SMITHFIELD – Over her four decades in the manufacturing industry, Cheryl Merchant, CEO of Taco Comfort Solutions, has seen supply chains disrupted by forces including geopolitical issues, transportation snags, war, a range of labor and economic events and the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.
For a business to weather these changes, "the answer is, have an amazing team," Merchant said. "There are no silver bullets."
But in that time, Merchant said, she's also learned the value of partnerships in sustaining a company, and the responsibility a business carries to responsibly source its supply chain.
Merchant spoke at Bryant University on Wednesday morning, where the John H. Chafee Center for International Business hosted its 38th annual World Trade Day event. This year, programming centered on the theme of supply chain resiliency.
In Merchant's mid-day keynote, "Lessons from the Trenches," the Cranston-based manufacturing CEO said that when forming connections with potential supply chain partners, executives must go beyond questions about capabilities, plans and expertise.
Rather, business leaders must prioritize strong relationships with business partners and be willing to walk away from a potential source in instances of unethical practices, Merchant said. That also means vetting potential sourcing partners for these violations, she noted, such as use of child labor in factories.
"You need to ask those questions," Merchant said. "When you go to a foundry in Vietnam and find out that people are not wearing shoes, should you be doing business there or should you make a difference?"
Merchant also encouraged the audience to keep an open mind when navigating societal and political tension.
"This country is built on protests. Women vote because of protests, and the list goes on," Merchant said, and called for "nonjudgement (and) the ability to understand and the ability to respect this diversity and inclusion."
"People have trouble," she concluded. "Supply chains have trouble. Work it through, look for solutions together."
In the day's first keynote address, David Neeleman, founder and CEO of Breeze Airways, spoke of the airline's five-year expansion plans, which were announced earlier Wednesday at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport.
When Breeze Airways first launched at T.F. Green in summer 2021, it offered just four flight routes, Neeleman recalled. Nearing the three-year mark of that first flight out of Warwick, the airline has now expanded to offer 18 flights from the Ocean State, with plans for a significant expansion underway in the next five years.
In Breeze's initial launch, Providence stood out as “absolutely perfect” for the type of location that the company wanted to target, Neeleman said.
The Providence metro area is a “perfect example (of a place) where you actually have people living in these areas who don’t want to brave the traffic going north,” Neeleman said, “or go through … the long security lines, and do all the stuff you have to do to travel nonstop," which people may associate with larger airports like Boston Logan International Airport.
In locations like Providence, Breeze “saw this opportunity where we could fill the gaps, where we could fly nonstop between destinations that either had nonstop service, or never had nonstop service,” Neeleman said. “So we started imaging Breeze, and trying to figure out what it would do and what we could do.”
And as other low-cost airlines struggle to keep up with big airlines, which have adjusted to offer basic, reduced fares, Neeleman says that Breeze is staying ahead of the competition with a simple but key “secret sauce.”
That being, “we fly where no one else flies,” Neeleman said, noting that more than 90% of the airline’s nonstop routes lack competition.
Throughout the day, the event also included remarks and keynotes by economic leaders such as R.I. Secretary of Commerce Elizabeth Tanner, and concluded its speaking program with a keynote from Billy Thalheimer, CEO of REGENT Craft Inc.
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.
