I Still Love Supply Chain

Last year for our September edition, featuring 2024’s Supply Chain Department of the Year, I wrote about my dad:

“...I was thrilled when the opportunity to come over to the supply chain side was presented to me.

“Why, you ask? Because of my dad.

“My father has worked in purchasing and supply chain for his entire career. I grew up hearing him talk about how he ‘managed procurement cycles from requisition to payment’ and ‘established and developed viable, sustainable relationships with suppliers.’ He’s worked in various industries, including spending several years at PerkinElmer…”

I also celebrated that year’s winner, University of Utah Health. You can read that piece here: https://www.hpnonline.com/sourcing-logistics/article/55131196/why-i-love-supply-chain.

To say this year has been interesting from a healthcare supply chain perspective is an understatement. The challenges posed from the back and forth between tariffs, supply chain disruptions, and well, just the general challenges that come with working in healthcare supply chain.

This year, I’m writing to celebrate 2025’s winner: Stanford Medicine.

I wrote, “Stanford Medicine showed immense success and we’re very pleased to present this honor to the team.

“It’s known that healthcare supply chains are under immense pressure to do more with less and Stanford Medicine emerged as an innovator in 2024, showcasing an unmatched commitment to digital efficiency and innovation. Although many organizations are on digital transformation journeys, Stanford tackled three deployments all at once:

• AI enabled Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM),
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tool in the cloud, and
• A proprietary Procedural Analytics tool”

During this time of uncertainty, Stanford not only implemented these three but showed true passion for healthcare supply chain. Amanda Chawla, chief supply chain officer put it well. She said, “Have the courage to not only have a vision but take the risks to action on it; get your hands dirty in creating something that is so beautiful. Be intentional in your work, think about the scaffolding early on and design it—and continue to refine it as that will be the key to deliver results in a world and environment that is ever changing. Embrace change, differing viewpoints, and take things from the bench, from an idea, to the bedside. And lastly, your team is essential—they are the key—trust, support, challenge, listen, and empower them!”