Alexandre “Ale” Eboli is the Executive Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer for Conagra Brands. He has end-to-end supply chain responsibilities for the company, overseeing the manufacturing, procurement, environment, health and safety, plant quality, logistics, and transportation and warehousing teams.
Ale joined Conagra Brands with 25 years of experience in global end-to-end supply chain leadership within the consumer packaged goods industry and has held a variety of roles in finance, planning, distribution, logistics, and manufacturing. Prior to Conagra, Ale served as the Head of Supply Chain, in North America for The Unilever Group, where he was responsible for overseeing manufacturing facilities and co-manufacturers producing personal care, food, and ice cream products as well as the related planning, procurement, manufacturing, engineering, logistics, quality, manufacturing excellence and customer service functions.
Ale earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Science degree in Naval Engineering from São Paulo University. Ale serves on the board for Ardent Mills.
Listen to the full discussion here:
Connect with the Host:
Rushit Shah: LinkedIn | E-mail
Connect with the Guest:
Alexandre “Ale” Eboli: LinkedIn
Some of the highlights from the podcast:
- Passion in execution that led Ale to go back to supply chain
- Five core principles for a successful supply chain
- Key KPIs in Conagra
- Stabilization of CPGs- identifying challenges and solving them
- Finding the right balance between sustainability initiatives and P&L
- Inspiring insights and thoughts to develop a career
Show notes:
- [01:44] How did you end up becoming the Chief Supply Chain Officer?
- [04:05] Why did you come back to supply chain after moving to finance?
- [05:56] “Supply chain is not an entity in isolation, it has to be connected to the business. Being completely integrated into the business- close to the day-to-day of what is needed in terms of market dynamics and consumer understanding, allows businesses to be a better supply chain.”
- [08:53] “The better we understand our community, the better we look at them, and the more we live like them, the better we will serve them.”
- [09:31] How are you in the journey of process integration? How is the journey so far?
- [10:12] “We have so much technology available at our disposal. The question is not whether we have the technology or if the technology is good enough. The challenge is whether we have the capability to use the technology to generate insights and then transform those insights to actions that drive value.”
- [12:34] What were the key KPIs when you joined Conagra?
- [14:28] Can you pinpoint one of the biggest challenges you’re trying to face and what are your principal processes for identifying the challenge and solving it?
- [19:19] Many of the food companies have already been very pragmatic. Do you see it improving or is the hustle going to continue until the end of the year?
- [20:32] “I think that more and more It’s been demonstrated that supply chain has to be focused on agility, the macrocycles require us to be connected to that understanding as fast as possible, and then be agile to respond to it.”
- [21:20] I also want to understand how much of supply chain has raised their hands and said, “Hey, this percentage of this amount is going to be taken care of by you.” And how are you doing it?
- [23:41] When there’s cost-cutting or rapid cost going on within the business, how do you make sure that you’re doing the right thing and sustainability is not taking a backseat? How do you go and talk to companies and stakeholders about what needs to be done?
- [24:32] ”Our mantra in Conagra is, “Right for the business, right for the planet,” which means that if we have a solution in sustainability that is not good for the P&L, then the solution is not good enough and we have to go back and find one that is good for both.”
- [27:29] When it comes to technology, what is really changing? What do you think is gonna develop in supply chain?
- [32:15] How are you solving hiring challenges and the lack of talent within manufacturing?
- [33:55] If you pick up one of the best sites you have, what percentage of that plant is actually automated?
- [35:10] Is there any other quote that you would like to share, which always inspires you?
- [36:26] “Be clear on your communication. Make sure that if you speak with a CEO, he gets the message because you use the right language. If you speak to someone at a factory level, use a different language and make sure that they understand the same content. Do not change the content, just change the form.”
- [37:06] What are three books that you can recommend which has really helped you?
- [38:44] What do you do to keep up with your mental health? And how do you ensure your team’s well-being?
- [40:45] I think that protecting our personal time and being humbled to understand that there is only so much you can do, but the things that you can do, you do it right. I think that’s probably the best way of keeping us in good health condition.”
Quotes from the Episode:
About the Host:
The host, Rushit Shah is the Managing Director of APAC and North America at Alcott Global. Rushit comes with 20 years of Executive Search and Selection with 8 years of Supply Chain Consulting service within APAC. He worked for more than 40 countries with diversified industries and functionality.
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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