Eric McPherson
Title: Vice President, Client Services
Years with OSG: 2+
Years in Supply Chain: 29+

Ask the Expert

What does your day-to-day look like?

My day-to-day varies wildly.  I’m responsible for both the sales and delivery of implementations.  I have standing meetings with my direct reports and ongoing status calls for active projects.  I also have recurring calls with my peers, Operations, Marketing, and Sales.  All other daily activities are directed at sales generation and firefighting. 

If I’m lucky, I can travel to a new warehouse and conduct a walk-through.  Yes, I still get excited to see a new warehouse after 29 years!

How did you get started in supply chain?

I started as a Warehouse Manager coming out of the United States Marine Corps in 1995 and was taught by one of the supply chain greats, Tom Shaw, formerly of Sear Logistics. He was the VP Supply Chain at Nobody Beats the Wiz in Carteret, NJ.

How does supply chain impact a company’s broader strategy?

Supply Chain is the core of any company that produces and ships products.  You can make the best product in the world but, if you can’t get it to the buyer efficiently and effectively, they’ll find another product.

What do you view as the biggest challenge in the current supply chain environment and how can it be solved?

Labor Resources are the current challenges.  Automation is one of the answers, but not the only one.  Leveraging Labor Management tools with incentive programs will go a long way in retaining associates

What philosophy do you follow while working with customers?

Listen.  Yes, I have 29 years of industry experience.  But first, I need to listen to what is driving the clients’ current pain points.  “Industry best practices” is a nice buzz phrase, but they don’t always address the clients’ needs.  Listen, listen, listen.  Then think and, only then, consult.

Please share your favorite success story.

Wow, it’s tough to pick just one. 

I’d have to say the three (3) year project I did for a global medical technology company with over $16bil in revenue and over 65k employees.  We deployed a cloud–based Transportation Manager (TM), Transportation Planner (TP), Transportation Modeler System( TMS), and Control Tower (CT) project globally. 

It was a multimillion-dollar project that included SaaS and Services; additionally, the company received several industry awards. The company used TM to optimize transportation plans across 5 DCs in the US and Canada leading to more than $1.6 million in savings in the first year of TMS operation.

The results allowed the client to reduce order shorts, gave better visibility to inventory in transit, saved money on freight consolidation, reduced TMS support, and shifted those resources to other areas of the company.

What advice would you give to someone looking to enter the supply chain industry?

Buckle down and do the grind for the first 2-3 years.  Total immersion is the only way to learn.  I was a road warrior for the first 10 years of my career but, it’s when I learned the most.  Get in and get your hands dirty.  Make mistakes, learn from them, and grow.  That knowledge will last your entire career. 

What is a fun fact about yourself that your clients may not know?

I love to cook and grill.  I make scratch pizza, killer buffalo wings, and can grill/smoke almost anything.  I enjoy feeding other people.