Optimizing Supply Chain Operations with Nathalie Nunez, VP and Chief of Staff, North America Supply Chain at Mondelēz International [Speaker Spotlight]

In this insightful Speaker Spotlight, Nathalie Nunez, VP and Chief of Staff, North America Supply Chain at Mondelēz International touches on the session she will be giving at the American Food Manufacturing Summit —as well as the Mondelēz approach to optimizing its supply chain through people, technology, and continuous improvement. 

Nathalie’s upcoming session is alongside Andy Hanacek, Senior Editor at Food Processing, and is titled  “Fireside Chat: Optimizing Supply Chain Operations Through Cross-Functional Collaboration and End-to-End Planning for Enhanced Performance”. Additionally, Nathalie will be a part of the Women in Leadership Panel at the Summit. 

Can you kindly introduce yourself and describe your role and responsibilities at Mondelēz International?

My name is Nathalie Nunez and I am the VP and Chief of Staff, North America Supply Chain at Mondelēz International.

In my role, I drive operational efficiency, streamline communication, lead the culture agenda in collaboration with HR, and ensure the seamless execution of processes. In doing so, we optimize assets across manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, and sales, to deliver world-class service and achieve exceptional results.

What key takeaways do you want attendees to leave with from your fireside chat on optimizing supply chain operations at Mondelēz International?

First, it is crucial to understand that optimizing our supply chain starts with our people, ensuring that we have a high-performing and highly motivated organization. By building on solid foundations a company like Mondelēz has, we have empowered our people to capitalize on our competitive advantages, like our culture and fantastic brands, creating a culture of continuous improvement across the entire supply chain. 

Furthermore, we’ve mobilized our teams around clear workstreams to achieve best-in-class performance in safety, quality, service, financial efficiency, and continuous productivity, in collaboration with our commercial business unit.

How does Mondelēz align supply, demand, and assets to drive operational excellence and deliver world-class service?

We have shifted from a manufacturing-centric to a customer-centric supply chain by taking an end-to-end view of what our actions at each stage of the supply chain ultimately mean for our customers and consumers. Additionally, the investments we’ve made around our team capabilities, systems and infrastructures have created a stronger, increasingly flexible supply chain that delivers industry-leading standards for people and food safety as well as product quality. 

Can you share examples of how cross-functional teams have helped streamline processes between manufacturing, transport, and sales? 

We are increasing our investments to enable volume growth, reduce bottlenecks, and increase capacity in key strategic platforms such as the Oreo limited-time offer flavors (for example, our Oreo-flavored Coca-Cola), Ritz sandwich crackers, Clif bars, and premium cookies like Tate’s.

Regarding any supply constraint, the team works towards demand shaping through the S&OE and IBP process. We’re better connecting all phases of the product journey and leveraging investments in technology to optimize warehouse management, route planning, and truck fill.

What are the biggest challenges in implementing end-to-end planning strategies, and how have you addressed them to optimize resources and improve service delivery?

As I said before, we have shifted from a manufacturing-centric to a customer-centric supply chain by taking an end-to-end view of what our actions at each stage of the supply chain ultimately mean for our customers and consumers, and this has been key to improve our service delivery. 

A month ago, we have been recognized as the #1 Food & Beverages Supply Chain in the US by our customers, #1 on Service and #2 in OTIF, resulting in the #1 position at the 2024 US Advantage Report. This is a fantastic achievement which is making us feel very proud of the work we are doing, and everyone on the team made this possible.

In what ways do data-driven insights influence decision-making for supply chain and operations management at Mondelēz?

We put strong focus on data-driven insights, and we have a dedicated team within supply chain to analyze data and define what it means for us. Moreover, in collaboration with our commercial teams, we have defined and agreed on Growth Master Plans to achieve our Vision 2030. The models are built on business units demand data using state-of-art modeling software. 

How do you foster a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement to strengthen supply chain resilience across the organization? 

Across the US supply chain team, our motto is to focus on zero losses and 100% engagement. In each of our manufacturing facilities across the US, everyone is aware and fully committed to our journey towards a high-performing organization.

At Mondelēz, we strongly believe in continuous improvement, and we are accelerating capabilities at all levels by advancing Integrated Lean 6 Sigma, which is our supply chain signature program.

Can you discuss any recent initiatives that have significantly improved supply chain efficiency or agility in North America? 

In the last two years, we have been through a transformation journey within our supply chain across the US. This also includes a nearly entirely new Leadership Team. We have not added any new innovative technology that has changed our performance significantly. However, by investing and empowering our people at lower levels of the organization we improved safety, quality, service, and productivity, and it was all about our focus, communication, and ways of working. People are our strongest asset.

What role do digital tools and technology play in optimizing supply chain operations at Mondelēz? 

Our digitization supports our productivity, as it helps improve supply chain delivery while reducing our operating costs and driving up our cash delivery. Currently, we are using end-to-end digital modeling to continually reevaluate our network to better serve customers and consumers and determine our network footprint. Additionally, O9/S4 will be the most influential investment on the horizon. We will use O9 to re-engineer how we operate while improving accuracy.

How do you balance the need for operational efficiency with the flexibility required to adapt to rapidly changing market conditions? 

There are several ways in which we stay ahead of balancing the need for operational efficiency with the flexibility required to adapt to rapidly changing market conditions. 

First, we do so by engaging our best-in-class workforce and improving cross-functionality in planning and strategic partnerships. Further, we stay ahead by enhancing manufacturing and warehousing capacity, as well as improving inventory management through better data visibility. Additionally, we strategically leverage our network depending on what is needed (volume, seasonal products, smaller batches, etc.). Lastly, we partner with third manufacturing parties when new innovation is required or to supplement additional capacity.

We are grateful to Nathalie Nunez for the profound insights she shared in this blog post. Her expert perspectives and work with supply chain will greatly enhance our discussions at the American Food Manufacturing Summit. 

We look forward to her session with Andy Hanacek, "Fireside Chat: Optimizing Supply Chain Operations Through Cross-Functional Collaboration and End-to-End Planning for Enhanced Performance" and her contribution to the Women in Leadership panel which will both take place on November 7-8, 2024, in Chicago, IL. 

For further insights into the future of food manufacturing, upcoming trends, and more, visit foodmansummit.com.

Subscribe so you never miss a blog!