Craig Bailey, Supply Chain Director for the EMEA region, has joined Solmax in April 2022. In this interview he talks about the importance of team spirit and the company´s focus on customer satisfaction.
Craig Bailey has assumed the position of Supply Chain Director for the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa) at Solmax in April 2022 and coordinates several teams across Europe.
INTERVIEW WITH CRAIG BAILEY
The team spirit and the way the teams collaborate in order to deliver the best solutions for our customers is something to be admired and valued.
Craig Bailey, Supply Chain Director EMEA
Can you describe your responsibilities and major tasks at Solmax?
Craig Bailey: In my capacity as Supply Chain Director for the EMEA region I am overseeing the planning and forecasting team that runs our sales and operations planning process, as well as the demand planning, production planning and production scheduling, the logistics team who take care of our deliveries to our customers, and the customer service team.
We are running the monthly sales and operations plan, working with our commercial team to forecast demand, planning production, optimizing our energy levels, organizing our deliveries and transportation, processing customer requests and trying to provide a great level of service overall.
You have joined Solmax in April 2022. What is your professional background?
Craig Bailey: I started in demand planning, supply planning and sales operations planning – working in the UK, but covering Europe. Then I went into consulting for 14 years, for the last 9 years of which I was based in the US. The main objective of my work was always defining what future demand will look like and making sure that we provide the right product in the right place at the right time.
What do you like most about your job – and what makes Solmax an attractive employer for you personally?
Craig Bailey: What I like best is the team dynamics at Solmax, the way the teams collaborate and interact together. I like the way that we are always identifying solutions, further improvement opportunities, streamlining opportunities, as well as the company focus on customer satisfaction and on delivering the best customer experience. Our teams collaborate in the background across functions and sites to make that happen.
I also appreciate the innovation spirit and the fact that with the integration of Solmax there are a lot of opportunities to work together as one team in order to standardize and optimize our processes across the sites. This is a real chance to create one way of doing things across Europe. What I further like about the company is the enthusiasm for the integration and the intention to continuously refine processes, interaction and collaboration. I really think that customer focus is something to be admired and valued.
In which way are your former personal and professional experiences an asset in the current sales situation?
Craig Bailey: My professional background helps me a lot in terms of dealing with change management and cultural awareness and also in identifying continuous improvement opportunities – really breaking down the steps from having a concept to reality.
What are your current challenges regarding recent business developments?
Craig Bailey: The pandemic disrupted the traditional demand. We are now looking at what the future will look like after the pandemic. We are trying to prepare cleverly for future demand to make sure we have the right products available for our customers. The main challenge is trying to best predict future demand in an uncertain economy.
Which short-term and long-term goals do you have for your new position?
Craig Bailey: What is most important is that we are looking to standardize what we do across Europe regarding the company integration to really bring an optimal service to our customers from order receipt right through to on-time delivery.
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Craig Bailey, Supply Chain Director EMEA