Jolting an international supply chain: an interview with Stuart Whiting

When you think of companies that have innovative supply chains, retailers like Amazon and Walmart or consumer packaged-goods companies like Procter & Gamble and Unilever typically spring to mind—not a nearly 200-year-old industrial company with its roots in a French iron foundry.

Yet Schneider Electric is making a big push on the supply chain innovation front. The energy tech powerhouse has been working steadily to transform its supply chain delivery platform, which was originally designed around efficiency and standardization, into one that better accommodates individual customers’ needs. That’s no small task. As a provider of energy solutions for homes, businesses, data centers, infrastructure, and grids around the world, the company serves a customer base that is both large and diverse.

The point person for that transformation initiative is Stuart Whiting, Schneider Electric’s senior vice president of global supply chain logistics, planning, and services. Whiting and his team are working to build a hyperconnected supply chain, one that leverage digital tools—think control towers, AI (artificial intelligence)-enabled planning, and end-to-end visibility systems—to better anticipate the needs of different customer segments and respond quickly when those needs change. “Customers [today] need faster deployment and more tailored service models than ever before,” Whiting explains. “That means our supply chain can’t simply be global; it has to be intelligent.”

This story was originally published by DC Velocity. Read the full story at DC Velocity →