Author’s Note
From a Global Supply Chain Foot Soldier

Over the past 40 years, I was transformed from being a U.S.-focused manager into a foot soldier in the whole globalization phenomenon. As I started my career in 1979, operating a teletype machine at Union Pacific Railroad, I would never have dreamed that today I would be writing a book about operating a global supply chain. I was lucky enough to have been taught by some of the true masters of industry and got to experience, firsthand, many of the events over the past four decades. So what did I learn from all this?

At Union Pacific, I learned how to literally run the railroad. My lessons revolved around safety, labor, and how to operate in a very time-defined environment.

At Toyota, my senseis taught me how to think. I learned how to be world class, keep cars moving, maintain factory-fresh quality, and promote efficiency. Here too, I discovered such skills as being a servant leader, running with zero defects and Kaizen or continuous improvement. This was a great personal growth experience for me.

At Deere, I discovered how a corporate culture really works. Older decentralized American companies operate in a completely different fashion than a centralized Japanese structure, so change management became part of my vocabulary. I was given tremendous responsibilities, but I was also very naïve at this point. Here too, I learned from another master, Dave Nelson, about the mechanics of sourcing.

Honeywell was a completely different culture to work in. I used to laugh:

At Toyota I would tell someone to do something and they had to do it; at John Deere I would tell someone to do something and they’d think about doing it; and at Honeywell, I’d tell someone to do something and they’d think of 900 reasons why not to do it.

Here, I had an “influencing role” that was probably the hardest job of my career. This position was ever changing with our 80+ M&A, loaded with ambiguity, supporting operations in 164 countries, with over 2 million ship-to addresses and 110 enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. We were open 24/7, and I can attest that someone was always doing something (often times not necessarily good).

I have heeded Mr. Toyoda’s instructions to me by teaching the next generation, everything I have learned along the way, by writing and teaching. I continue to learn and find new experiences in new places in the world. I love being a global supply chain manager and here for you or your organization if you ever need help.

Jay E. Fortenberry