• How can organizations realistically work towards a “one business, one goal” mentality?
  • Discussing ways to align the actions of front-line workers with the company’s corporate values and goals from the top down and the bottom up
  • Offering best practices to eliminate silos within support organizations to advance the innovation trajectory

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Moderator:

Alistair Hirst, SVP Global Supply Chain, Kellogg Company

Alistair Hirst has been Senior Vice President, Global Supply Chain, Kellogg Company, since 2012. He is also a member of the company’s Global Leadership Team. Mr. Hirst joined Kellogg Company in 1984 as a Food Technologist at the Springs, South Africa plant. While at the facility, he was promoted to Quality Assurance Manager and Production Manager. In 1993, he accepted an assignment at the company’s Botany, Australia plant as Production Manager. In 1994, he returned to South Africa when he was promoted to Plant Manager, and in 1997, he was named Director, Supply Chain at the facility. Mr. Hirst relocated to the Manchester, England facility in 2001 when promoted to Director, Procurement, and in 2004, he was named European Logistics Director. In January 2005, he relocated to the U.S. when promoted to Vice President, Global Procurement. Mr. Hirst was promoted to Senior Vice President, Snacks Supply Chain in January 2008 and to Senior Vice President, North America Supply Chain in October 2011.

Panelists:

Ebly Sanchez, Director Volvo Production System – Region Americas, Volvo Trucks North America

Ebly Sanchez has worked in the Volvo Group  since 2008 both in Sweden and in USA mainly in the area of Continuous Improvement. Before 2008, he worked for the Ford Motor Company for almost 20 years in several areas of manufacturing including quality, production, manufacturing engineering, new product launches and general operation management in USA and South America, particularly Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela. Currently, Ebly has overall responsibility for Continuous Improvement in Region Americas including strategy, deployment, and coaching for the whole organization including Manufacturing, Sales/Marketing, Purchasing, Product Development and the support organizations such as HR, Group IT, logistics, customer service, business control and financial services.

Susan Freije, VP Quality Assurance, Benjamin Moore

As part of the Senior Management team, Susan is responsible for leadership in all areas of Quality Systems, Color and Product Standards, Customer Satisfaction, and Supplier Quality Management. Her team is focused on developing processes and standard practices to assure quality across the supply chain, from supplier materials, through Product Development, on to Manufacturing and Distribution, and finally at the customer level. Susan’s additional area of focus is leading the Continuous Improvement effort. This team, working with the entire Operations organization, implements standards of excellence to improve efficiency and effectiveness measured using metrics. Susan came to Benjamin Moore in 2013 after a long career as Director of Quality Systems at Colgate-Palmolive. During her tenure at Colgate, Susan developed and implemented the company’s first Good Manufacturing Practices initiative and subsequent audit program of more than 60 sites around the world. 

Jorge Perez, GE Aviation Supply Chain Growth Playbook Leader, GE Aviation

Jorge joined GE in 2001 and is a graduate of the Operations Management Leadership program. He has amassed broad experience across Aviation including Engine Assembly, Overhaul, Systems and Component Manufacturing. Roles ranged from front line leader, black belt and operational leader to plant leader at three different supply chain sites. This positioned him well to lead the strategic initiatives including ‘Brilliant Factory’ for GE Aviation Supply Chain. In addition, he has a demonstrated track record of delivering results in uncertain times and growing and developing strong diverse teams. Jorge has a bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing Engineering from Boston University. Outside of GE, he enjoys spending time with his wife Caroline and two young daughters Gabriella and Sophia. He is an avid runner and enjoys training for marathons.

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