Bill DOnbar

Testimonial: Executive Certificate in Supply Chain Management
 

Bill currently is the the Production Planning Manager at Freshpet. Previously, he was the Procurement Project Manager at Just Born Quality Confections in Bethlehem, PA.  He was responsible for external manufacturing and co-packing procurement and planning.  He has experience leading end-to-end value creation in the supply chains of consumer products and service organizations of trusted and iconic brands. His work focuses on delivering inventory, customer service, and cost targets; while improving overall process efficiency with an emphasis on creating a lean and sustainable supply chain. 

Bill has a B.A in Business Management and M.B.A with Supply Chain Management Concentration from Moravian College; and is a Six Sigma Green Belt. He had five years of experience in traditional supply chain planning when he joined Just Born in 2015. “I quickly realized that I needed to expand my knowledge in areas such as logistics and transportation management,” he says. “Just Born has a supply base that was spread out across the country, and my new role involved coordinating a significant amount of material movements.” 

“I decided to enroll in Integrated Logistics and Transportation Management to become more familiar with the vocabulary and frameworks.  The program gave me the technical knowledge I needed to be more effective in my role. I then took Effective Planning and Forecasting soon thereafter, and it helped me to further my knowledge of forecasting systems, customer demand, and customer lead times. Again, this program really helped me to improve my performance. By being able to forecast customer demand, I was able to make positive changes such as running like items at the same time.  

Knowing the strong benefits of these two programs, when I heard about the Supply Chain Certificate, I decided to take the leap. The six programs are like a focused, technical MBA. There’s a wide offering of courses that help you to add value in a number of different ways. The certificate program helps you think on a more strategic level about your supply chain and impact the results in your organization. It has helped me to become a more well-rounded supply chain professional who looks beyond my functional area to the supply chain as an end-to-end system. My influence goes beyond my direct area, and I am able to make a difference across the entire supply chain.

After completing the certificate, I was able to help create regional supply clusters and supply bases that included packing suppliers, confectionary suppliers, and warehouses. This was a significant improvement that reduced the landed cost of items.  The program also provides strategies for effective supplier management, such as negotiations experience and cost modeling.  What I found particularly valuable was a program-wide emphasis on techniques to collaborate with both your internal manufacturing stakeholders and suppliers to drive continuous improvements and create a lean culture.” 

Supply chain management is a big world. There are a lot of one- or two-day conferences that you can attend, and you might pick up a couple of things to take back to your organization. But Lehigh’s program allows you to take back multiple ideas and insights six times, across the entire Supply Chain discipline. The certificate helps you to become a subject matter expert, and really impact business results in your organization.

He also holds an Executive Certificate in Supply Chain Management from Lehigh University.  Bill lives in the Lehigh Valley, PA with his wife, son, and two dogs.