Zach Thomann: The Accidental Supply Chain Nerd

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RESPONSIBILITIES: Oversee worldwide operations and third-party logistics providers across iHerb’s expanding network of fulfillment centers and inventory hubs; build a faster, smarter, and more scalable distribution network; and enhance the company’s delivery promise to customers in 180-plus countries.

EXPERIENCE: Chief operating officer, Americas and APAC, GXO Logistics, Inc.; president and chief operating officer at PFSweb, multiple executive roles, PFS; program manager, Amerisource Bergen; manager, PFSweb

EDUCATION: MBA, Finance, with Honors, UT Dallas; B.S., Corporate Communications, The University of Texas at Austin.

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One joke says that you don’t choose supply chain; but supply chain chooses you. I think that’s true.

In high school, I worked at JCPenney, unloading trucks and bags for customer pickup. I promised myself that I’d never work in retail or logistics. I thought I’d be an investment banker.

But right out of school, I started in client services with a small ecommerce service provider. As the company grew, I was afforded many opportunities to grow and learn. Eventually I was overseeing all our program management and client success programs.

I was always the youngest guy in the room. That probably made me hungrier and willing to work twice as hard. I led with facts and relationships. You show up, attack the problems, and earn your seat at the table; it’s not given to you.

The CEO at the time asked me to run supply chain. I told him he was silly, but that I wouldn’t say no. I’ve made my career by saying yes to opportunities, irrespective of the challenge. If you’re comfortable, you’re doing it wrong.

I took over supply chain and worked up to general manager and president of the division. Although supply chain wasn’t a conscious decision, I’ve enjoyed every bit of it. At this point, I’m a bit of a supply chain nerd.

It’s a dynamic time period for supply chains. Everybody’s trying to re-evaluate their points of presence, as well as how to work around changing tariffs and dominion rules, and in health and wellness, regulatory processes. For instance, what does product labeling need to look like by geography?

I joined iHerb because of the tailwinds in this space. Health and wellness is one of the fastest growing verticals in ecommerce. iHerb has an opportunity to take even more market share.

In a growing business, supply chain has to be leading the charge and making sure we’re in front of the growth, in a cost-effective manner. For instance, we don’t want to be talking about capacity constraints when we want to run a promotion.

Priorities one, two, three, and four are ensuring that we deliver on time and within budget, so we meet customers’ expectations and delight them.

The next priority is looking at our network, while considering the future.

As we race to take advantage of market growth, where does our supply chain need to go? What do the facilities need to look like?

We also need to look at our inventory strategy. We’ll assess whether we need additional points of distribution to tighten our time to service orders, so we create a compelling point of difference for our customers.

A big aspect of my role is looking out and reimagining the next five years based on our growth trajectory. Getting there is about asking the right questions: ‘Where do we want to go? What will reaching our goals look like?’

An expression that sticks with me is: ‘No one has a monopoly on brains.’ There’s a tremendous amount of thinking from those on the front line. I’m fortunate to have inherited a strong team that has delivered excellent results.

There’s also strong alignment across the team. We all want to make sure we deliver on our promise to make iHerb’s products available quickly and keep the customer in mind.

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Zach Thomann Answers the Big Questions

1. What hobbies or activities make you better at supply chain management?

I have three kids. They all have social lives and none of them can drive. Kids this age teach you that life is chaos and one thing you have to do is try to bring order to that chaos. It prepares you for supply chain, which is chaotic and always changing, and you need to bring order to it.

2. What would you tell your 18-year-old self?

To enjoy the ride a lot more and celebrate the wins. There were many little milestones in my career and a lot of people who helped me along the way. I don’t think I celebrated them enough.

3. What’s the best supply chain advice you’ve received?

An employee once told me: ‘If you break down all the steps, there’s nothing we do that’s hard. It’s putting it all together that’s the difficult part.’

4. What gets you out of bed in the morning?

Coffee and my love for complex problems that are fun to solve. In my mind, supply chain is an ever-changing puzzle.

5. What is your leadership philosophy?

We have to be good stewards of our business. We’re only here for a period of time and we need to do the best we can for the business while we’re here.

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