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 40: Identifying Supply Chain Vulnerabilities Before They Put Your Business at Risk with Cosmo Tech’s Nadia Hospital
Dec 06, 2023
Show notes
Ever question how you can mitigate risk and proactively plan for uncertainty? On this week’s episode, Cosmo Tech’s Nadia Hospital joins us to discuss how new technologies, such as Vulnerability Scan and AI, allow companies to optimize their strategic and tactical planning decisions.
Come join us as we discuss the Future of Supply Chain.
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.
Please give us a like, share, and subscribe to stay up-to-date on future episodes!
Episode 39: Logistics' Differentiating Power in a Supply Chain with SAP's Kam Ghossaini
Nov 29, 2023
Show notes
The role of logistics in supply chain has greatly transformed over the past few years, with new trends and technology changing the way companies do business. On this week’s episode, SAP’s Kam Ghossaini joins us to discuss how companies can utilize logistics as a main differentiator in revolutionizing their supply chain.
Come join us as we discuss the Future of Supply Chain.
Guest: Kam Ghossaini, SAP
Kam has over 25 years of Supply Chain experience helping to drive continuous performance improvements in supply chain and logistics space. He started his career as a technology supply chain consultant, and has worked with several best of breed supply chain solution across Europe, the UK and the Middle East.
Kam joined SAP Dubai in 2013 and relocated to SAP North American in 2017, where he is the national lead for logistics as part of the Digital Supply Chain Center of Excellence. He focuses on helping our customers uncover their business and logistics challenges and guiding them in determining the operational and financial impact on their businesses.
He is passionate about delivering value to customers by providing innovative solutions that optimize, integrate, and automate their logistics processes and systems.
Kam holds an BS in Computer Science and an MBA in Management from the American University of Beirut. He lives with his family in the Chicago area where he enjoys playing and coaching soccer.
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 38: Frosta’s Sustainability Journey: From Challenges to Solutions with Frosta’s Ben Windhorst
Nov 22, 2023
Show notes
In this episode, we delve into the fascinating and sustainable world of Frosta’s frozen food. With Frosta’s Ben Windhorst, we dive into their ambitious sustainability goals and how the company uses cutting-edge technology to offer its customers more transparency in the supply chain.
Come join us as we discuss the Future of Supply Chain.
Guest: Ben Windhorst, Frosta
Ben Windhorst is a passionate People, Technology und Transformation leader with an IT and Project Management background. He was driving and delivering digital transformation programs in different companies and roles in the last 15 years. He is currently driving the transformation and change of the FRoSTA AG into a data driven and open mindset company.
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.
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 37: Decarbonizing the Value Chain with PwC’s Sadi Fieldsend and Jeff Briner
Nov 15, 2023
Show notes
Clean energy is the hottest topic in every boardroom, but ever wonder what it would take to fully decarbonize the value chain? This week, PwC’s Sadi Fieldsend and Jeff Briner join us to discuss how companies have the power to transform not only their own supply chain, but society.
Come join us as we discuss the Future of Supply Chain.
Guest: Sadi Fieldsend, PwC
With 20 years serving the SAP community, Sadi is passionate about people and partnerships. She strives to create experiences where trust, transparency, and collaboration define new boundaries for innovation. Not only has Sadi held various roles that involve SAP implementations, from defining IT strategies and managing large global programs, but she passionately believes in developing others and leading strong partnerships focused on transformation. She also believes that mentoring directly contributes to growth and diversity, both individually and as a collective network.
While Sadi has experience in automotive, chemical, consumer products, manufacturing, and life sciences, she is now dedicated to driving transformation within the utility and energy industry. By realizing the full scope of this industry’s challenges and opportunities for evolution, she understands the end-to-end digital supply chain processes that drive operational efficiency, but never loses focus of the customer and the impact this change can create for them as well as the employees within the organization being affected. She brings this depth of knowledge and insight when leading complex programs, driving innovation, and helping others achieve their corporate objectives.
Guest: Jeff Briner, PwC
Jeff is a Principle in our SAP Practice and is the Digital Supply Chain Capability Leader. Jeff has 30+ years of Power & Utilities and SAP EAM experience. This includes 20 years of Power Generation experience and 15 years of Transmission and Distribution for Gas & Electric utility experience. Jeff has additionally supported Rail, Agriculture, Pharma, and Energy clients with EAM Transformations.
Jeff has a multidimensional foundation that includes functional/operational experience in addition to his technical skills. He has successfully transformed large Utility organizations by using business process and organizational re-designs, technology lead transformation using ERP/EAM solutions including SAP, Maximo, EMPAC, WMIS, and Ventyx, as well as strategic cost and efficiency via org span and layer changes.
Jeff spent 6 years in China where he developed a leading SAP Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) practice delivering mission-critical business transformations to the Chinese Nuclear Utility industry. His team has successfully completed Enterprise Asset Management Template based business standardization and transformation for Maintenance, Operations, Engineering, and Supply Chain across 99% of China’s nuclear power industry (22 Sites, 70+ Units). Some of Jeffs relevant functional experience includes:
Deployed PwCs SAP Nuclear Template to every Chinese Nuclear Power generation site
Ten full cycle SAP/EAM implementations, seven in utilities
Lead EAM consultant on the SAP CU solution development; spent time in Germany on the alpha and beta testing effort
Lead EAM consultant for a multistate western US gas and electric T&D Maximo EAM project; planned and led the CU development team
Lead EAM consultant for a five-state eastern gas, electric, and LNG T&D SAP EAM project and consulting architect of the SAP solution; key member of team that developed the compatible unit solution, the first SAP CU implementation
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 36: The Supply Chain Planner of the Future with SAP’s Jeff Brown
Nov 08, 2023
Show notes
In supply chain planning, the only thing that is certain is uncertainty. In this episode, SAP’s Jeff Brown joins us to discuss how enhanced technologies have not only changed the way new generation of workers learn, but how seasoned generations adapt. Diving into the digital transformation of your planning processes to sustainability being a driving force, this is a masterclass you do not want to miss.
Come join us as we discuss the Future of Supply Chain.
Guest: Jeff Brown, SAP
Jeff has over 30 years of Supply Chain and Operations experience helping to drive continuous improvement in supply chain and manufacturing performance. He has worked in industry as a supply chain and manufacturing planner before transitioning to consulting and technology.
Jeff joined SAP in 2006, first as a solution advisor, followed by roles in the Digital Supply Chain Center of Excellence, most recently as Vice President, Strategic Initiatives. He has broad industry experience, working with customers such as Boston Scientific, Google, Louisiana-Pacific, Microsoft, Flowers Bakery, and Coca Cola.
Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science in Management from Georgia Tech. He lives in the Atlanta area with wife Lynn where they enjoy playing tennis and following their favorite local sports 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 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 35: Accelerating Supply Chain Innovation: Inside the World of SAP.iO with SAP’s Sherry Li
Nov 01, 2023
Show notes
This week, we explore the fusion of technology, entrepreneurship, and supply chain as SAP’s Sherry Li joins us to see business through the lens of SAP.iO. From learning how startups are reimagining the future of supply chain to how SAP is guiding innovators through their partnership to success stories in the field, it’s an innovative episode you do not want to miss.
Come join us as we discuss the Future of Supply Chain.
Guest: Sherry Li, SAP
Head of SAP.iO New York
Sherry is a seasoned business leader with over 10 years of experience in the technology industry. She is passionate about innovation and using technology to solve real-world problems.
Prior to joining SAP.iO, Sherry held positions with SAP strategic partnerships team, SAP Concur’s corporate strategy team, SAP Corporate Development, and SAP.iO Venture Studio. In these roles, she focused on sourcing strategic partnerships, international expansion, and business acceleration.
Before receiving her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Sherry worked at the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, where she helped private companies in the US and Asia go public. She was the primary point of contact for Nasdaq’s 120 Asia-based companies, helping them develop investor strategies to succeed in capital markets.
Sherry and her husband David are the proud parents of two young boys and live on the Upper West Side. In their spare time, they write children’s books and enjoy taking their boys to Riverside Park. Sherry is thrilled to join the SAP.iO team and lead innovation initiatives for SAP.iO NY.
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.
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 34: How Supply Chain Sustainability Helps Unlock Resilience and Growth with Accenture’s Matias Pollmann-Larsen
Oct 25, 2023
Show notes
Resiliency, sustainability, and visibility – three words that sum up the current focus of supply chain, we’d say, and Accenture’s Matias Pollmann-Larsen agrees. This week, he joins us to discuss the incredible findings of their recent United Nations Global Company CEO Study, from how CEOs are reimagining their supply chains to re-evaluating their global supply chain structures. Who knows, you may discover a thing or two.
Come join us as we discuss the Future of Supply Chain.
Guest: Matias Pollmann-Larsen, Accenture
Matias Pollmann-Larsen is the Managing Director – Supply Chain & Operations, Sustainable Value Chain Lead at Accenture. Matias has deep experience in transformation and large-scale change, having led several programs in international companies across consumer products, industrial and energy sectors. As an expert on Sustainable Value Chains, on strategic aspects ranging net zero footprints, circularity and transparency / ESG risk management, he focuses on how firms can transform, with value and purpose.
Matias authored a number of regional and global reports on sustainability, diversity, societal impact and the role of companies, and often shares strategic insights at conferences / leadership / board meetings. He speaks fluent Italian, Spanish and English, skilled in Portuguese and Danish. He serves in the board of the INDEXproject, a nonprofit organisation that promotes designs aimed at the improvement of life worldwide, and in the board of InnoAid.org, an NGO with an international outreach.
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 33: How to Avoid Halloween Supply Chain Nightmares with SAP’s Anu Shah
Oct 18, 2023
Show notes
Goblins, ghosts, and ghouls may give you bad dreams, but shipment delays, lack of visibility, and a disconnected value chain are the real nightmares for companies this holiday season. On this episode, SAP’s Anu Shah joins us to discuss how to navigate the spookiest of obstacles throughout your business processes and value chain.
Come join us as we discuss the Future of Supply Chain.
Guest: Anubhuti Shah, SAP
Anu Shah is the Head of the Solution Management function focused on SAP’s AI and platform-related offering for SAP S/4HANA cloud, supply chain and finance. SAP customers can benefit from pre-built AI capabilities delivered with our cloud ERP and other applications. These capabilities help customers to accelerate business processes and optimize decision making across functions such as supply chain planning. Similarly, we multiply user productivity through AI-augmented user experiences.
She joined SAP in 2015 in a leadership development program for MBA-graduates and since then held various roles in industry-specific enterprise software, solution management and business development. Prior to that Anu worked for several years in Dubai.
Anu completed her Master of Business Administration at Mannheim Business School (Germany).
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 32: How Generative AI Is Helping Companies Do Things Differently and Do Different Things with Deloitte’s Subit Mathew
Oct 11, 2023
Show notes
Generative AI is all the buzz in the not only the supply chain world, but society, in general. But have you ever wondered, really, what is Gen AI? You may get a few different answers but Deloitte’s Subit Mathew joins the series to discuss how companies can utilize it to do things differently and do different things – from supply demand balancing to intelligent product design.
Come join us as we discuss the Future of Supply Chain.
Guest: Subit Mathew, Deloitte
Subit is a Principal in Deloitte’s Enterprise Performance – SAP Consulting Practice. He specializes in advising companies on Supply Chain Mgmt., IT roadmap strategies, ERP business case development as well as planning, managing & delivering large global SAP S/4HANA transformation programs.
Drawing on his 18+ years of industry & consulting experience, Subit serves as an advisor to senior executives on applying innovations leveraging latest technology from SAP. Subit has deep experience in delivering numerous Phase 0 and global SAP S/4 transformations for clients through the combination of his end-to-end process knowledge, industry expertise, ERP solution validation, and delivery leadership. He focuses on serving his client through transformation planning, SAP program management, delivery risk mitigation, and deployment orchestration.
Additionally, Subit leads Deloitte’s US SAP Supply Chain Practice, working with client organizations to drive spend optimization, reduce working capital, and maximize supply chain operational efficiencies. Subit also leads Deloitte’s US Central Region SAP practice and has worked with companies of all sizes across the Life Sciences/Medical Devices, Consumer Products, F&B, Industrial Products & Chemicals, Automotive & Semiconductor Hi-tech manufacturing sectors to deliver transformations.
Subit is a frequent speaker at numerous SAP conferences and Universities on topics related to SCM process and technology transformations. Subit lives in Chicago with his family and holds a M.S in Information & Operations Mgmt. from the Texas A&M University and a Bachelors of Engineering in IT from the University of Bombay, India.
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 31: The Sustainability Challenges of Managing Water Usage & Consumption Across your Business with EY’s Neil Banerjee
Oct 04, 2023
Show notes
Did you know that 1.2 billion people in the world don’t have access to basic water services? While the numbers are staggering, EY’s Neil Banerjee joins us to discuss how there are measures that can be taken across companies’ supply chains to ensure the circular usage of water to build positive outcomes that are good for business and the environment.
Come join us as we discuss the Future of Supply Chain.
Guest: Neil Banerjee, EY
Neil Banerjee is the Americas SAP Sustainability & Public Cloud Leader at EY, where he drives go-to-market strategy and the overall alliance relationship between SAP and EY in the ESG and cloud ERP domains. With more than a decade plus of global experience in supply chain, commercial innovation, and sustainability, Neil is recognized as a thought leader on supply chain, sustainability and technology transformation as well as commercial growth strategy in the agribusiness, chemicals, advanced manufacturing and mobility sectors. Neil has deep history partnering with some of the world’s industry leading large enterprises and start-ups to commercially launch and scale new sustainable business models from concept to market.
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.
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