Mourad Tamoud joined Schneider Electric in 1997 as Supply Chain & Logistics Manager. In 2012 he became Senior VP of Global Supply Chain China, a post in which he had oversight of manufacturing and distribution operations for the region, and was responsible for safety, quality, customer satisfaction, procurement, and supply chain.
Mourad was first appointed to the position of Executive Vice President of Global Supply Chain Operations for Schneider Electric in June 2016. As of January 2019, Mourad added Procurement to his responsibilities and served as Chief Supply Chain Officer overseeing the end-to-end supply chain: including Procurement, Industrial Operations, Logistics & Network Design, and Planning, as well as driving the strategic agenda for the entire Supply Chain organization. He is also a member of the Schneider Electric Executive Committee.
Listen to the full discussion here:
Connect with the Guest:
Mourad Tamoud : LinkedIn
Some of the highlights from the podcast:
- From engineering school to supply chain and logistics
- Challenges Schneider Electric faced during the pandemic and how they addressed it
- STRIVE and the Zero Carbon Project
- Thoughts about artificial intelligence
- How to hire right and key advice for the future
Show notes:
- [1:11] How did you decide, once you graduate, to go into logistics and supply chain?
- [2:38] For me, the consecration of standings, three years in an engineering school and finally getting into a plant and meeting real people and understanding how a process runs, etc., I think this is probably one of the steps where I kind of started getting into it.
- [5:51] How were the last three years for you during COVID?
- [12:35] Those constant disruptions that we have gone through in the last three years, have somehow pushed the level of collaboration and the intensification of the connections in our network.
- [15:09] What would be some of the key or the proudest case study or practical initiatives that you started three years ago and now are in full swing implemented? Maybe you have some already results that make you so proud that you want to share with our audience?
- [19:57] We have decided in 2021 to launch what we call the Zero Carbon Project, where we engage with 1000 of our top suppliers, the program to reduce by half their CO2 emission and we provided the support, technology platforms, digital platforms with resources, etc. and the expertise coming from Schneider to help them.
- [24:41] AI is a big changer in the way we work in the way we live in all of that and linking it to people and the augmentation is we have the phrase that people with AI will replace people without AI. What are your thoughts? Tell us a little bit about how you’re thinking about AI and how to use it.
- [25:32] While I consider a new use in the world very rapidly, I consider that our supply chain professionals and people will be always needed, I consider that they will be augmented, and they will be augmented in a way that we could better leverage their brainpower, and somewhere kind of better and faster and easier automate the I would say repetitive tasks.
- [32:38] Whare are the key positions within Schneider, so maybe tell us one or two secrets to success and also one or two mistakes that you might have made, what went wrong, and why?
- [34:55] I’m looking at people that are easy to do business really, you need to be someone that has the ability to listen to the customer and eagerness to learn every day.
- [38:19] What would be one piece of advice that you would give to a newcomer into supply chain starting their career wanting to one day become a C-level executive like you?
- [38:45] You need to do what you like and you need to like what you do. And when there is an inconsistency in the sentence for yourself, you better step back, rethink what you’re doing and probably go for something else and change your career route.
Quotes from the Episode:
About the Host:
The host, Radu Palamariu is the co-author of “From Source to Sold – Stories of Leadership in Supply Chain”. He has been named one of the top 3 Global Supply Chain Influencers on LinkedIn and was featured in Forbes, Bloomberg, WEF, Bangkok Post, and MIT Supply Chain Talent magazine. Radu invites executives to share stories and perspectives around technology, logistics, e-commerce, supply chain, and manufacturing, and their views on how the future will look.
Alcott Global connects and upgrades the supply chain ecosystem by finding the right talent through executive search, developing talent through learning solutions, and meeting supply chain technology needs through a comprehensive crunch base marketplace.
The supply chain executive search has been our focus since the very beginning, offering recruitment services for top-tier supply chain roles at every level of the end-to-end supply chain: plan, source / procure, make, and deliver. Our consultants have years of experience in placing top talent, in North America, LATAM, Europe, the Middle East & Africa, and APAC, and besides speed, one of our biggest strengths is our network within the supply chain industry, and we capitalize on it to find the best solutions.
Through the years, we have grown as an organization and our offerings with it. One of our initiatives, the learning solutions- training and supply chain academy, is focused on transforming leadership- self-leadership, executive presence, influence capital, and business acumen. Through Supplify, we aim to match corporations with the top technology companies to solve their supply chain and logistics challenges with a focus on innovation and digital transformation.
We are in constant touch with the leaders in supply chain, inviting them to inspire the supply chain professionals in thought-provoking podcast episodes and events, and showcasing what is possible at the yearly Leaders in Supply Chain Awards.
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