According to you, what is Supply Chain?
First and foremost, Supply Chain is about people. I find it to be a very interesting and enriching "function" within an organization since it is extremely correlated to many others "departments". When you think/design/operate a Supply Chain, stakeholder management is of upmost importance with many functions such as Operations at large, Finance, Tax, IT, Commercial and even Marketing.
As Supply Chainer, your mission is to understand the requirements/needs/projections of all those fonctions and make them an operational reality. Find the best compromise within those elements to meet customer demand and even more importantly their expectations.
More and more, data are a great asset to evaluate a Supply Chain and its processes. Metrics are key to drive fact-based decisions which then require to be communicated/shared the right way to all relevant stakeholders. Hence, coming back to people...
Describe Supply Chain Operations in three words…
| HANDS-ON | PRAGMATIC | SWISSNESS |
What were the major milestones and the learning you gained from your experience?
Taking a step back, here are some of the key evolutions and the learnings from my career:
- From Corporate to Consultancy: life changing! Incredible to see new horizons and open to new challenges. In the Corporate life, we always strive and work towards similar goals that do not change that much over time. While in consulting every project comes with a new set of challenges and very different stakes. This is extremely stimulating and motivating!
- Integrating Sustainability: at first a buzz word which is not easy to fully understand. Once I grasped the concepts, it opened many new understandings and brought new lights. It helps to understand the world a different way and take new perspectives. I feel it brings a great opportunity to do better across many different dimensions including reducing costs.
- From mid-term to long-term perspective, opened my eyes on the different set of priorities and perspective someone has within an organization. This got me to understand how all pieces start to fit into each other and the importance on aligning the objectives. This is obviously true for both the operations but also for projects. In a fast changing environment, how do you align all projects and ensures that they will make all sense at the time they are implemented?
- From Operations to Management simply taught my that my problems were not the problem of the entire organization. It opened my eyes on the fact that each position has its sets of challenges and responsibilities and thus that everyone must contribute at his scale.
- From Education to first job; theory is not reality. But I was lucky enough to be trained on soft skills allowing to navigate new environments.
What are the 3 key success factors driving a supply chain project?
- Stakeholder understanding: who is impacted by the project? Why is he/she sponsoring or pushing back this dimension? How does it fit in the bigger picture of the company (but also the individual)? Who are the key stakeholder to onboard and to get sponsorship from?
- Cross-functionality: ensuring to have all departments involved and participating in the journey. Communication level must be adjusted individually to ensure the right information is shared in a meaningful way.
- Fun: we spend more time working then being home, why not having fun while doing it?
Work, life, family, hobbies, etc. What motivates/passionate you outside of your professional life?
I discover every day the joy of being a father of 2 boys born in 2020 and 2022. Thus quite time-consuming at the very moment 😊.
Other than spending time with family and friends, I am passionate about wine and its industry. Also deeply rooted to the food industry in which I worked during my studies.
Last but not least, how do you stay up-to-date about the industry, its challenges/opportunities/evolutions/transformations?
Nowadays my key challenge is not to be overloaded by information. Simple source of information are often great such as:
- Newsletter from key industry players
- Podcasting is a great way to be informed on the move
- Seminars and events not only allow to stay up-to-date but also to network
And sometimes, it is good to go back for more formal trainings such as CAS.
Chinese Portrait
Further insights on Tim's career:
https://supplychainoperations.ch/collaborator/tim-foetisch/
Follow Tim on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/timfoetisch/
