READERPROFILE Building a Supply Chain Step by Step
as told to Karen Kroll
In supply chain, you need to be resilient and resourceful and have a strong think-outside-the-box mentality. ‘The way we’ve always done it’ may not apply anymore because the environment has changed. RESPONSIBILITIES: Ensuring 3,000 restaurant locations receive their products on time, accurately, and cost effectively. Working with four partners to manage 19 distribution centers, while also managing 250 vendors across the country. EXPERIENCE: Senior manager, distribution and logistics, also with CKE Restaurants Holdings; logistics and distribution manager, and transportation manager with ACH Food Companies. EDUCATION: Studied architecture at the University of Memphis and drafting and design at Northwest Mississippi Community. JOHN BREWER is director of distribution and logistics with CKE Restaurants Holdings Inc., the company behind quick-serve restaurant brands Carl’s Jr. and Hardees.
I grew up with Legos, and own a few adult Lego sets now. Working with them helps me gain a big picture perspective. You’ve got to be able to see everything, and also see things that are not there, like a sculptor sees a monument within the marble. Whatever you’re building may not look like anything until you finish, so you have to take it methodically: step one, step two, step three. That’s how I see a supply chain across the country. If I have problems downstream, this approach helps me figure out where to go upstream to fix it. When I was hired at CKE, the company had just changed distribution partners for Carl’s Jr. One of my initial jobs was to complete the transition and get everything up and running with minimal disruption to about 1,200 stores that were served by five different
accelerated the shipment date by one day and converted a lot of our shipments to intermodal. This gave us the capacity to serve our customers and allowed us to move products at a much cheaper rate. It also balanced the work week at our distribution centers, so they could better plan their labor needs. It was a triple win across the board. In supply chain management, you need to be resilient and resourceful and have a strong think-outside-the-box mentality. “The way we’ve always done it” may not apply anymore because the environment has changed. A lot of our
distribution centers. We finished in about six months. I’m a firm believer in being out in the field at the distribution centers. I make sure things are going well and stand next to the people who make it happen and support them. I answer questions and communicate with our company operators and franchisees, so everyone knows what’s going on. At ACH, a food retail company that sells to grocery and big-box stores, we found ourselves in a capacity crunch in late 2014. Over-the-road trucks were hard to find and expensive. So, we
10 Inbound Logistics • December 2022
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