In April and May, Ardent Partners hosted The CPO Rising 2K20 Virtual Series – The Resiliency Imperative as a way to bring together our global community of procurement, finance, and supply management professionals and collectively tackle the big issues we were all facing and continue to face as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. More than 2,300 people participated in the 20 virtual sessions including our livestream summit. We also had 27 experts share their ideas and insights. Once the dust settled on the series, Andrew went back to interview many of these leaders so we could learn a little bit more about them and their companies. We’re also working on a plan to replay many of the sessions, so stay tuned.

Andrew spoke with  Gregg Brandyberry, former Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) in the Pharma industry, and charter member of the CPO Rising Hall of Fame.

Andrew Bartolini: Gregg, thanks again for your time and support – for some of our newer readers, can we start with a quick review of your career in supply chain and procurement.

Gregg Brandyberry: I left the Top 150 Corporate World in 2009 as Vice President Procurement, Global Systems and Operations for pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (“GSK”) . Prior to GSK, I worked almost 20 years for Gates Corporation with my last job being Head of Manufacturing and Quality for Gates Energy Products (formerly G.E. Battery Division). We were a 24/7 operation that made 2.5 million batteries per week for customers like Black and Decker (tools) and Motorola (cell phones). In 1990 we were semi-finalists in the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Competition.

In 2018, after 45 years in Supply Chain functions (25 in Procurement) I stopped actively looking for new work. But, let me be clear, I’m still full of energy and ideas and if the right project became available I would, of course, be very interested. So I guess I’m “semi-retired.” I’m really good at educating and mentoring junior procurement professionals on how to think about strategic sourcing, how to effectively use electronic sourcing (especially dynamic bidding techniques), how to get close and be appreciated by your business clients, and, how to deliver outstanding results. I’ve worked in almost every area of supply chain and held senior leadership positions in most.

While I’m known for my work in Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare, I also have deep experience in electronics, textiles and industrial goods.  So in summary, I guess if the right project became available, I’d be very interested in working again (and I’m super flexible and easy to work with) or I’ll just keep building beautiful tables – I currently have a really fun hobby where I’m making Mexican/Spanish Colonia inspired “Talavera and Porcelana tiled tables.” I have workshops/galleries in both Decatur, Indiana (my hometown) and at my new family compound in Cupuan Del Rio, Michoacan, Mexico.  I split my time between both locations.

AB: Glad to see you are still keeping busy even in “semi-retirement,” I’m sure that you’ll be back on a new project soon. Remind me again, how’d you end up getting into procurement?

GB: I left college in 1974 with no degree. I say I took enough courses, the school said I didn’t take the right ones. With that in mind I was hired by Gates Corporation as a production worker and in quick succession I was a Lab Technician, Quality Auditor, Lab Manager, Quality Director, Director of Materials Management and finally Head of Manufacturing. In 1993 I was approached by SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories to become their Procurement Head of Quality. I welcomed the move into Healthcare. The work was really interesting and challenging and the total payment package made it all very exciting. Two years later in 1995 I was promoted to “Manager of Commodity Management” and started my long Procurement career.

AB: Who have been the major influences in your career?

GB: As I look back, I had four really important mentors. The first was at the Gates Corporation where an extremely popular Plant Manager took an interest in me. His name was Paul Hinkson and he was one of the first truly “participative” leaders. He believed you could be successful whether in a union or non-union work environment by treating people right and involving them in the decisions that impacted their livelihood… and, he proved that all the time! He made sure I was involved in “Quality Circles,” learned “Statistical Process Control,” and that I truly understood the value of all employees. His influence paid off in a huge way throughout my career as I interacted with myriad types of people.

Secondly was the great Willie Deese (former CPO GSK and President of Merck Manufacturing). I spent several years helping Willie bring his remarkable vision of Strategic Procurement to life and he also helped me understand the systemic value of Diverse Suppliers. I think the best part of my long career was working with and learning from the large diverse supplier population we created at GlaxoSmithKline.

After Willie left GSK for Merck, I was so fortunate to work for Joe Meier who became CPO of GSK. Joe had an extremely strong skill sets in people motivation, economic acuity, direct material sourcing, a keen interest in the adoption of electronic tools, nurturing diverse suppliers, and a real desire to achieve aspirational targets. And finally, Dr. Russell L. Ackoff, known as “The Great Systems Thinker” who I had the privilege of working with the last decade of his life. I can’t thank these four legends enough and they had a huge impact on my professional success.

AB: Recent events have taught us many things regarding short-term preparation and general planning, what should companies in your space be paying attention to now, in the short-term, and in the future?

GB: I’ll use this question to talk about two tectonic events that have converged upon the globe, especially impacting the United States, that will have dramatic effects on the future of procurement. The first event was the spread of COVID-19, the role Communist China played in allowing the virus to spread, our enormous dependency on China as a supply source (China – “The World’s Factory”), and the yet to have been realized repercussions from this (e.g. new federal regulations, buy America sentiment). The second event is the renewed rise of the need for better “equality of justice” and better “economic success for all”. The convergence of these two events have broad ramifications for procurement. I call this the “Societal Implications of Strategic Sourcing.”

Let me explain. For over two decades I helped procurement organizations chase corporate savings through low-cost country souring and other sourcing strategies driven by highly competitive electronic dynamic bidding. What we didn’t do as we outsourced and off-shored material manufacturing and services was to think about the impact on the total US economic system as a whole. Instead, each corporation treated itself as a “part” of the total US economic system. Driven by short-term savings (including industries such as Pharma to offset the lack of new product development), the path was established that led to decades of decisions resulting in the over-dependence on China for strategic materials and the destruction of our manufacturing base, followed by a large part of our “transactional” services organizations, all previously US-based. Just look at what happened to once prosperous cities (and these are just a few) like Detroit, Youngstown, Erie, Flint, Fort Wayne, and South Bend which are shells of their former selves. I guarantee that the savings achieved by corporations through outsourcing, are far less than the costs of the economic and community devastation (including unemployment, retraining, other government assistance programs, housing degradation, alcohol and drug dependency, and new generations of unemployment, poverty and despair). I’ll be the first to stand up and support the principles of capitalism, but looking back I do believe some decisions would have been better made if procurement had been somehow working with the societal impact of their decisions better understood, and in mind.

AB: This decade has gotten off to an inauspicious start, but it will eventually right itself. Where do you think the Pharma industry will be in 2030? What is something you hope procurement will have but do not have currently? 

GB: Well, I’m optimistic I’ll still be alive in 2030 when I’ll be 77! I do hope that all today’s disruptions will be resolved and we will have moved well beyond the unhappiness that so many people seem to experience today. Pharmaceuticals will continue to innovate and I know we are on the cusp of some truly life-changing/life-saving treatments and cures. I’m not sure how we pay for this but I do hope to see the new treatments and cures available to all. Regarding procurement, I believe AI technology will take over all but the very most strategic actions and even that space will be aided in new ways that accelerate outcomes and reduce risk.

AB: Great! And, so you know, I’ve just penciled you in to host a Roundtable at our 2030 CPO Rising Summit. You have some time to pick a topic (smiles). During the shutdown, what was the best or most interesting thing you watched, read, or saw?  

GB: Well I’m a prolific reader, especially now that I’m officially starting my senior life. I read every evening 4 to 5 hours (I know, not that exciting) and currently I’m reading biographies and memoirs (btw I have Kindle Unlimited). Two recent books stand out. The first is called “The Water is Wide” by Pat Conroy, his memoir of teaching poverty-stricken African-American students on Daufuskie Island, SC (next to Hilton Head). The second is “We Will Rise” by Steve Beaven, the story of the before and after of the horrific airplane crash in 1997 that took the lives of the Evanston Purple Aces basketball team.

AB: Great stuff – let’s catch up soon. Thanks Gregg!

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Tagged in: Chief Procurement Officer, CPO, CPO Honors, CPO Rising 2K20, CPO Rising Summit, Leadership, People, Process, Technology, The Resiliency Imperative