Center for Supply Chain Management Hosts Fast, Focused Forum with Giant Eagle, Inc.

Leaders from Giant Eagle provided insights into how they fulfilled surges in customers as the topic during the latest Fast, Focused Forum hosted by the Center for Supply Chain Management (SCM) in Pitt Business.

The May 21 topic was “Managing COVID-related Unpredictability in the Grocery Industry” and featured discussion leaders Jeff Bornino, Vice President of Supply Chain & Transformation, and Harrison Urash, Senior Director Supply Chain, both from Giant Eagle, Inc.

As our world is recovering from an almost collapsed supply chain due to COVID-19, the timeliness of the topic was well-received by the participants.

“Items were flying off the shelves,” said Bornino during the forum. “We were closely monitoring in-stock levels at our stores and working with our suppliers to replenish as quickly as possible.”

Reoccurring every few weeks, the Fast, Focused Forums series is designed to facilitate discussion on COVID-19 challenges and strategies and lasts around 40 minutes. Spearheaded by Prakash Mirchandani, Director of the Center for Supply Chain Management, the forum was first established during the beginning of the pandemic—over a year ago.

Participants are able to discuss current challenges and approaches that have had success (or failures), interact with other industry professionals, and seek guidance.

“Giant Eagle’s products help satisfy some of our physiological, or health and hunger, needs and are critical to our survival,” said Mirchandani. “Jeff and Harrison led a spirited discussion on how Giant Eagle responded to abnormal demand surges relating to COVID-19 and addressed questions ranging from the reasons for toilet paper shortage to improving forecasts and maintaining quality.” 

As the Fast, Focused Forum continues, both discussion leaders have been welcomed to share more insights into the food industry at a later forum.

To learn more about the series, please click here.