Lexington, KY - If you are thinking about a career in manufacturing - the business of making things - you need a firm understanding of how it all comes together in today's global economy. Business Lexington's Tom Martin talked with Linda Hollembaek, vice president of global supply chain operations at Lexmark International. In her previous roles at Lexmark, Hollembaek has overseen worldwide delivery of company services that included customer relations management, technical support, service engineering and parts logistics. She's been vice president of hardware customer satisfaction and supply chain for Lexmark's Printing Solutions and Services Division, where the responsibilities range from worldwide supply-and-demand product planning, to field product engineering and applying the quality management strategy "Sixth Sigma" to Lexmark operations.
TM (Tom Martin): Tell us briefly what you do.
LH (Linda Hollembaek): In the role of supply chain at Lexmark, we're responsible for what starts with planning: How much do we need of every product, both hardware and supplies, that we make? Then how do we procure that? How do we source and get that product - those raw goods, if you will? How do we then get them to our manufacturers, turning them into finished goods in both hardware and supplies, and then how do we distribute those products out to our customers? The most important part of that process is how we take those orders and fulfill the customer's demand at the exact time when they want it.
TM: We have a situation with a major bridge outage on a major artery, on I-64. This would be the Sherman Minton Bridge between Louisville and New Albany, Ind., which has been shut down due to structural deficiencies that could cause it to fail. That has lead to the diversion of some 80,000 vehicles per workday to other bridges in the area, resulting in congestion and backups. Among those thousands of vehicles are delivery trucks that are getting products or parts to manufacturers such as Lexmark, Toyota and others in the region. Do you plan for such contingencies when you're thinking about the whole chain of events that have to happen to result in a product?
LH: Absolutely. These are among the things that a supply chain works with. So we work with our risk management organization within Lexmark, and we think through the business continuity plans that we need to have. In this case, while it doesn't immediately impact us because of where our distribution center is located (Memphis, Tenn.), we do need to think about things like longer transit of finished goods into customers in that area. It might take an extra half a day to a full day. We need to include that in our planning, so when we make our promise date to customers we do that well. Every company has detailed sourcing plans for what would happen if you had a disruption in the supply chain. So through buffer stock and alternative sourcing, we are able to cover things like a bridge closure with really minimal interruptions to our customers.
TM: We're hearing a lot about the need to rehabilitate infrastructure and the implications for jobs creation. We're looking at crumbling infrastructure in this country, and the Sherman Minton Bridge may serve as a "poster child" for that kind of thing. From your perspective as a supply chain professional, are you concerned that we're not keeping up with the rehabilitation and the maintenance of our infrastructure in this country?
LH: I would take it from both a supply chain professional and as a citizen of the country. This, to me, is a very important piece of what we need to look at now going forward. These kinds of events are incredibly disruptive to the people in the area and can impact a lot of businesses. It's something we need to think about and look at - how do we continue to improve the transport structures? When you think about that last leg of our finished good delivery to customers, this is where it's vitally important. We also bring a lot of supplies for our customization process into our Memphis operation, and any disruption in that will be an impact in our ability to meet customer's needs.
TM: Let's talk about the education of a supply chain professional. What does a supply chain professional need to know?
LH: What's very interesting about the supply chain is, we think through all the functions that are in a supply chain - so planning and analytical skills, math skills associated with statistical modeling and how you determine how much product that you need. There are very detailed tools that are math-based, so there is an element of math in there. Problem solving underlies all the things that we need to do in the supply chain, so problem solving. And (there are) technical issues that might require engineering.
Process orientation would be another example of skill sets we need. And then there are a lot of customer-facing skills required. Our people talk to customers every day about what they want to order, when they want it delivered, how they might want it delivered, and then, really understanding their requirements and turning that into a specific delivery instruction. So it's a wide range, from math to engineering to problem solving to what we call "lean enterprise" skills. It's an exciting field, because there are many ways you can take an education and apply it to the different aspects of the supply chain.
TM: It's a global economy, and you at Lexmark are a great example of functioning in that economy. In addition to the qualifications that you just cited, what about culture, language and knowledge of the world?
LH: As we look at where technology components come from, where things are made - both technology and finished goods - and where our customers are, it does require us to have a talent pool that understands multicultures, understands what problem solving looks like in different cultures than the United States as well as how to operate with customers. How customers like to do things can be different from one culture to another. And that understanding, sensitivity, and the ability to really address day-to-day problem solving ... are really fundamental skills to a supply chain executive and to any sort of role in the supply chain.
TM: Different entities within the supply chain operate under different sets of constraints, different objectives. Yet they are also highly interdependent to make it all work out so that, in the end, you have a quality product. When it comes to performance of the chain, taking into consideration on-time delivery, quality assurance and cost, how is all that choreographed to make sure that in the end, you have a satisfied customer?
LH: This is another set of skills: the ability to look at processes - what I call cross-functional. Because we need to work with our sales organization, our finance organization and even within the supply chain, between planning, procurement, manufacturing logistics. (This) requires a skill set of collaboration, team-building and problem-solving - not just in your own area, but in working with others across the functions to make things happen end to end. While it sounds simple, it's sometimes complicated to work across cultures as you mentioned, time zones, as well as just the language (differences) between some groups. Even within the same company, that language can be different, and we need to be sure we understand what that means and lay out a good solid process to make things happen reactively and quickly to meet a customer's needs.
TM: Do all of these moving parts and all these different factors in a supply chain lead to a lot of tweaking or reengineering? And if they do, what factors have to be considered?
LH: One of the common pitfalls in problem solving is that we solve the symptom but not the real root cause of the problem. Through Lean Enterprise, Six Sigma (a business management strategy) and just general problem-solving tools, we ask ourselves, are we really solving the right problem? It may take us longer to define the problem, but when we get to the right problem, the answer - the solution - will come much more quickly than if you had gone and solved the wrong problem and you end up with really not solving the root cause of the problem. So a lot of it really does go to fully understanding the problem, defining things well and then putting a strong execution in place, and then monitoring that. Perhaps what you solved didn't work, and then you go back and reengineer it. So there is a lot of constant improvement.
TM: I'm a student or I'm a professional who is searching for a career path or perhaps, due to the economic conditions, contemplating a career change. What skills will I need to develop in order to become the kind of talent Lexmark looks for?
LH: When I think about the broader skill set that we would normally be looking for, product planning, engineering talent - there's a lot of engineering that goes into manufacturing. (I mean) engineering in terms of the kinds and ways in which we design for manufacturability, working with our development organization. We look for people that have "Six Sigma" in problem solving. Procurement is another area that many companies are looking for: how to procure well, technology parts and other parts, both within the United States and internationally. And then logistics; there's a lot around logistic analysis planning and how to make sure you've got the right transportation network in place, because transportation, with the price of oil and just the overall cost of facilities, can be a very significant part of a company's supply chain cost.
TM: What does the job market look like for a college graduate? How would you characterize the level of demand?
LH: I think it depends on the areas of the country and the kinds of talent the people are looking for. Engineering skills seem to be highly sought after - also the kinds of higher-level technology that many of us are looking for. And then, how do we interact with our global partners as well as with our U.S. partners? That skill set, along with planning and analysis skills, to me is an area that we will continue to need in the future as we go forward.
TM: In your position, you're seeing a lot of young talent come through your offices and your facilities. Is anything missing, anything lacking in the chain of education, that we ought to be paying attention to?
LH: I would encourage us to continue looking at science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), to continue to develop a strong foundation in that set of skills. It can be an area that some students shy away from, but we really want to encourage educators to make that fun. ... We lose a number of very good talents in the middle schools by not having them see where STEM can lead and see what the fun of those techniques are. Another piece I would really encourage us to keep looking at is how do we take a very strong technical skill base and create the kind of communication skills that are required to work in a team, to problem-solve and interact across multiple functions. The two together, both written and verbal skills, are a real home run. Companies are looking for this kind of talent.
TM: When we talk about STEM - science, technology, engineering and math - the arts often are left out of the discussion. How important are the arts?
LH: That's why I bring up communication and problem solving, critical thinking. Some of that is analytically based. The creative base of problem-solving, the understanding of the different cultures and the way in which different people think - I think it's a really important piece of what we need.
TM: What is your message to young, talented, bright minds out there who, no doubt, are concerned about what the future might hold for them? They hear in the news every day that the economy is not good, not only on a local level but also on the national level and even global levels. What do you say to them?
LH: My thinking is, grab every opportunity you have from when you're in high school, when you're in university. And as you start looking for that first role, look for ways to differentiate yourself by learning how to problem solve, how to understand and accept accountability and then go find ways to make it happen. There is not a road map to solving a lot of these problems. A lot of it doesn't come straight out of textbook. This is about creativity and about leadership. Not formal leadership as much as the leadership to say, "I'll take that problem and figure out what it is and who to work with." That set of talent, project managing, you can learn that through informal roles, informal leadership through your university, through clubs and organizations. That will serve you very well in the marketplace and will differentiate you from other candidates who may not have those experiences. That's the real world we live: people being willing to accept a problem they need to solve or see an opportunity that might be hard to figure out and take that assignment on and go sort that out and become a change agent - somebody who can make things happen in a company. That set of skills and talent will serve anyone really well in the job market.