Interview: Sacha Vaughan, chief supply chain officer, Joseph Joseph

Sasha Vogan, the chief employee of the supply chain in the home -made manufacturer Joseph Joseph, is on the post – her advice recognizes The critical role of the supply chain in the digital eraWhat she offers is not always the case.

“Many brands see the supply chain as just moving boxes from one place to another,” she says. “Consensus is often:“ It's not so difficult. ” However, we had some pain in the past.

Vogan says this recognition of the importance of the product is not only the result of the internal pressure of costs. It suggests that the leaders of the supply chains had an interesting decade characterized by a series of failures, including the pandemic of coronavirus, Brexit and the implementation of new tariffs after changing the US administration.

“We were lucky at the same time,” she says. “The world was especially unstable from the point of view of the supply chain. However, the influence of these failures helped to raise the supply chain from the basement to the meeting room. ”

Covering the transformation of the supply chain

Vogan joined Joseph Joseph in February 2025. Having performed the roles of senior operations with Fortka, Charlotte Tilbury and Shizedo, her previous position was as a director for global operations and production in Dyson. She turned to the opportunity to become the main officer of the supply chain to Joseph Joseph and were impressed after discussing with the co -founder of the company, co -owner and general director Richard Joseph.

“I was sold at the moment I met him,” she says. “He is a super smart and excellent businessman who very clearly understood what he wants. He was the one I knew that I could work, and I bought his vision. I absolutely love the product, and the founders – both Richard and Anthony – are amazing. ”

Vogan admits that there is a similarity between its current and former employers, since both are a design where the founders are still actively participating. Nevertheless, climbing the stairs of a career in Dyson, it took a move to Singapore. She says that joining Joseph Joseph allowed her to achieve her career aspirations in the UK in the organization that she admired.

“The main officer of the supply chain was definitely my trajectory – that was the role that I wanted,” she says. “And they offered this opportunity in an exciting time. They were looking for someone to completely change their supply chain, and not to do the same more. I really believed in this vision. And after seven months, this is exactly what we did. ”

Vogan says that the supply chain that she inherited was a little underdeveloped. She describes the existing supply chain as sedentary and traditional – she was given the opportunity to manage changes and Create a modern, technological approachThe Vogan field is focused on transformation in order to develop the supply chain marked by the awards.

“This is motivation,” she says. “We are not there now, but we will. The talent in Joseph Joseph is quite phenomenal. I have a team of 50 people. We are not a huge company, and yet we are serious about the supply chain. And in this team I have several smart people with whom I am just grateful, with which I work every day. ”

Maximize the digital data and data

Vogan reports to Richard Joseph and is a member of the Executive Council. It controls the through supply chain and a strategic source of products of the company, which relies on a specialized purchasing team under its wing.

“So, the excellent designs that we come up with in London, we go and find someone, who can produce this product in accordance with our high standards,” she says. “It's about making sure that we can complete this task at the right price and time.” Other areas of responsibility include demand and demand planning, customer service and orders management.

Digital data and data play a decisive role in modern operations of the supply chain in Joseph Joseph. “The technology becomes more important every month, when things are going further,” she says. “Ultimately, today the world is too complicated so that we can have someone, who passed pieces of paper. We must be systematically controlled. ”

“The technology becomes more important with each month as it moves.

Sasha Vogan, Joseph Joseph

Company The enterprise resource planning system (ERP) works on SAPThe field while this platform is crucial for everyday operations, Vogan says that other areas that support its supply chain need work. Nevertheless, to carefully cope with this situation is part of its long -term plan to transform the company's operational activities.

“I deliberately held us a little undeveloped this year, because I want to find out how we want to launch here. I think that some organizations jump to the choice of a new brilliant technology, and then try to bend your processes around what this technology can do, and you will ultimately receive non -optimal supply networks, ”she says.

“What I want to do is to be very clear for purposes. Then we will go shopping for the right systems that meet these requirements, in contrast to the purchase of a demand planning system, which does not provide what the business needs. I want through integrations with systems that work in the same direction, and communicate with each other freely. ”

Vogan says that the adoption of these decisions will count on how to integrate with customers and suppliers related to a thorough consideration of how suppliers can help the business manage its inventory in the future: “We consider everything as an area of ​​opportunities, while we understand how we do something here.”

Working with trusted partners

When it comes to a general direction of traveling on the technology of supply chains to Joseph Joseph, Vogan says that application program interfaces (API) are already a standard way to communicate with partnerships. She is interested in studying the potential of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), at the right time for business.

“We have some elements AI in our planning demand The area where we make forecasts that our customers will buy and when they are going to buy it, ”she says. – I think this is the main way to use AI, but there are more opportunities that we can use. However, at the moment they are not firmly on our road map. ”

Vogan says that any decision to use new technologies is made together with the IT director of the company. Her team is working closely with the technological department. While the IT department may want to move faster, Vogan says that it is important that they set expectations, as she sets the strategy of the stone supply chain.

“They are:“ Oh, Sacha, these are all wonderful technologies that we could use. ” And I say: “Yes, it looks good. I do not want to put sticky plastics on things and I have problems in six months. [I want to] Forever take a step back and forever correct our business and technologies, ”she says.

I do not want to put sticky plastics on things and I have problems in six months. [I want to] Take a step back and forever correct our business problems with technology

Sasha Vogan, Joseph Joseph

One of the most important steps of the Vogan was the creation of a new partnership for third -party distribution centers in the UK. Her team conducted a large purchase exercise after she joined in February. In July, Joseph Joseph’s partnership in the supply chain with XPO Logistics became working, and the technology plays a key role in this approach.

“Everything should be well controlled,” she says. “I was looking for a third -party partner who could guarantee that we are correctly systematically controlled. The data interface between us and the XPO is unprumitable, with the right data in the right place at the right time and interfaces that support our business, not approaches. ”

Focusing on basic events

Joseph Joseph sends his shares to the XPO-Rugby Orthodox Camster Center, where the logistics company manages the full-handed execution, storage, profitable and distribution services for customer-like large retailers, as well as individual consumers. Vogan says that partnership allows her team to focus on business development, and not on a fire.

“You should know where your business is located and what is the main thing for you and where you want to concentrate,” she says. “I firmly believe that if you get the right partner, then logistics will become a quiet part of the business. Since this is the end of the chain, it can be super noisy. However, when the execution goes well, no one talks about it, it is very quiet, and you can continue with the fact that it is going to control your expenses and expand your business. ”

Vogan admits that some companies prefer to take control of the execution internally. In many cases, especially for large firms, she says that this is an erroneous approach. A successful digital transformation is a complex process, and the use of knowledge of such an expert as XPO Logistics means that her team can help Joseph Joseph provide the best experience of customers.

Warehouse management systems Dear ones – they occupy a lot of development, and in order to make things unhindered, a lot of technologies are required, ”she says. – This is a lot of work by managing distribution centers, and this distracts from your main business. To give this responsibility to people who are experts, and who can make it a stable, repeated, scalable way, is much more effective, especially for a growing business. ”

Vogan reflects on the changes that she saw during her time on the line of the operational front, and positively refers to the role of employees of the supply chain in the Age of Digital Technologies. As more boards wake up to use high -quality execution as a strategic lever for growth, she says that the possibilities for her peers are significant if they recognize the important role of digital transformation.

She says: “We need to think about key issues, such as:“ How can you start with a client and work to do things without friction? “This is where technology and supply chain should be concentrated.

Leave a Comment