The University of Kentucky's Gatton College of Business and Economics presented the third annual Commonwealth Supply Chain Innovation Award, sponsored by SAS, to Brad Fruth, worldwide compliance manager for Lexmark. The presentation ceremony took place during Thursday’s seventh annual Supply Chain Conference, held in the Woodford Reserve Club at Commonwealth Stadium.
"I am honored on behalf of Lexmark Supply Chain to be receiving this award," Fruth said. "This project was successful thanks to the efforts of our talented cross-functional global team and valued partners — all focused on a common goal to optimize our inbound supply chain and improve customer delivery and experience."
Fruth has worked for Lexmark for 17 years, all of it in Lexmark's Supply Chain organization, and he has a total of 30 years of logistics and supply chain experience.
This recognition honors individuals and/or organizations that have demonstrated operational excellence in supply chain management as evidenced in a recently completed supply chain improvement project.
Business analytics company SAS has a 40-year history of helping industry globally use data to drive insights and optimize their supply chains.
The Commonwealth Supply Chain Innovation Award judging panel consists of practitioners, academics and consultants in the supply chain industry, appointed by the advisory board of the Gatton College Supply Chain Forum. The forum brings together more than 200 corporate leaders, professors and students to share ideas about the latest supply chain issues.
The theme of this year's conference was “Managing Risk in the Supply Chain.”
“It’s an exciting time to be in the supply chain industry,” said David W. Blackwell, dean of the Gatton College. “The supply chain work that Brad Fruth and Lexmark are doing will inform other companies about ways to enhance their own processes and not only improve their customer service, but also their return on investment.”
As the Commonwealth Supply Chain Innovation Award recipient, Lexmark qualifies for future supply chain improvement project support from graduate students enrolled in the Gatton College’s one-year accelerated MBA program.
For more information on the award or the forum visit: http://gatton.uky.edu/executive-education/professional-development/supply-chain-forum, or contact Lucy Tepper at lucy.tepper@uky.edu or 859-257-8746.
