Bonus Insights: Caroline Zimmermann - Director of Supply Chain, Planning & Purchasing, Jack Wolfskin
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Caroline Zimmermann is Director of Supply Chain Planning & Purchasing at Jack Wolfskin, one of the Topgolf Callaway Brands, and an advocate for diversity and sustainability within the male-dominated operations environment.
A Brazilian national, she made her way around the globe (starting in South America, to Asia and ultimately Europe), growing her career and helping organisations successfully stabilise and optimise the supply chain with a diverse, sustainable and innovative approach.
WATCH her DELIVER Europe 2023 Keynote: S&OP - the Cost of NOT Doing Things
Key Fact: 40% of global CEOs think their organisation will no longer be economically viable in ten years' time on current course (PwC)
Embracing Collaboration
“Good planning is about collaboration. You need to watch what your colleagues are doing – the player next to you, as in an orchestra. And if you do not engage in the same strategy by watching their movement, you won't know what's different in the business.
So it's about really embracing the collaboration, the coordination, the synchronisation of the plans. And that's really about trusting your partner, and working together.”
Conducting the Orchestra
“You need to have kind of a conductor or a coach: you need your CEO or CFO to endorse a culture of collaboration, because as long as you can prove the benefits to all the participants – and that comes with data transparency, or a single source of truth – that's sufficient enough to coordinate them with results. Everyone can profit in that process in a different way. So you will still need your senior management to be the ones endorsing and defining the strategy.”
A Single Source of Truth
“Ensure that your systems are matched, that your reports are efficient, that they are trustable. It's very important to have a single source of truth. Very open organisations have multiple systems: they have ERP, they have supply chain management, logistics systems, they have PLM. All of those systems may overlap from time to time. It's very important that all the functions coordinate and control input, so the output you get is your single source. Different visuals, yes, and great analytics – but all based on the input.”