Keys to a Winning Playbook in a Customer-Centric Supply Chain
Supply chain management, in its most basic form, is managing the flow of goods, data and information related to a product or service – from procuring raw materials to getting the end product to its final destination.
Customer satisfaction hinges on the outcome and it takes lots of players to make it happen. This is according to Bill Griebel, who recently celebrated his 10-year anniversary at AmSty and has served as director of Supply Chain and Customer Service since 2020.
"One of the things I enjoy in this role is the opportunity to work with all of the functions across the organization," said Bill. "I see providing a quality customer experience as a team effort with supply chain management facilitating all functions to ensure everything's working well together."
Griebel is most proud of feedback from both customers and the AmSty sales team that the company's customer service is what sets it apart from the competition.
"It always makes you feel good to get that validation," Bill said. "I believe that our customer-focused supply chain is a differentiator for AmSty and drives high customer loyalty."
"That's says something about the service we provide, our customers faith in our ability to deliver and the relationships we've built," he said.
As with any winning team, trust plays a big role "knowing that we have each other's support, are transparent and will rally to tackle challenges together," said Bill. It is this approach that he believes takes AmSty to the top level of customer service for his stakeholders.
Griebel has worked in supply chain roles his entire career, starting at Dow Chemical (one of AmSty's former parent companies) where he served in a variety of roles over nearly two decades – supply chain, planning, logistics and customer service.
It was a career path that wasn't on his radar, but he fell into it early and never looked back.
Bill oversees a team of about 30 in the United States and Colombia. His team manages key activities for customers such as order management, planning - which includes raw material replenishment and production - logistics procurement - which manages buying freight, logistics, which manages the carrier service performance - and regulatory compliance, which ensures that AmSty products are supplied and handled safely."Each work group is dependent on the other to deliver a quality customer experience," said Bill.
Often these functions fly under the radar of most.
"We have multiple touch points with the customer. Contact through leadership and sales is the most visible. But so much of what makes our company successful is functional support that isn't always as visible," he said.
When it comes to a winning playbook, Bill points to key characteristics.
"It takes a culture where everyone is on the same page, and where there is good alignment and communication," he said. "Strong and effective work processes are also important to being customer-centric. We know our customers and their needs well."
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