management, Nicole hopes to bring a fresh, new perspective to the space with her active marketing contributions, blogs, and now podcasts, focusing on topics like sustainability, market trends, and emerging technology.
Please give us a like, share, and subscribe to stay up-to-date on future episodes!
Episode 52: Accelerating Progress by Empowering Women in Supply Chain with SAP’s Darcy MacClaren
Mar 06, 2024
Show notes
Happy International Women’s Day – as we celebrate women’s accomplishments, advancements, and progression in the workplace, we kicked Richard out for a girls-only episode! Our own, Darcy MacClaren, joins us to discuss supply chain’s ever-evolving digital transformation, her self-developed community of women, Empowering Women in Supply Chain, and how generations can utilize the next wave of technologies. Come join us as we discuss the Future of Supply Chain.
Guest: Darcy MacClaren, Chief Revenue Officer of SAP Digital Supply Chain
Darcy MacClaren is a strategic global leader who has spent 30 years growing, differentiating, and improving businesses through technology transformation with a focus on supply chain. She has held various leadership roles at SAP over the last twelve years, most recently serving as the Senior Vice President of Digital Supply Chain and Industry 4.0 for SAP North America. Today, she serves as Chief Revenue Officer of SAP Digital Supply Chain, overseeing the global supply chain business.
With an emphasis on customer success, Darcy is responsible for driving risk resilient and sustainable Digital Supply Chain business, including the thought leadership towards solution portfolio investments, go-to-market strategy as well as overseeing core operations in pipeline development, demand management, and revenue growth. Darcy is committed to guiding organizations in their digital transformation journey through innovative technology including artificial intelligence and next generation business processes. She is passionate about collaborating with and empowering companies to elevate the strategic value delivered to their ecosystem. Her central focus is to help companies build resilient, agile, and sustainable supply chains.
Darcy is a true expert in her field, an active champion for women in supply chain, and a recognized thought leader. Recently named in Fortune’s Broadsheet newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women, Darcy has also been featured in Supply & Demand Chain Executive’s 2022 Women in Supply Chain and as a 2022 and 2023 Supply Chain Pro to Know. Darcy’s expertise has been cited in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Bloomberg Radio, NPR, Protocol, SupplyChainBrain, and Supply Chain Quarterly among other supply chain outlets. She is a frequent moderator, panelist, and keynote speaker at major supply chain events. She is the founder of the Empowering Women in Supply Chain Network which is dedicated to improving diversity in the supply chain field and since its inception in 2020, has grown to over 800 members. Last year, she was awarded the SAP Diversity and
Inclusion Award for her work with this group.
Before joining SAP, Darcy held several senior supply chain leadership positions at companies such as Blue Yonder, Infor, G-Log, (acquired by Oracle), and Hewlett Packard. Darcy graduated from St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY, with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She has an MBA from SUNY at Buffalo.
Host: Sin To, SAP
Sin To has more than fifteen years of experience in the digital media industry and technology sector in the field of marketing, business development, thought leadership, and as a contributing editor. In 2019, she joined SAP’s digital supply chain team to drive thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s supply chain solutions, emerging market trends, and sustainability.
Host: Nicole Smythe, SAP
Nicole Smythe has been with SAP for over 3 years now but has been working in the supply chain space for over 6 years through various field experiences. With a Master’s degree specializing in Global Supply Chain Management, Nicole hopes to bring a fresh, new perspective to the space with her active marketing contributions, blogs, and now podcasts, focusing on topics like social media, sustainability, and market trends.
Please give us a like, share, and subscribe to stay up-to-date on future episodes!
Episode 51: Red Sea Risk-Resilience: Supporting Supply Chain Agility at Scale with SAP’s Guy Clutton-Diesen
Feb 28, 2024
Show notes
Connected, composable, and cloud-based… all vital traits to a modern-day supply chain in the face of navigating disruptions. On this week’s episode, SAP’s Guy Clutton-Diesen joins us to discuss how visibility across your ecosystem, collaboration within your network, and Embedded and Generative AI can increase resilience across your ecosystem to better anticipate a disrupted demand chain.
Come join us as we discuss the Future of Supply Chain.
Guest: Guy Clutton-Diesen, SAP
Guy Clutton-Diesen has a background in supply chains, setting up distribution networks across Asia for publishing companies before joining SAP in 2010. Since then, Guy has supported strategic customers across Europe and Asia with digital transformations of their operations and supply chains management. Recently completing an EMBA in Shipping and Logistics, Guy is an expert on supply chain networks and planning strategies who believes in the power of global diversity and globalization to solve complex problems and drive new growth.
Host: Richard Howells, SAP
Richard Howells has been working in the Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing space for over 30 years. He is responsible for driving the thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s ERP, Finance, and Supply Chain solutions and is an active writer, podcaster, and thought leader on the topics of supply chain, Industry 4.0, digitization, and sustainability.
Host: Nicole Smythe, SAP
Nicole Smythe has been with SAP for almost 4 years now but has been working in the supply chain space for over 6 years through various field experiences. With a Master’s degree specializing in Global Supply Chain Management, Nicole hopes to bring a fresh, new perspective to the space with her active marketing contributions, blogs, and now podcasts, focusing on topics like sustainability, market trends, and emerging technology.
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