326: Women in Supply Chain, Paige Wei-Cox

In today’s episode of Women In Supply Chain, I’m joined by Paige Wei-Cox: one of Supply Chain Digital’s ‘Top 100 Women in Supply Chain,’ and a 2022 Pro to Know. Paige Wei-Cox is a global leader with extensive cross-border supply chain experience. Over the course of her 20-year career at SAP, she has held a variety of management positions across the US and Germany. The recipient of Supply Chain and Demand Executives prestigious ‘Women In Supply Chain’ award, Paige is passionate about transforming today’s fragmented supply chains into a unified, collaborative and intelligent network of networks. Today Paige will be talking to us about her career so far; the importance of industry recognition for women; why there’s more supply chain disruption to come; and moving countries, and continents, to pursue her dream. Plus, she’ll be sharing her experiences as a woman in supply chain, as well as her words of advice for all of the women following in her footsteps.   SHOW SPONSOR:   Women fuel the success of some of the world’s most successful businesses, yet barriers still exist. SAP is committed to supporting and elevating a new generation of women to profoundly lead and impact global supply chains and are proud to support the Women in Supply Chain Series and its efforts. Supply chains need to evolve from low cost and optimized to risk-resilient and sustainable and SAP can help. SAP Digital Supply Chain solutions connect the entire process — design, planning, manufacturing, logistics, maintenance, and service; connecting your supply chains to the rest of your business and all your contextual data; supporting your efforts in alleviating risk in your supply chains. SAP is the market leader in enterprise application software and for the last 50 years has been helping companies to run better. Find out more at sap.com/scm   IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:   [06.09] How Paige found supply chain, and her varied career journey through the industry. “My career went from manufacturing to R&D, PLM, logistics, planning, networks – it’s travelled the entire supply chain… it’s been a fun journey!” [08.11] From a shift to demand driven and embracing a customer-centric approach, Paige reflects on how the industry has changed since the start of her career, and what she’s learned along the way. “At that time, not many people talked about supply chain, it was more about ‘how do we optimize my enterprise… it was the beginning of digitization.” [13.15] How and why Paige moved to Europe, her experiences, and the cultural differences she’s observed between Germany and the US. [20.45] Paige’s current role as senior vice president, chief product officer and global head of SAP Business Network, and the challenges, highs and lows it encompasses. “The fun part is the creation... the non-fun part is there’s no buffer time… when you don’t have a full calendar, you almost feel lost!” [25.48] The challenges and changing trends that Paige is observing at an industry level, and from the perspective of SAP and their customers – and how she’s tackling them. “We’ve gone through this incredible globalization, but I also see a trend of localization… the complexity of supply chain is no longer about finding the cheapest supply, or 100% outsourcing. It’s about how my whole supply and demand chain can connect.” [30.41] Paige’s experience as a woman, working for 25 years in a male-dominated industry, and whether the landscape for women has changed. “When I first started, I was the only girl… today if I look at my teams around the world, I see a lot of young women entering with passion… we’re much more diversified.” [32.34] The importance of mentors, of elevating female voices in the workplace, and of women supporting women. “To really grow and learn, you need someone to challenge and push you, but also support you and open their network to you.” [36.23] Paige’s industry awards, and the importance of continuing to celebrate women in supply chain. “Hopefully more women will find the topic to be interesting, because if you’re a problem-solver, there’s no other field more interesting than supply chain. There are so many challenges that nobody has answered that makes this industry super challenging but very fulfilling.” [38.37] The personal achievement that Paige is most proud of. [40.34] The future for Paige. [41.56] Paige’s advice for girls and women looking to follow in her footsteps.   RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED:   You can connect with Paige over on LinkedIn. If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear from other inspirational women from SAP, check out episode 321 featuring Darcy MacClaren, Senior VP of Digital Supply Chain and Manufacturing for North America or 283: Blended – The Rise of Asian Discrimination featuring Gale, Director of Global Influencer Marketing at the leading brand. Check out our other podcasts HERE.