Featured Leaders 2023: Navigating challenges and exchanging insights within Australia’s supply chain sector 

Annually, Supply Chain Channel engages in discussions with leaders in the supply chain sector, delving into their expertise, experiences, and insights in the industry. In the current year, our Featured Leaders hail from the areas of supply chain management, sustainability and ethics, retail supply chain, and logistics. 

Sustainability and Ethics 

Workplace wellbeing has become a growing concern in today’s world, and the supply chain industry is no exception. With the intense pressures of meeting tight deadlines, managing inventories, and reducing costs, those within the industry often experience high levels of stress and burnout.    

Melo Calarco is a renowned mindfulness and performance coach who teaches others how to stay energised, perform their best, and conquer burnout. 

Supply Chain talked to Melo about the importance of building resilience in a workspace. 

Supply Chain Management 

Robert Brice is the Co-Founder, President, and Chief Technology Officer of RFgen Software, a strategic partner for mobile barcoding solutions to help enterprise companies manage their inventories and reduce costs with real-time data integrated directly with major ERP operations systems.    

In this interview, Robert discussed the role that supply chain traceability plays in enhancing consumer trust and brand reputation.  

Retail Supply Chain 

Businesses worldwide are encountering a rapidly transforming retail environment, and the array of challenges has led to significant shifts in how retailers operate and vie against each other. 

In this interview, Bright Pattern General Manager Australia and New Zealand John O’Brien discussed the ever-shifting nature of the retail landscape and how one can stay above it. 

Supply Chain Management   

Any unanticipated event that disrupts the normal flow of materials and goods in the supply chain is a supply chain risk. The volatility in the market, changing consumer demand, material shortages and industry uncertainties are some of the few challenges the sector is facing.  

To help industry practitioners mitigate these risks, Supply Chain reached out to ASCI’s Chief Operating Officer Pieter Nagel as he shares his thoughts on the supply chain management challenges.   

Logistics 

Supply Chain caught up with Rob Fischer the Digital Marketing Manager at Stratco Australia, one of the largest producers and marketers of quality building and home improvement products in Australia, to talk about his passion for marketing and how they address logistical challenges at Stratco, and what it’s like to manage digital marketing for a company of Stratco’s scale.   

Retail Supply Chain 

In the dynamic landscape of modern commerce, customer loyalty stands as the foundation of business prosperity. 

To help understand what exceptional service is, Supply Chain caught up with the e-Commerce Manager at Total Tools Australia, Brandon Soo as he shared his dedication to e-commerce and his passion for exceptional service and customer retention. 

This year, the diverse array of industries represented by Supply Chain’s Featured Leaders has brought forth shared challenges and insights. A compelling narrative underlining the sector’s requirement for advancement and refinement, strategically tackling the deepening skills to stand out and elevate the nation’s supply chain landscape. 

Next year, we are set to introduce additional leaders to our Featured Leader section. For a comprehensive and current roster, be sure to visit our Featured Leader page.