Rick Desmarais

Director Lean & Operational Excellence
Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc.

Rick Desmarais has been a strong Lean Thinking advocate during his 25 years of Supply Chain experience. Having worked in both US and Europe across all 4 supply chain pillars of Plan, Source, Make and Deliver, he provides a holistic view of the impact of a Lean strategy on operational effectiveness.

Rick started his J&J career as a Manufacturing manager that opened a new plant in Switzerland. He was also the first operating company to distribute products from J&J’s new European DC in Belgium. After returning to the US, he managed multiple DC’s for the Global Orthopedics franchise. Most recently, Rick has assumed a leadership role in the new Lean Center of Excellence for J&J. Rick is a certified 6 Sigma Green Belt and Lean Black Belt. He has also recently achieved Master Black Belt certification.

Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining Rick.

Download The Latest Agenda

18th November – Driving Value Throughout The Business

Saturday, June 11th, 2016

16:50 PANEL DISCUSSION: Collaborating with suppliers and value chain partners to identify additional sources of innovation and value creation

Discussion points:

Overcoming the lack of customer focus in the medical device supply chain – why does the disconnect exist and how to we work together to challenge this
Leveraging better internal integration to deliver increased transportation collaboration and eliminate unnecessary costs in the manufacturer/ supplier relationship
Improving internal collaboration through increased visibility of cross-functional collaboration and performance metrics/KPIs

19th November – Achieving Supply Chain Excellence

Monday, July 11th, 2016

09:10 KEYNOTE: The journey towards operational excellence: How to reduce the cost of healthcare and improve the overall patient experience

Evaluating ways to optimise your demand driven supply chain model
Enhancing the customer experience whilst reducing waste and eliminating inefficiencies
Creating value offerings based on “Lean Thinking” principles
Driving lean transformation in your organisation and empower your teams to lead change

12:00 PANEL DISCUSSION: How to deliver a successful business model to maximise profitability and reduce costs: What should you prioritise?

Panellists from various companies will put forward their thoughts on strategies, different models, different mind sets and different experiences on the same subject. The community forum chair will provide 3 key takeaways or action points at the end of the session for you to take on the challenges addressed.

Moderated by:
Kevin Stout, Exccutive Director, Medical Device Supply Chain Council

Discussion points:

Where does the balance sit now between servicing the client and protecting the bottom line? Do we have the balance right?
Does supply chain flexibility and agility increase with outsourcing?
How can supply chain support implementation and management of outsourced processes?
Examining ways to reduce costs without compromising customer service levels
Evaluating effective options for outsourcing supply chain operations