READERPROFILE Solving Problems, Improving Processes
as told to Karen Kroll
RESPONSIBILITIES: Leading the supply chain that supports building and maintaining UScellular’s wireless network. This includes strategic sourcing; planning and forecasting materials; and overseeing six warehouses, among other responsibilities. EXPERIENCE: Director, network supply chain and indirect procurement; director, business strategy; senior manager, reverse logistics; manager, reverse logistics; manager, supply chain eectiveness; senior business analyst; all with UScellular. Managing consultant, Revere Group; senior consultant, BearingPoint Consulting; systems engineer, Intergraph. EDUCATION: Loyola University, Chicago, MBA, Operations Management and International Business; Miami University, BS, Applied Science, Engineering Management. AMY AUGUSTINE is senior director of network supply chain with UScellular, the fourth-largest U.S. full-service wireless carrier.
W hen I earned my undergraduate degree in engineering management I knew that I didn’t want to work in the automotive industry, even though many of my classmates did. Instead, I went to work drawing production lines. I traveled to many manufacturing plants and caught the travel bug. My next job was a consulting role with KPMG. Even though I didn’t check all the boxes on the job description, I interviewed for the job and landed it. Women tend to not apply for jobs unless we check every box. Don’t sell yourself short! If you are interested in a role and don’t check all the boxes, you still need to apply and network to get that interview. At KPMG, I spent about four and a half years implementing SAP for the U.S. Army and creating new business processes for the Army’s supply chain.
We needed to gure out what path each product would take. A rst step was a cosmetic inspection of returned products. That alone yielded $1 million in savings, providing a return on investment in six months. Over time, we became smarter regarding what was coming back and through what channel to push each product. We weren’t equipped to be resellers, so we partnered with vendors in revenue-sharing arrangements. We learned what each was good at, and how to move products through them. While the reverse logistics function and product mix has changed over the years, the focus on making sure nothing ends up in land lls continues. For the past 18 months, my team has been working on an organizational transformation. Before I took this role, UScellular didn’t have logistics, inventory, or forecasting and planning
That’s how I got into the supply chain eld. I love being able to solve problems and gure out how to improve processes. At UScellular, one of my biggest successes was making reverse logistics a pro t center, while making sure no products ended up in land lls. My team and I knew phones and accessories would come back in different conditions—from items that are new in the box to a drone that’s in 500 pieces. “Being open and honest in communication helps bring everyone along. I’m open to knowing we’ll make mistakes, but we will learn and get better.”
10 Inbound Logistics • May 2024
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