ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Elancheran Jayaraman

Amit Sinha

Amit Sinha is an accomplished leader, consultant, trainer, author, and researcher in the areas of digital supply network, supply chain management, operations management, and enterprise technology. A Production and Industrial Engineer and an MBA by education, Mr. Sinha has more than 16 years of professional experience in integrated business planning, sales and operations planning, production scheduling, manufacturing, logistics, order management, data strategy, and technology applications.

Mr. Sinha is currently serving as a leader in the Enterprise Performance practice of Deloitte Consulting, helping leading organizations with digital transformation, supply network design, value creation, change management, and technology and data strategy. He started his professional career with a manufacturing firm learning production processes, quality control, new product development, and customer management. Driven by the impact of value creation through process transformation and technology adoption, he joined Accenture, where he architected and delivered supply chain solutions for business transformation projects. Later he moved to Deloitte, leading the internal organization building and external consulting assignments. Mr. Sinha has worked extensively for industry leaders in manufacturing, consumer products, life sciences, and technology sectors while living in different cities of USA, Europe, and Asia.

Mr. Sinha is the leader of training and skills development for his team at Deloitte, helping consultants to broaden the cutting-edge skills for solving the challenges of the current and future business problems related to supply chain and technology. He has helped multiple leading organizations with the supply chain training strategy and organization readiness to adopt the changes brought through digitization and automation.

Mr. Sinha has been a speaker in numerous leading conferences and business and technology events. He has authored textbooks and professional books on supply chain management, integrated business planning, sales and operations planning, and intelligent enterprise. His research papers on supply chain, and education and talent development have been published by leading international journals. He has delivered guest lectures at many leading business schools in US, Denmark, and India. Apart from work, his other interest areas are travel, tennis, yoga, meditation, writing, teaching, and spending time with family and friends.

Ednilson Bernardes

Dr. Ednilson Bernardes is an award-winning researcher and a Professor of supply chain management. He started his post-secondary education and career with the Brazilian Air Force, where, upon graduation, he worked in air transportation as an air crewmember and led quality control and process improvement initiatives. His responsibilities also included inventory management, project management, material management and relationships with suppliers, directing maintenance, operations and monitoring activities, and aircrew training.

He later joined the aerospace conglomerate Embraer, the world’s third largest aircraft manufacturer, under their Young Talents Program, a fast career track program aimed at training and developing selected employees to ascend to critical leadership roles. In this position, he experienced many aspects of global supply chain design and operation, from product development to global strategic sourcing, product certification, compliance, and delivery. He led process innovation and digitization projects as well as quality and performance improvement initiatives, and served as a liaison between engineering departments.

Dr. Bernardes holds a PhD in Operations and Management Science from the University of Minnesota and a Master’s Science degree in Operations, Innovation, and Technology Management from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. His research focuses on competitive dynamics and innovation in supply network operations and integration and innovation in buyer-supplier relationships. He has served as a guest speaker and delivered talks, seminars, and training to various organizations and countries in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. He started the Global Supply Chain Management Program at West Virginia University (WVU) and has served as its inaugural Program Coordinator. He also founded the WVU Supply Chain Advisory Council, recruited its initial cadre of members, and has led the interactions and work between the Chambers College and the council. He was a member of the team charged with reimagining the vision and mission of the John Chambers College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University and of selected graduate programs.

Besides research, Dr. Bernardes has interacted with and led or facilitated innovation and performance improvement initiatives in large organizations, such as Toyota, WVUHospital, and the DEA, including quality, logistics, and process flow issues. He has also served on the Boards of government authorities and other organizations, as well as advised government organizations in supply chain issues. He is a member of the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Supply Chain Management, Journal of Business Logistics, and Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management. He has coauthored various other books. He is passionate about flying, cycling, technological innovations, reimagining processes and operating models, and learning about and experiencing different cultures.

Rafael Calderon

Rafael Calderon serves as the Global Synchronized Planning and Fulfillment market offering leader at Deloitte. In his role, he helps leading organizations across the globe with their supply chain strategy, organization transformation, and digital supply network enablement. Working as a close ally to senior executives and CXOs, he helps them with the value realization and problem resolution in the supply chain, logistics, and associated business functions.

Mr. Calderon holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and BS in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University. He has 20 years of industry and consulting experience, helping global companies drive operations performance through large- scale growth and efficiency initiatives. His experience encompasses a wide range of supply chain topics including digital supply networks, end-to-end supply chain transformation, integrated business planning, demand-driven supply chain, merger integration, working capital reduction, operational cost reduction, and network optimization. He has been a critical part of helping his clients identify and deliver more than $1B in benefits. He has led and been part of cross geography teams in large scale, complex global transformation efforts across North America, Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

Mr. Calderon is a frequent speaker at business schools and industry conferences. His multi-lingual capability (English, Spanish, and French) allows him to interact with students and professionals across the globe. Being the “US Consumer Products National Talent and Learning Leader” at Deloitte, he helps the consultants across the levels for cutting edge skills development. He is involved in generating eminence through writing, researching, and leading the team at his firm as “US Supply Chain Eminence Leader.” His work has been published through business articles and research papers.

Mr. Calderon complements his work with an active role as a devoted husband and father of five who loves good food, travel, essential oils, reading about people, and most importantly spending quality time with his extended family and friends network.

Paige Nesbit

Thorsten Wuest

Dr. Thorsten Wuest serves as Assistant Professor at West Virginia University and J. Wayne and Kathy Richards Faculty Fellow in Engineering at the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources. Dr. Wuest holds a PhD in Production Engineering (summa cum laude) from the University of Bremen as well as two Master’s degrees in Industrial Engineering (University of Bremen) and International Business (Auckland University of Technology).

Dr. Wuest received the Statler Outstanding Teacher of the Year 2019 award and was selected as an IDEA Fellow in the office of the Provost of West Virginia University to further entrepreneurship across campus. His research, funded by federal and international agencies as well as industry, focusses on Smart and Advanced Manufacturing, Machine Learning and AI, Hybrid Analytics, Industry 4.0, Servitization with a focus on manufacturing systems. In his research, he puts an emphasis on an interdisciplinary and holistic approach toward analysis and optimization. He is a recognized Smart Manufacturing thought leader, listed among the 20 most influential professors in smart manufacturing by SME.

In addition to publishing his work in the premier academic outlets of the field, he was featured by Forbes, Futurism, the World Economic Forum, CBC Radio, and World Manufacturing Forum, etc. He is involved in several professional societies, among others he is a member of IFIP Working Group 5.7 and 5.1, IFAC TC 5.3, SME, senior member of IISE, and research affiliate of the CIRP.

Dr. Wuest has given invited talks in seven countries and published three books and over 120 peer-reviewed articles in international archival journals and conferences gathering over 1,600 citations to date, and serves as a reviewer for many. He serves as Vice-Chair Americas for the IFIP WG 5.7, is a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Manufacturing Systems (JMSY) and an Associate Editor for the ASTM Journal Smart and Sustainable Manufacturing Systems (SSMS) and the International Journal of Manufacturing Research (IJMR). He was a member of the Strategic Core Transformation Team at WVU, served on the Statler College Glen H. Hiner Dean search committee 2019, and is a member of the WVU Statler College Research Council. He is working closely with industry and the startup community, among others, he is a member of the advisory board of Maven Machines Inc. and Veepio.