Global Supply Chain Uncertainty

Thursday, February 10, 2022

12:00 PM to 1:00 PM

Stephen Downey Chief Supply Chain Officer Cleveland Clinic	Lauge Valentin Vice President Sales, Inventory, Operations Planning Mattel Inc.

The COVID-19 crisis has tested the ingenuity, resilience and flexibility of supply chain leaders globally, as they have sought to maintain essential operations. Responding to the pandemic has underscored the need for leaders to accelerate the adoption of agile ways of working and value chain transformation to help outmaneuver uncertainty.  

Moderated by Operations and Supply Chain Management professor, Dr. Jay Chen.

About the series:

The Monte Ahuja College of Business Cornerstone Speaker Series is where theory meets practice. Intended to be an interactive and engaging conversation led by faculty experts paired with forward-thinking industry leaders who share their knowledge and best practices for operating in today’s ever-changing business environment.

About the Global Supply Chain Uncertainty Speakers:

Steve Downey:

Stephen Downey is the Chief Supply Chain and Patient Support Services Officer for the Cleveland Clinic. He is a health care expert with a passion for helping the industry treat and serve patients better. His experience includes the organizations across the healthcare spectrum, including medical device, services, GPOs and health systems. He is also a recognized supply chain expert, an in-demand speaker and well published author on the subject, most recently "How barcoding and RFID enhance the healthcare supply chain."

Prior to his position at the Cleveland Clinic, Mr. Downey led the Supply Chain Operations business for Vizient and GEODIS (an international supply chain transport and logistics firm operating in 67 countries around the globe). Before then, he led commercial and supply chain teams at Integra Life Sciences and he at Scott Medical Products in various commercial and operational roles.

Mr. Downey graduated from Lehigh University with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and a master's degree in management of technology. While there, he was contracted by the university as a contract biomedical engineer for medical device R&D companies. Additionally, he is trained in the FDA's current good manufacturing practices (cGMP), design controls, six sigma and project administration.  He serves as co-chair of the Children's Brain Tumor Foundation and is also board member and president of Friends Health Connection.

Lauge Valentin:

Lauge Valentin is the Vice President, Sales, Inventory, and Operations Planning for Mattel Inc. He is a Consumer-Packaged Goods industry expert with extensive experience from both LEGO and Mattel, the two most successful toy manufacturers. His expertise includes forecasting, planning, analytics, and performance management. Mr. Valentin has published research in the field of forecasting accuracy and performance measurement and is an international speaker.

At Mattel he leads and executes world class Sales Inventory & Operations Planning processing, also known as Integrated Business Planning, which enables Mattel to achieve its productivity, capacity, operating income, and inventory performance commitments.

Prior to his position at Mattel Inc. Mr. Valentin led E2E Supply Chain Planning at PepsiCo across Europe for billion-dollar brands across the Snacks, Beverages and Nutrition. From strategic capacity planning through demand and supply planning all the way to material planning, production planning and line scheduling.