Podcast: Susie Bodnar on the CSCMP and the New Directional Shifts in Supply Chain

Highlights from the Conversation

What makes a good supply chain practitioner and a good supply chain career?

• Most supply chain professionals haven’t looked for a career in supply chain, but once they fall into it they stay.
• In my opinion, a successful career in supply chain is 50% about knowledge and experience, and 50% about people.
• There is a point in life where you go to the opportunities that allow you to learn. My father taught me and my siblings that knowledge is the only thing in life that no one can take away from you.
• Mentoring makes a difference. While at LeanCor, a 3PL provider and educational organization, I was mentored by CEO Robert Martichenko. It’s one thing to be in supply chain and get into it; quite another to get the support of a leader like that. I really appreciate what he and the company did for my career.
• What makes a good supply chain leader? After having met thousands of professionals at conferences over the years, I’ve realized that the best ones have these things in common:
  • Firstly, we are data-focused, logical people who are very processed oriented.
    • When something goes wrong, we put the focus on finding out what happened, fixing it, and preventing it from happening again— not on blame. We don’t panic, we get it done. We’re practical, grounded and data driven.
    • We follow the data trends. For example, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was high traffic for delivery times, but wait times went down. Truck idle times went down as well. By April, appointment times went down but truck idle times went up. This shows how logistics had adapted to the new conditions in a very short time.
  • On the other side of the coin is the collaborative, people-focused side. At a high level, supply chain professionals are fun people: you can see that at our conferences. We know that processes are carried out by people. Companies don’t do business with companies, really, it’s people doing business with people. When we write emails, we write full sentences, not short blurbs similar to text messages. We understand the power of relationships when it comes to business. We’re quiet professionals who get things done.
• Supply chain is fun because there’s always a problem to solve. It’s like a 3D puzzle, like a Rubik’s cube! People learn best when they are solving problems.

Why the era of supply chain is now at hand:

• When I graduated in 2005 there was no such thing as a supply chain manager, and now there is.
• Many CEOs of publicly traded companies are now coming out of supply chain. Because we see what happens throughout the entire company, from beginning to end.
• The students I see now are really intelligent, often scholarship winners, and they’re getting better and better. Most of them have jobs before they graduate.

How has the CSCMP Edge conference continued to provide value, and how has CSCMP changed over time?

• What’s different about Edge is the end-to-end perspective. It’s not just about procurement or warehousing, we go all the way to reverse logistics.
• Edge is very educational, it’s not just a tradeshow. CSCMP as an organization is very deeply rooted in the knowledge of our academics.
• Because of COVID-19, the conference is now virtual. Virtual or not, organizing it is not a small feat— there are over 200 educational sessions over three days, and it takes over a year to plan.
• The organization is evolving, thanks to its board members who are agile, innovative people with many decades of experience. The organization has changed its name twice— when supply chain became more popular as a term the board updated the name from Council of Logistics Managers to CSCMP— the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.
• The CSCMP was one of the first organizations to create a position on the board for young professional leaders. We have events specifically for young professionals.
• When it comes to education and sharing best practices, white papers and other publications aren’t enough anymore. We have the internet now! To stay current, CSCMP has created a whole online education library, and our own podcast. Most importantly, what we offer is access to other professionals – we are the premier league of supply chain networking.

What has changed in supply chain since you first started?

• When I first started, whenever I tried to explain what I do for a living, people didn’t understand. Now, especially after the COVID crisis, supply chain became a household term, everyone knows what it means. This may be one of the few silver linings from this global pandemic.
• In the last 20 years, business focus was on sales, marketing, and even HR. Now it’s on supply chain.
• Customer expectations are changing. It’s not enough anymore to just deliver a great product. Customers are more socially and environmentally aware. It’s a whole different world, and all departments within a company must collaborate to deliver a great product and be innovative with the distribution channels. You have to understand ecommerce and marketing campaigns.
• What I learned at LeanCor is that a supply chain is an orchestra trying to play a symphony. The different business functions are the individual instruments. The supply chain manager is the conductor, trying to make sure no one plays too loudly and that everything works together.
• Visibility has changed. When I started, that visibility was a phone call— ‘where is my container ship?’ Now we’re developing some excellent online platforms.

Looking forward, how do you see supply chain adapting to the effects of COVID-19?

• We’re experiencing the bullwhip effect. At the start of the pandemic, all of my warehousing friends were saying that the warehouses were full of things like paper products. Yet panic buying created a shortage because supply chains of such items are not built to be agile and to react to an unprecedented spike in demand.
• We must get better at planning for demand.
• We’re going to see a lot of new visibility systems and use of technology to gain visibility into what is happening. Risk management will be in the focus, we’ll have to learn from companies in other regions of the world to whom disruption is a part of doing business.
• I tell my young professional mentees that they’re lucky to be living through a time like this because of what they are learning.
• Companies that collaborate are the ones that are coming out of this winning. Think of the carriers who have switched to food and beverage delivery, versus something like automotive plants, some of which have been shut down for months.
• Consultants will be needed very soon, and will be very busy once it’s safe to start travelling again.
• Automation and robotics are coming, but we will still need to pay attention to our people— we will still need them.
• There are two types of companies:
  • Those with short-term focus who are watching profits.
  • Those with long-term focus who watch both profits and people.
• Everyone thinks they’re in the second category, but the truly long-term focus companies are the ones coming out of this and who will continue to thrive long term.

To Experience the Full Conversation, Listen to the Entire Podcast >

More About Susie Bodnar

Susie’s career in supply chain started in 2005 after she completed her Master’s in International Business and Economics at Andrássy University Budapest. While she didn’t plan to have a career in supply chain, once she got involved, she “definitely fell in love with it!”.

Her first professional role was as an Ocean Export Coordinator for DB Schenker. Her experience with disruption began early when one of their ships capsized off the coast of the UK— that was where she learned that logistics and insurance go hand in hand.

She has held several roles at LeanCor Supply Chain Group, rising through the ranks to become Director of Supply Chain Solutions. She served as Corporate Manager of Retail Support at Ace Hardware and was a Senior Consultant in Strategic Services for MCA Connect.

As an educator, Susie has been an adjunct lecturer of supply chain management for the Executive MBA program at California State University in Fresno. She continues as a freelance lecturer, and mentors students on an ongoing basis as well.

Currently, Susie’s main role is as Director of Operations and Client Strategy at FourKites, a predictive SaaS logistics platform.

Susie has earned her Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Lean Leader Certificate, ScPro Level One Certification from CSCMP, and is a Lean Supply Chain Professional and Prosci Change Practitioner. She has been an active member with the CSCMP since 2011.

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