Speakers

As a Supply Chain leader, Chris is responsible for AbbVie’s in-house pharmacy, the Patient Assistance Program, demand/supply, third party manufacturing and commercial interface/strategic execution for AbbVie’s specialty pharmacy, immunology and neurology brands.  Chris is based in and leads his team from AbbVie’s Chicago Headquarters. 

Prior to this role, Chris was Director, Humira Franchise, supporting supply chain, purchasing, third party manufacturing and programs for the largest pharmaceutical product globally.  This role was based in Puerto Rico, supporting a global team of 8 manufacturing sites, key global TPM’s and supply for global commercial operations.  In 2013, Abbott and AbbVie separated into 2 companies, with Chris moving to AbbVie as the Biologics products were tied to AbbVie.

Before taking on the Humira role, Chris was Director, ROW distribution for Abbott Laboratories in Breda, Netherlands.  In this role he led a Dutch team with responsibility for distribution to over 100 countries for all pharmaceutical and nutritional products.

For the 1st 12 years of his career at Abbott Laboratories (Chicago) Chris held various positions within manufacturing and clinical management in production of solid dosage products.    

Chris holds a BS in Environmental Health from Bowling Green, an MS in Industrial Health from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Lake Forest GSM.

MBA, mechanical engineer, CQE and APICS CPIM certified, with three post-graduations, has worked for more than 20 years in activities related to Supply Chain , Procurement and Logistics, and for few years had coordinated the dangerous goods’ transports’ comitee at ABIQUIM – Brazilian Chemical Industries Association. Ford Motors Co., Rhône-Poulenc , British American Tobacco, Pfizer Laboratories, Takeda Pharmaceutical and Merck, Sharp & Dohme are some companies where he worked for and contributed adding value with his knowledgement and experience . Currently works as Operations Manager for Latin America External Manufaturing Operations , Consumer Care, at Bayer and teaches Negotiation and Demand Management for some major post graduation schools in São Paulo – Brazil.

Julio J. Feliciano is currently the VP of Regional Supply Chain Management at Bayer Pharmaceuticals, based in Whippany, NJ and with responsibilities across all Americas. He received his B. S from Lisbon (Portugal) University and started his career in Merck/MSD in Quality Control, becoming the head of Quality Operations in 3 European countries, later plant manager in Spain and in Global Supply Chain Management for the last 12 years. He headed Global Planning function for Merck/MSD, where he implemented SAP, developed skills in organization and achieved consistently high levels of customer service. Later he lead a team focused on supply network rationalization that delivered over $625 MM in financial benefit, $700 MM in inventory savings, managed over 8,300 regulatory filings and moved source of supply for pharmaceutical products worth over $20 Bn in revenue, without major supply impacts. He is an APICS CSCP (certified supply chain professional).

Strong skills in Demand and Supply Planning, S&OP, Change Management, Inventory Management, Pharmaceutical Operations and Supply Network rationalization. Extensive experience in leading and developing teams, project management, risk management and enterprise systems implementation.

As vice president of supply chain operations for BJC HealthCare, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit health care organizations, Steve Kiewiet leads an operations network consisting of more than 170 people across the 13-hospital system. He is also an executive lead for logistics/distribution design on a 10-year Washington University Medical Center campus renewal project.

Kiewiet oversees key strategic initiatives for BJC, including the current development of a centralized distribution strategy and implementation of RFID technology through an integrated inventory management system. He was responsible for the successful design and implementation of a nationally recognized and award-winning pilot, End-to-End Supply Chain Visibility, partnering with key strategic suppliers to break down traditional barriers in the cardiac stent supply chain.

Kiewiet is part of the senior leadership team that led the BJC supply chain organization to being named one of the 2015 Top 25 health care supply chains in the United States by Gartner, Inc.

Prior to joining BJC, Kiewiet was director of operations for Cardinal Health where he focused on strategy and development, and management of multi-million dollar business operations with specific expertise in health care supply chain, sales and distribution environments. He has also held management roles at Defibtech, LLC, PSS/World Medical, Inc. and MCR/American Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Kiewiet is Six Sigma Lean Black Belt- and CMRP-certified, and was a hospital corpsman for the U.S. Navy for 10 years where he served a variety of forward deployed combat units. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Saint Leo University in Florida, and a master’s degree in business administration from University of Tulsa.

He is active in many professional organizations throughout the region, including the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM), Boy Scouts of America and American Red Cross.

A native of Buffalo Center, Iowa, Kiewiet lives in St. Peters with his wife and four children.

Marcelo has 20 years experience in the health care and consumer/ high tech industries with Bristol-Myers Squibb and other Fortune 500 companies.  He has held management positions in the areas of logistics, operations, supply chain planning, customer service and international trade both in North and South America. His current role at BMS is Regional Director, Global Logistics Services responsible for distribution strategy, logistics compliance, 3PL management, best practices implementation and customer service.  Marcelo holds an MBA from Thunderbird, School of Global Management and a Certificate in Logistics Management from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Priya has 18+ years of experience within Transportation Logistics, Medical Device and Pharmaceutical technology deployment. She joined Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, ConvaTec division in 2001, as an IT Business Partner for Global Marketing, R&D and Quality systems. She has held roles of increasing responsibilities as an IT Business Partner for several business areas, such as Medical Affairs, Manufacturing and Supply Chain, HR and Commercial. In 2008 she led the global IT transition as ConvaTec was divested from BMS and was part of the CIO leadership team at Convatec, Inc. from 2008-2012. She then joined Merck in 2012 as manufacturing division SAP Program Director and was responsible for multiple analytics and process improvement initiatives. She was a member of Merck’s Serialization and Track & Trace team. Presently, she is the Head, IT Business Partner for Global Supply Chain at BMS. Her team is accountable for the strategy and planning of digital investments for Global Supply Chain, which includes, Logistics, Planning, Product Master Data and for the BMS Serialization program. She is a published author in peer reviewed journals for Transportation and Network Optimization.

Angela Bagley is the head of Global Planning, Logistics and Master Data at Celgene Corporation.  She has extensive experience in Product Development, Technical Operations, and Supply Chain within the biopharmaceutical industry.  

Angela’s Global Logistics organization is responsible for distributing Celgene’s $13B commercial product portfolio, and named patient/ATU supplies, to customers in over 90 countries via 60 logistics service providers & distributors; with on-time/in-full performance greater than 98%.

Prior to joining Celgene, Angela was Global Head of Pharmaceutical Supply Planning at Bristol-Myers Squibb.  She led a global planning team growth brands including ELIQUISTM and mature life cycle products. 

Prior to BMS, Angela was a Strategic Product Lead at Shire Pharmaceuticals, responsible for product life cycle management, commercialization, global launch and sales & operations planning (S&OP).  Angela started her career at Merck and had various roles with increasing responsibilities across supply chain management, pharmaceutical engineering and technical services and within R&D Process Development. 

Angela is a graduate of North Carolina State University and is a certified Lean/Six Sigma Black Belt.

Thomas Scalone has over 12 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He currently leads US commercial insourced and outsourced distribution operations and inventory control for Celgene. He is also the business owner for US serialization with responsibility for US supply chain compliance. In his previous role, he lead consolidating and outsourcing MSD and Schering Plough distribution operations. He is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and CSCP certified.

Noam Atar takes a vision and makes it reality through sound strategy development.  He sees opportunities and brings stakeholders together to help drive change. He is an inspirational leader that inspire action while at the same time is grounded in financial information that levers the business.   Noam is the Senior Director, Finance and Supply Chain at Ferring Production Inc., a privately-held global pharmaceutical manufacturing company.  He has been with Ferring since 2009.  He oversees the Finance and Supply Chain operations for Product Supply.   Most recently, he led the implementation of CT-PAT and ISA- 2 CBP (Customs and border protection) programs that redefined the import process in the U.S.    

Previously, he was the Controller for Bio Technology General – a Ferring pharmaceutical subsidiary based in Israel, where he led the implementation of AEO a customs security program that is recognized by CPB(Customs and border protection)  as a security validated program .  From 2007-2009, he worked at  Radware as Controller of International Operations where he stream lined the process of financial reporting enabling faster analyses and decision making .   He has spent more than 15 years in finance industry, focusing on improving processes, leading change and demonstrating that the finance function is a key partner to any business decision.

Noam began his career in auditing with PWC.  

Noam is a CPA , holds an MBA from the Tel Aviv University, and a BA in accounting & economics from the Hebrew University in Israel.

Kawa is a dynamic, results-oriented global leader with a passion to create value and achieve results in a way that enhances people and process capabilities. She has succeeded with this balanced approach on four continents and is fluent in Cantonese Chinese, English, and some German.

In her current role as Senior Director of Global Planning at Genentech/Roche, Kawa is accountable for the supply of the company’s $30 billion product portfolio worldwide.  She joined Genentech in 2005 and has worked in San Francisco, San Diego, and Switzerland.  Her previous roles in Genentech included Head of Manufacturing, Head of Strategy, Global Head of Operational Excellence and Head of Product Supply Chain Owners.  Kawa was one of the first female Department Heads leading Biologics Manufacturing at Genentech and championed the Genentech Women Professional at the Oceanside, CA plant.  She has successfully transformed teams and departments from chaotic mode to consistent high performing teams.

Prior to Genentech, Kawa spent 10 years with Merck where she audited thirty manufacturing plants and led global improvement programs in North America, Latin America, and Europe.  Kawa holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from the Ohio State University, a Master of Science in Engineering Degree from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from New York University.  

Kevin has over 25 years in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical supply chain, distribution and transportation management world.  His primary focus has been on operational and quality improvements while also maintaining or achieving additional cost savings through gained efficiencies.  He has extensive experience overseeing the daily operations of in-house distribution centers as well as over 17 years of experience managing third party warehousing, transportation, cold-chain and contract manufacturing vendors and suppliers.  He has had responsibility in managing all distribution & logistics operations and vendors for both domestic and international customers & partners.  Kevin has experience in managing shipping lanes for all temperature ranges (+15 to +25°C, +2 to +8°C, Frozen [Dry Ice], and Deep Frozen [LN2]), and using various active and passive solutions to meet all shipment size requirements (small parcel, pallet sized air shipments, Truckload, Less Than Truckload, and Sea Container).

Kevin has worked for various manufacturers over the years and has lived in multiple regions of the country, most recently moving to the San Diego area to work with Gilead Biologics at their Oceanside, California site.

Joe is a passionate technologist with 7 years of experience in Operations Research and Data Analytics. He is responsible for the delivery of Advanced and Predictive Analytics as a shared service for Johnson & Johnson globally, and is the founder of the Johnson & Johnson “Data Labs”, a rapid prototyping facility for analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence applications.

Joe has been an active TEDx Organizer for the duration of his time at J&J, and is more recently the co-host of Season 1 on the “J&J Innovation Podcast” on iTunes, and founder of the ‘J&J Podcasts’ enterprise platform.

Mark Talens, Executive Director Supply Chain Management within Merck. Mark Leads the Enterprise Solution Group which is responsible for

• Global Process Management (Plan, Make, Deliver, Enable, IBP and PLM)

• Global Program Management (ERP, DRP and Data Architecture platforms as well as Serialization and Global SCM Quality Compliance)

• Supply Chain Innovation & Technology (adoption and learning of disruptive technology like blockchain, IoT, Virtual Agents/ML)

Prior to this role Mark was responsible for the Latin American Supply Chain Operations and held various roles within Planning and Logistics and worked in Europe, North America and Latin America.

Bharath partners with senior supply chain and manufacturing executives across Merck KGaA in identifying opportunities to drive best in class performance through advanced analytics, data mining, rich visualizations and new technologies. He is currently responsible for the digital transformation of the global manufacturing and supply chain function of the Biopharma business of Merck KGaA and particularly focused on autonomous operations.

Jounal is Head of Supply Chain Management, External Supply Operations (ESO) Americas for Novartis, Sandoz, and Alcon.  Jounal leads a cross divisional team responsible for 3rd Party Supply Chain Planning, Product Life Cycle Management, Operational Excellence, and Artwork Operations for the Americas Region.  With nearly 18+ years of experience in Global Supply Planning, Operations, Internal and External Supply Management, Jounal has demonstrated success in global change management initiatives, redesigning and optimizing Supply Chain organizations, improving customer service levels, recruiting talent and building high performing teams.  Jounal earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken NJ, with plans to complete a Master’s in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing from his Alma Mater later this year.  

Eric heads Pfizer’s Supply Chain Performance organization and is primarily responsible for global inventory management & reporting as well as Pfizer’s Supply Chain Digitization strategy. Eric is a member of Pfizer’s Working Capital Optimization team. In his Supply Chain Digitization role, he is responsible for design, development, deployment & sustainment of next generation tools and processes to measure & drive continuous improvement of supply chain performance from raw material procurement through finished good delivery to customers. In addition, Eric heads a variety of platform services including Drug Shortage Reporting, Serialization Supply Chain Planning, Supply Chain Process & relevant master data governance. Previously Eric was head of Supply Chain Planning for Pfizer Essential Health.

Sam Ruda joined the Port Authority of NY & NJ as the Assistant Director, Port Business Development, in August of 2015. In this role, Sam oversees the retention and growth of the Port’s maritime business lines. Additionally, this role has oversight of the Port’s marine property and leasing division. In December of 2016, Sam was named Deputy Director with additional responsibilities covering port performance initiatives and innovation.

Prior to joining the Port Authority of NY & NJ, Sam was Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) for the Port of Portland (Oregon). In this role, Sam had responsibility for the maritime and aviation business activity in addition to the Port’s industrial real estate portfolio. From 2003 to February of 2012, Sam was the Director of Marine and Industrial Development at the Port of Portland.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Sam began his career as a management trainee with the global container carrier Sea-Land Service. He has also held sales and management positions with American President Lines and NYK Line. From 1997-2001 Sam was Coordinating Manager for NYK’s North American Liner division based in Tokyo, Japan and later had responsibility for North Asia Marketing and Pricing based in Hong Kong, PRC.

Prior to joining the Port of Portland, Sam was Director of Global Transportation for Nike Inc, overseeing international logistics for the Beaverton, Oregon based athletic footwear and apparel company.

Sam holds a bachelor’s degree in economics (1985) from Rutgers University.

Kaizar Lehri is Director of Supply Chain Systems at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. He leads a team that is responsible for supply chain transformation and technology implementation, global serialization, and master data management. Kaizar has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical / biotech industry with companies like IBM, Medeva, Celltech, UCB, Biogen and Regeneron. He has held various leadership positions in supply chain including demand and supply planning, S&OP and distribution optimization. He has led multiple new product launches, serialization programs, business process improvement initiatives, and ERP and planning system implementations. Kaizar earned his bachelors degree in Engineering from Mumbai University in India, and his MBA from Goizueta School of Business (Emory University - Atlanta GA).

Regional Serialization program Manager:   Graduated in Chemical Engineering from Widener University, with 34 years’ experience in the Pharamceutical industry in Engineering, QA, Supply chain and Manufacturing sites .    I have been involved in Serialization Globally since 2005 starting with the California Serialization regulation and Turkey.  Currently monitoring Global Serialization programs and the effects on the  internal supply chain and opportunities to use serialization for business strategies.  Currently managing the implementation of DSCSA requirements from a plant sites to reverse logistics   Represent Novartis on GS1, PDSA and AAM supply chain task force for DSCSA.  

Daniel J. Hoey has nearly 30 years of experience in the global pharmaceutical industry as a senior leader specializing in supply chain management, manufacturing and business operations.  In September 2017, Dan was appointed Senior Vice President, Global Supply Chain, Teva Global Operations, with responsibility for ensuring the highest levels of customer service for the largest and most competitive fully integrated global manufacturing and supply chain organization in the industry.  With unrivaled capabilities across the full spectrum of technologies, Teva’s global operations network delivers high-quality, patient-centric healthcare solutions to millions of patients in over 100 markets every day.  

Previously, Dan led Global Manufacturing and Supply Chain for Teva Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, and held oversight responsibility for Teva’s Biologics Operations.  

Prior to joining Teva in 2016, Dan held senior leadership roles for global operations at Merck where he served in a variety of technical operations, supply chain, and contract manufacturing roles during the course of his 27 years there. 

Dan earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Michigan State University. In addition, he holds an Executive Belt in Lean/Six Sigma and is also certified in change execution methodology and behavior-based performance improvement.

M. Dave Malenfant is currently Executive Vice President of Industry Liaison and Talent Development for the BSMA (Biotech Supply Management Alliance). He also serves as Director and oversees the Advisory Board for the Center for Supply Chain Innovation at Texas Christian University. Dave is responsible for driving Industry relations in the Biotech, Biopharma Supply Chain for the BSMA. Prior to this appointment, Dave served on the Advisory Board for the BSMA from its inception. With a passion for talent development and career planning, Dave has helped both the BSMA and the Center for Supply Chain Innovation drive Young Professional career development and mentoring programs for students. Prior to joining the BSMA and TCU, Dave spent over 30 years in a variety of industry roles. As an entrepreneur, Dave was Co-founder and President of Signature Consultants, Inc., (1973) a business, finance, and economic consulting firm that he ultimately sold in 1993. He created and operated a variety of other businesses that are still profitable in Canada today. In 1993, Dave joined Alcon Laboratories where he steadily advanced through leadership roles such as Purchasing Manager, Materials Operation Manager, and Global Supply Chain Director before becoming the Vice President of Global Supply Chain in 2005. In this role, Dave provided strategic direction for the company’s Global Supply Chain initiatives and created global centers of excellence for Purchasing, Distribution, Transportation, Customer Service, Sales and Operations Management, Data Management, Graphic Design and Artwork Development, and Product Launches. Dave retired from Alcon in 2014. Dave is recognized for the creative development of standardized systems and business processes, and for developing enabling technology throughout the entire supply chain. During his career, Dave has implemented over 30 different computer systems – WMS, ERP, Finite Scheduling, Product Launch, and Order Entry, among others. Dave is past Chairman of the Supply Chain Council and past member of the Executive Committee of NASSTRAC Given his vast knowledge of the end-to-end, integrated supply chain, Dave is a frequent speaker on Global Supply Chain Trends. He has consistently demonstrated his passion for Supply Chain management, developing talent, and the need to advance Supply Chain theory and innovation throughout a variety of industries.

Life Sciences Supply Chain Sr. Manager with key strengths in leadership, collaboration, and critical thinking. Bachelor's Degree in Business with a double major in Marketing and Business Information Systems. Previous consulting and client management experience with a healthcare consulting firm. Accenture experience includes delivery network logistics with large products retailer, supply chain fulfillment and transportation management experience at large telecommunications client, and global transportation optimization initiatives with life sciences clients.

Stephanie is the leading Supply Chain & ERP Transformation Managing Director in Accenture’s Life Sciences practices.  She has led several clients through value chain transformation journeys, from Strategy through Technology implementation.  Stephanie’s 18 years of consulting experience also spans  assessments and implementation of innovative solutions across customer channels, market shaping initiatives to support new business opportunities, and outsourcing solutions for clients in the BioTech,  Pharmaceutical and Manufacturing industries. 

Carly Guenther is a Managing Director in the Life Sciences Management Consulting practice of Accenture and specializes in navigating global organizations through complex challenges related to visibility and security (serialization) within the supply chain and large scale digital transformation (e.g. IIoT, RPA/AI, Blockchain). Carly's areas of expertise include strategy definition, business process design and deployment, change management, and deployment - specifically within Life Sciences Supply Chain. Carly graduated from Purdue University where she holds a bachelors degree in Industrial Engineering. She received a Masters of Business Administration degree at University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill.

Brad Pawlowski is Managing Director in Accenture’s Life Science Supply Chain practice and a recognized expert on Business Transformation programs. The global leader of Accenture’s Supply Chain Planning and Advanced Analytics practice, Brad has broad experience managing international teams in diverse industries and markets, including healthcare/life sciences, consumer products, high tech, and aerospace and defense. A focused and energetic leader with experience driving business transformations and organizational change, his areas of expertise include developing strategies for global supply chain management, product management, business development, and enabling technologies.

Mary Rollman is part of Accenture Strategy and is a Managing Director and North America Supply Chain Lead. Mary is a thought leader with deep expertise in Operations. She has been both a practitioner and consultant. She has deep global experience working in growth markets such as India, Russia and Turkey as well as traditional markets in the US and Europe. Before Accenture, Mary was a Director in the Amgen Global Supply Chain organization from 2012 to 2015 responsible for Mergers and Acquisitions Due Diligence, International Expansion and Operational Excellence. Mary has 21 years of experience in a variety of Supply Chain roles across industries including Consumer Goods, Biotech, Pharmaceuticals, High Tech and Retail. She has a BA in Marketing from Briar Cliff University and is a Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.

An entrepreneur at heart, Fred founded his first company at the age of 23. Prior to launching Aera, Fred was the CEO of Anaplan, which he grew from 20 to 650 employees, and a $1B+ valuation. Before that, he held several executive positions at SAP, Business Objects and ALG software.

Gisli Herjolfsson is Co-Founder and CEO of Controlant, a B2B cloud, IoT, and services provider headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland with operations in North America and Denmark. Mr. Herjolfsson founded the company with colleagues from the University of Iceland during the onset of the H1N1 “Swine Flu” outbreak. The wireless, reusable data logger and software technology was used by Iceland’s Directorate of Health to safety monitor the transport and storage of vaccines throughout Iceland, reducing wastage due to temperature excursions to 0.3 percent. Today, the company serves more than 200 customers, including SMB and Pharmaceutical enterprises, in 100 countries globally.

Rodolfo is an industrial engineer expert in the movements of pharmaceuticals by airfreight. He was in charge of the CEIV PHARMA for both Airline and handler certifications within LATAM CARGO. Rodolfo holds 6 years of worthwhile experience in the airfreight sector, 2 years in which was an important member of the PHARMA product developing team within LATAM CARGO, leading the project by the operational side. Now Rodolfo is the head of the product development and management unit of the company.

Tom Strohl, an Oliver Wight principal, is a consultant, coach, and educator providing companies with guidance in Operations Planning and Control and Integrated Business Planning. In a career spanning more than 30 years working in industry, Tom has developed an acute awareness of the need to bring formality and process to both the business systems and the human capital needed to run those systems. He views the readiness of employees to embrace fundamental change in any business process as a critical success factor for sustained excellence.

Specializing in Operations Planning and Control principles, Tom has excelled in business turnaround situations. He has repeatedly used Proven Path tools and concepts to influence companies to formalize systems of control and business processes for Demand, Supply, and Inventory Planning. In every case, this has resulted in the desired improvements in reliability and predictability of product supply, product quality, cycle times, inventory turns, and conversion costs.

Tom led a successful Class A Accreditation effort in Planning and Control for one $200 million business unit of Watson Pharmaceuticals resulting in savings in operating costs and working capital of over $28 million, full alignment of production processes, quality systems and human capital, improved inventory turns, cycle time reduction, scrap reduction, and improved service levels. Immediately following accreditation, Tom then led a successful JD Edwards ERP system implementation. This system implementation was completed in only 9 months, on time and on budget, in a near flawless execution of the implementation plan largely facilitated by the systems of control, business processes, and employee readiness created through the Planning and Control initiatives.

As vice president for Qualitest Pharmaceuticals, Tom led a successful effort to bring Fast Track S&OP/IBP to the business along with implementation of Oliver Wight’s Enterprise Sales and Operations Planning Tool (ESOPT). This resulted in an integrated process for managing demand, supply and inventory planning, new product development, and financial planning and aligning them with the strategic initiatives of the business.

Tom earned his BS in Business Management from Mankato State University.

Kevin Lawler is the Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Pelican BioThermal. During his nearly eight years with Pelican BioThermal, the company has achieved average year-to-year skyrocketing growth rates of over 40 percent. With more than 25 years of successful sales leadership experience, Kevin has a strong history in building and leading sales organizations capable of producing strong and predictable growth. Kevin earned an MBA from the University of Montana and resides with his family in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Brooke Williams, Director, Supply Chain Business Network – Brooke is a supply chain expert, with over 25 years experience in this field of practice.   Brooke has held a variety of positions including consultant, solution engineer, and value engineer in his 20 year career at SAP.

In his current role, Brooke is helping SAP Ariba customers identify business value through digital supply chain collaboration processes.   He is excited to be a part of the network technology evolution that is transforming the way leading supply chain partners communicate.

Brooke is an APICS certified CPIM.   He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Management and an MBA with an Operations Research focus, both from the University of Alabama.  He resides near St. Louis, MO with his wife and two teenage daughters.   He enjoys all things outdoors, including fishing and making things to grow in the garden.

Luca is CTO-Smart Cold Chain at Sensitech, where he is leading technology strategy and new tech developments.  Prior he was a program manager in data analytics and user experience in the Otis Program Office, and prior, had experience with new technologies, such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and autonomous systems at the United Technologies Research Center.  He has a Ph.D. from MIT in aeronautics/astronautics, focusing on robust planning for drones. 

Richard Ettl is the co-founder and CEO of Smart Containers Group, a Swiss high-tech container provider aiming to create the first fully autonomous container based on blockchain technology, consequently disrupting the logistic industry. 

Smart Containers Group has 2 divisions, it’s first being SkyCell, the leading high-tech company in the pharma packaging space. The company has grown to become the 4th largest player in 5 years. SkyCell’s containers are used to transport multiple billion dollars of revenue for Top pharma companies in their fleet of own designed containers by airfreight – worldwide.

Richard and his co-founder Nico Ros, are applying this technology now to the food industry through their division FoodGuardians and have signed with the largest manufacturer of food crates in Europe.

All SkyCell and FoodGuardian containers will be tracked and managed through the blockchain laying the foundation for the “autonomous container”.

Richard holds a Bachelor of Arts in Management from Université de Fribourg and Stanford University CA. He helped to build up the Institute for Value-Based Entrepreneurship “IVE” in Switzerland, which provided to more than 2500 students business plan creation classes to date.

Vishal Khushalani currently leads Sonoco Protective Solutions’ global marketing and business development organization. Over the last 20+ years, Vishal has led and managed various assignments with Fortune 1000 companies in business development, marketing, product innovation, and mergers and acquisitions across Americas, Europe, and APAC regions. Vishal has a Bachelor’s Degree in Process Engineering and holds an MBA from the Darla Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina, USA.

Ben VanderPlas is the Global Product Manager for Sonoco ThermoSafe. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science from Michigan State Universities School of Packaging and has a Masters in Engineering Management from Northwestern University. Over the past 13 years Ben has had various roles within ThermoSafe including engineering, sales, and marketing.  He retains a Certified Packaging Professional designation from the Institute of Packaging Professionals and has co-authored technical supplements to the World Health Organizations Technical Report Series Number 961, for the Qualification of Shipping Containers.

Jim is an experienced Executive with over 20 years in the Enterprise Software, Life Sciences, Healthcare, and Manufacturing industry. He leads the T-Systems North America Healthcare and Life Sciences vertical. He has been engaging with clients on DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION through numerous projects leveraging: Cloud, Big Data, and IoT. Jim is active in Pharma dealing with the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) and the FDA regulatory guidelines. Working with partners to bring new Healthcare solutions that help Providers and Payors leverage the benefits of cloud hosting. 

He has a background and experience in Clinical Development; Supply Chain Management; Manufacturing; CRM (Sales and Service); IoT; Big Data / Analytics; Cloud Computing; Blockchain, and Regulatory Standards using SAP, Oracle and Microsoft solutions.

Vinodh leads the Supply Chain Management practice at ZS and additionally works across multiple clients helping drive business transformation through leveraging analytics and data science. He brings extensive experience across a number of industries including Healthcare, Travel & Transportation, Manufacturing and Financial Services. Prior to joining ZS Associates, Vinodh was vice president and lead of the travel and hospitality business unit at Cognizant, where he more than quadrupled the business to $300 million annually. He also served as chief strategy officer for the products and resources business unit at Cognizant where he owned strategic initiatives and priority service lines including supply chain management, digital and loyalty, and analytics. Previously, Vinodh held various roles in financial services.

Marissa Alvord is Program Director for LogiPharma, LogiMed and FIMA. With over seven years of conference production experience, Marissa specializes in market research in the financial, pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device industries. Marissa cut her teeth in conference production working for a small publishing house in London producing events for the English education sector. She holds her MA from SOAS, University of London. Outside of the office, Marissa enjoys cycling, gardening, cooking and enjoying music.