Houssam is the Group VP supply chain of FORVIA, a $30 billion automotive company. He manages a supply chain of 12,000 people located in 250 plants globally.
Houssam has an international background and a deep passion for the automotive industry. He takes great pride in supply chain and operations.
Prior to joining FORVIA, he worked in various Supply Chain roles at large companies across industrial and telco, such as Stellantis, Bombardier, Michelin, and ALCATEL. He has led huge transformations and implementations around the globe. He began his career as a software engineer at CAPGEMINI.
Listen to the full discussion here:
Connect with the Guest:
Houssam Hage: LinkedIn
Some of the highlights from the podcast:
- Career Journey: a software engineer’s shift to supply chain leadership.
- Success Formula: vision, listening, and team care for a thriving career.
- Team Culture: Forvia’s culture emphasizes action over talk.
- Automotive supply chain: facing challenges and opportunities
Show notes:
- [1:20] Please tell us about you, share with us your career story. Why did you choose supply chain as a career from a software engineer?
- [5:24] What makes you a different supply chain leader? What is your formula for a successful career in supply chain?
- [7:47] So this is the way I’m behaving, listening to the people, defining the vision with them, and then implementing it while caring about them.
- [10:10] What are your current responsibilities at FORVIA? How would you describe the culture of your team?
- [12:31] How do you keep such a huge international team united and motivated to achieve big goals?
- [19:35] How is the Supply Chain function perceived within Forvia? A strategic partner or the function that simply moves goods from the factory to the customer? How do you achieve this status?
- [23:55] How do you drive supply chain transformation? Give us some examples of the transformations you feel proud of. And the most challenging moments you’ve faced?
- [27:09] So it was a clear vision, smart roadmap, nice in a funny atmosphere, but also respectful, the rundown. And I think, after that, it gives me a lot of credibility when the people work with me, they know that I will care about them, and I will not let them in bad situations, I will do everything to make their career better providing that they are performing.
- [30:27] Share with us the beauty of the supply chain in the automotive industry? What is the uniqueness of it?
- [32:37] I think the beauty or the challenge of the automotive is that you need to be extremely performing, extremely performing. It’s part of the supply chain.
- [33:52] What are the challenges and trends in the automotive supply chain?
- [38:02] What are the challenges on the people’s side? What are major qualities you look for in the supply chain talents of the future?
- [41:44] Draw a picture of a great supply chain leader? What should this person look like?
- [44:08] A good leader is someone who has a clear vision, a clear incarnation of the vision, and an approach where he or she is taking care of the people.
- [44:18] What is your motto?
Quotes from the Episode:
About the Host:
The host, Fei Yu has over 15+ years of experience in Executive Search and Talent Acquisition & Management, gained from top-tier consultancy and premium executive search firms. She is an advocate of cross-cultural networking and has successfully organized and moderated public events.
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-based 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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