The University of Kentucky's Gatton College of Business and Economics presented the second annual Commonwealth Supply Chain Innovation Award, sponsored by SAS, to Elizabeth Fox, senior supply planner at Tempur-Pedic North America LLC, part of Tempur Sealy, which has its world headquarters here in Lexington.
Fox received the award as part of the college’s sixth annual Supply Chain Forum today (April 1) at The Grand Reserve in downtown Lexington. 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.
The recent merger of Tempur-Pedic and Sealy created the world's largest bedding manufacturer, yet also resulted in challenges going forward. Fox's project focused on the development of a Managed End of Life (MEOL) process to enable the company's supply planning team to effectively control finished goods exposure and the supply of key raw materials.
Fox was delighted when she received news of the award.
"I am honored to be receiving this award," Fox said. "This project was a complicated cross-functional effort which required close collaboration with many people. The team's accomplishments revolutionized our product life cycle management."
Business analytics company SAS has a 40-year history of helping industry globally use data to drive insights and optimize their supply chains.
SAS Global Practice Director Mark Demers, himself a participant in this year's forum, presented the award and said, "SAS' partnership with universities underscores our commitment to ensuring industry will be able to secure future talent in an increasingly complex big-data-driven world. Congratulations to Elizabeth Fox and Tempur Sealy for treating their supply chain strategically, and honoring people like Elizabeth who drive innovative approaches."
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 approximately 200 corporate leaders, professors and students to share ideas about the latest supply chain issues.
The theme of this year's conference is "Winning Supply Chains: Integrating People and Technology." Lora Cecere, the president and CEO of Supply Chain Insights, offered the keynote address, "Making the Digital Pivot."
“It’s an exciting time to be in the supply chain industry,” said David W. Blackwell, dean of the Gatton College. “It’s especially exciting this year to honor one of our local Lexington companies for their innovative work in the field. The supply chain work that Elizabeth Fox and Tempur Sealy are doing will inform other companies about ways to enhance their own processes and not only improve their customer service, but their return on investment.”
As the Commonwealth Supply Chain Innovation Award recipient, Tempur Sealy 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/EEC/Content.php?PageName=EECSupplyChainForum2016, or contact Lucy Tepper at lucy.tepper@uky.edu or 859-257-8746.
