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Interview
“ No two days are the same,” she laughs.“ SPPD was established to drive the most efficient, effective, and technology-led operations for our supply network. It has been incredibly beneficial for the wider Caterpillar business to have an organization focused not necessarily on day-to-day operations, but on exploring the entire landscape. From order management with our dealers through to S & OP planning and procurement, we develop a synchronized end-to-end supply chain by leveraging innovative technology, robust business processes, and most importantly, our talented employees.”
As a global organization with over 6000 direct suppliers supporting more than 300 products, Caterpillar must ensure customers around the world receive the products they need when they need them, and with the highest quality, cost, and delivery performance. Responsible for designing, developing, and connecting world-class capabilities, SPPD was established to create value across the company’ s supply ecosystem. SPPD connects the end-to-end supply network, ensuring efficient operations across the supply chain and driving the wider groups’ long-term vision.
Navigating uncertainty
Elaborating on her approach to leadership, Pam explains:“ Over the course of my career, I’ ve gained insights into the strategic priorities of procurement and supply chain operations, and I’ ve led organizations through some very challenging times. If I’ ve learned one thing, it’ s that change and disruption are constant. As a leader, you must ensure the supply chain is agile and adaptable; great supply chains will not only survive major events but also thrive under those conditions.
“ One of the most important leadership attributes is to continuously deliver value while focusing on the long-term vision. In SPPD, we refer to our initiatives as‘ perform and transform,’ which aims to simultaneously perform for today and transform for the future. It’ s important to be aware of what the company needs to succeed to ensure you can respond and adapt quickly, but also understand the investments required in anticipation of the future. We treat our suppliers as an extension of our business, with our ability to perform depending on their performance. Positive supplier relationships are key in both exceptional and challenging times. Like any relationship, they are most tested under strenuous conditions.”
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been significant emphasis on supply chain resiliency, followed by debates around whether resiliency is now more important than efficiency.“ At Caterpillar, we are embracing both resiliency and efficiency; I don’ t think it’ s a case of choosing one over the other, but rather investing equally in both,” Pam says.“ We learned a tremendous amount from the pandemic, but Caterpillar had been investing in building resiliency long before. We’ ve continued to invest in our data platforms, and we’ ve built additional resiliency tools to understand and recognize vulnerabilities.
“ Resiliency isn’ t just about adding more suppliers or sources but rather collaborating with our existing suppliers to understand their resiliency strategy and any potential weaknesses. We assess supply resiliency at an individual part level to find the best opportunities and strengthen our existing network. We’ re also developing business continuity strategies with our suppliers to ensure we’ re building capabilities for our critical products. There will always be another event that occurs, so we must be ready to respond when it does happen; we want the supply chain to be one of Caterpillar’ s competitive advantages.”
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