Summary In Episode 1 of Season 3, Daniel has a very experienced guest in the studio: Felix Schmitz, the CEO of Klöckner Metals in Germany, talks about green steel and the decarbonisation of the steel industry. They discuss the importance of steel in various industries, the environmental impact of steel production, and Klöckner Metals' strategic approach to sustainability. Takeaways Steel production significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, making decarbonisation efforts crucial for the industry. The role of a steel and metal distributor involves managing complexity and providing ..read more

In drawing upon the iconic social science study conducted at Harvard, known as the Invisible Gorilla Experiment, we can relate it to the context of Mergers & Acquisitions and supply chains. Just as participants in the experiment would throw high-speed balls at each other, members of the management board and their M&A team and banks engage in a fast-paced exchange of ideas and actions. Throughout this process, the supply chain, which we refer to as the metaphorical gorilla in our scenario, remains ever-present yet unnoticed and unheard in the background.  Failing to acknowledge or ..read more

Do you have a good handle on your GHG emissions in your supply chain? Do you get all the data from your suppliers you need? Can you do Product Carbon footprint reporting? Do you know, where your low hanging fruits are to reduce your carbon footprint in your supply chain? If you are like many practitioners and leaders in the supply chain or operations areas, you struggle to get your suppliers to provide you meaningful GHG emission reporting and reduction plans for net zero. You will have an even tougher time using the data to draw actionable conclusions. Thankfully in this episode, we have a di ..read more

Henry Ford once said: "Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty." During his time he was what Steve Jobs was for our last decades. He had to constantly learn because nothing he started was defined.  We can go even back a bit longer and end up at Socrates: “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel”. Or, as B.B. King put it: "The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you." In this episode, we select seven great functional books (IT, operations, quality, procurement) and one book about dysfunctional teams. Enjoy ..read more

In the world of books, movies, and plays, certain gems have the power to shift our perspectives and deeply resonate with us. As for books, over the years, I've come across several works that have stopped me in my tracks, causing me and countless others to re-evaluate our choices and actions. I've been an avid reader of business books, often devouring 2-3 per month during my global travels. I shared the most impactful ones with my direct reports, hoping to encourage a different perspective. Let me share the books I felt were most helpful in my roles as a global executive. We start with leadersh ..read more

Let's use some of the biggest incentives in the human condition to achieve net zero in Scope 3, the most important of them all... Regulations alone will not be enough. Not today, and not ever before. We have developed ten common-sense questions for your suppliers regarding GHG emission reductions. We don't need anything fancy, just simple inquiries. When you inevitably confront the reality of your supply base, you will realize that achieving net zero in the near future requires significant changes to our song sheets. Daniel argues that we need to harness two major driving forces of the human c ..read more

Visions are aspirational, emotionally charged statements describing the desired future state the company aims to achieve. They answer the question: “Where do we want to go?”. It provides a clear direction and long-term perspective for the organisation. But how does it fit with the other elements of the foundational pyramid of an enterprise: Purpose, mission, strategy, tactics, values and culture? And how can we ensure that the strategies which operationalise the vision are not on the breakfast menu of the company's culture? We highlight every piece of this construct and provide DIY instruction ..read more

CPO Nestle, Group CEO of CIPS, and CEO of British Crown Commercial Services are just some of the positions my guest held over his career. Malcolm Harrison is one of the most distinctive procurement and supply chain leaders in Europe and probably one of the most well-known and well-connected people I know in our field. Having been in charge of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply Chain, CIPS gives him a much wider view of many different industries than the average CXO in the supply chain. He has a passion for driving competence and knowledge into the supply chain profession. As wel ..read more

In this episode of The Supply Chain Dialogues podcast, Daniel & Noah talk about a number of untold truths in commercial dealings from a procurement perspective. You have to decide for yourself, what is applicable and what not. Enjoy ..read more

Did you or your company change the skill and competency framework based on what we have seen on the AI front? If not, just wait until your customers bring products out in half of the normal cycle time of the industry or at 30% less cost. ChatGPT is just the tip of a gigantic mushroom cloud of new applications, innovations, and job profiles that emerged in the last 12 months. And how about the engineering skill set you have defined in your R&D and manufacturing departments? Have they been adapted based on the need for new solutions in material science, manufacturing techniques or transporta ..read more