TRACK SPEAKERS

Transforming While Performing

Kevin Carpenter, Vice President, Global Operations and Integrated Supply Chain, Toro Company

Transformation means many things to different people and organizations. For Kevin Carpenter and the Toro Company, it means transforming from an “Operations” team to a true “Integrated Supply Chain.” One struggle many companies face during transformation efforts is continuing strong current performance while planning for the future and keeping their people aligned through the ambiguity of that transition. Kevin will share how he keeps people at the center of transformation, while maintaining the strong performance that led to Toro being named one of the 2022 Supply Chains to Admire.

Key session takeaways:

• How to create a “We are One” culture across the integrated supply chain
• Which priorities are key to profitable growth and operational excellence

Kevin Carpenter

Vice President, Global Operations and Integrated Supply Chain, Toro Company

Kevin Carpenter joined The Toro Company as vice president, global operations and integrated supply chain in December 2021 from Carrier Global Corporation. In his new role, he has responsibility for procurement, manufacturing, order services, transportation and logistics.

Kevin previously served as vice president of operations for Residential and Light Commercial Systems at Carrier and held other leadership positions in the organization including vice president of quality and continuous improvement and vice president of advanced manufacturing. Prior to joining Carrier, Kevin was vice president of manufacturing services at Rockwell Automation, Inc. He also held earlier engineering and operations roles at General Electric, Magna International, Nexxus Lighting and General Motors/Delphi.

Kevin holds a Master of Business Administration from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve, a Master of Science in industrial engineering and engineering management from Youngstown State University, a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science in general engineering, with a minor in mathematics, from Morehouse College. He also completed Finance for Senior Executives at Harvard Business School in 2021 and holds a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies from Ashland University.

Global Supply Chain Impact: People and Process

Sankar Kurumbail, Former Executive, Caterpillar

Many companies experienced long lead times during the pandemic, which challenged their assumptions about globalization and caused them to re-think whether localization or regionalization may be a better strategy. Caught in the middle of these debates were global teams, who needed to work more closely than ever to overcome these challenges. In this presentation, Sankar will discuss a pragmatic approach to localization and regionalization efforts, and how to understand the cultural nuances of global teams to maximize their potential.

Key session takeaways:

• What key considerations to explore in evaluating global vs regional vs local supply chain strategies
• How global teams can best work together to achieve results

Sankar Kurumbail

Former Executive, Caterpillar

Sankar recently completed a 28-year career at Caterpillar, Inc. During that time, he has developed a powerful reputation for incredible business transformation throughout his award-winning, international career. He has also played an instrumental role in returning two major business units to profitability. Sankar’s entrepreneurial mindset stimulates new business approaches that dramatically transform underperforming areas and lay the successful foundation for long-term sustainable growth, delivered through exceptional execution capabilities. He is known for delivering meaningful cost control through aggressive inventory reduction while sustaining product availability, generating operational efficiencies and securing new customers.

Indirect Influence: Working Across Teams

Carolyn Woznicki, Vice President Global Strategic Sourcing and Environmental, Health & Safety, Illinois Tool Works

Indirect influence has always been a key skill for sourcing professionals; within decentralized businesses, it is even more critical to success. Carolyn will share how she drives synergies across ITW’s 83 decentralized divisions, including cross-functional teams that support creation and execution of their ESG goals. In order to focus on driving top initiatives across so many divisions, teams (and suppliers), Carolyn takes a pragmatic approach using the 80/20 business process.

Key session takeaways:

• How to work effectively across decentralized functions, divisions, and supplier companies to achieve goals
• Why the 80/20 business process focus helps teams go farther and faster

Carolyn Woznicki

Vice President Global Strategic Sourcing and Environmental, Health & Safety, Illinois Tool Works

Carolyn Woznicki is Vice President Global Strategic Sourcing and Environmental, Health & Safety for Illinois Tool Works (ITW), a Fortune 200 global multi-industry manufacturer. The company focuses on profitable growth and strong returns across worldwide businesses and utilizes a decentralized business model and an 80/20 business process focus. In her role, Carolyn leads the strategic sourcing efforts of ITW, driving synergies across ITW’s 83 decentralized divisions as well as leading EH&S and leading the development of ESG strategies for ITW.

Prior to this role, Carolyn served in a variety of roles at Johnson Controls, Inc. for over 14 years. Most recently, she was vice president of global procurement and supply chain for the Building Efficiency Group of Johnson Controls in Milwaukee, managing the global purchasing and supply chain activities of this group and JCI’s corporate indirect spend. During her tenure at Johnson Controls, Carolyn also served as vice president and general manager of North America purchasing for the Automotive Group and as the vice president and general manager of the company’s Ford Business Unit. Prior to joining Johnson Controls, Carolyn worked in a variety of supplier quality, purchasing, production control, materials management, and manufacturing positions at General Motors Corporation for over 18 years.