There’s no one better-positioned to talk about the challenges of 2020 than Kathy Wengel, the Vice President and Chief Global Supply Chain Officer at Johnson & Johnson. In her AWESOME Out-In-Front Talk, Kathy spoke about how J&J is building a resilient, and flexible supply chain ecosystem that’s committed to digital transformation.
While some of 2020 and 2021 will (thankfully) remain in the past, Kathy believes that there are a number of valuable lessons to be taken with us as we head into the future:
- The world is, and will remain, interconnected and we create better products and services when we unite around one common agenda and work together.
- COVID-19, coupled with other existing social inequity, disproportionately impacted women’s professional advancement—so we need to double down on programs and conversations which solidify pathways for progress and highlight women’s excellence.
- There will always be another major disruptor to our business—it’s the responsibility of supply chain leaders now to transform networks into flexible, agile, ecosystems that can weather any storm.
- We must drive continuous improvement AND innovation—it’s about building a stronger today and unlocking a bolder, more customer-focused tomorrow.
- The future is digital—J&J is doing everything from improving real-time visibility data to utilizing digital twin technology, and modular manufacturing to be responsive to changing customer needs and expectations.
- Sustainability efforts & best practices are paramount to customers—Customers are increasingly concerned with ingredients and sourcing practices and J&J believes that transparency drives accountability. In addition to doubling down on supplier diversity, they’ve also committed to using 100% renewable electricity by 2025.
- We all own the talent issue—each of us has an important role to play in developing a competitive workforce that’s diverse and globally-minded