CAE

The company’s mission? To be the worldwide partner of choice in civil aviation and defence and security by revolutionising its customers’ training and critical operations with digitally immersive solutions.

With high-tech training and operational support solutions, CAE’s history is filled with technology leadership and industry firsts. Today, its comprehensive supply chain digital transformation programme is helping to make the world a safer place.

We sit down with Valerie Myers, Senior Director of Global Supply Chains and Sustainability at CAE, to learn more.

To begin, Valerie delves into the supply chain digital transformation taking place at the company, emphasising how the COVID-19 pandemic has revolutionised the way it approaches wider strategic development.

“Digital supply chain transformation cannot exist in isolation,” says Valerie. “If you’re transforming, you’ll be leveraging new tools and incorporating these transformations into your operations. This level of transformation has been imperative for CAE – there is no way we could have survived, let alone thrived, in the post-pandemic recovery without meaningful overhaul in our supply chain tools and strategy.”

And thrive they did. The company retained thousands of jobs with CAE employees and suppliers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since then, CAE has fully embraced its role in helping the aviation industry recover post-COVID-19. By delivering full-flight simulators quickly and enhancing training with digitally immersive solutions, the company continues to support airlines and operators in elevating safety, efficiency and readiness for critical operations.

“Upon joining CAE in late 2021, it was clear we needed to adapt to the situation as the new normal, sometimes radically re-thinking how we execute our supply chain practices and re-engineer our strategy. We pivoted to prioritise teamwork and innovation,” says Valerie. “When we talk about innovation, we’re not just talking about technology. We’re talking about looking at everything differently, constantly moving and pushing ourselves to maintain the entrepreneurial spirit at the very heart of CAE. We like to think of CAE as a 76-year-old startup, so we’re constantly changing and questioning how we run our operations.

“When we’re looking at innovating our digital approach to our supply chain, I like to boil things down to the simplest form and start from the foundation. You can’t build anything, whether that’s a new strategy or a house, without having situational awareness and clarity of intent. So we begin by reviewing the data.

“We began by taking stock of what we had, from KPIs, tools, metrics and business processes we were currently using, and if these systems were adequately serving us. Most of our tools were static and woefully ineffective as a means of getting us out of a shortage situation, and would certainly not help us to drive our business model further.

“One example is on-time delivery. Most supply chain managers will measure the on-time delivery capability of their suppliers, but that was the first thing I got rid of. When I tell people this, they look at me as if I have two heads, but I see it as a lagging indicator.

“How is it beneficial for me to be looking in my rearview mirror, checking what’s going on behind me when I’m going at 200 miles an hour? What we needed to pay attention to was the things coming at us. So instead, we shifted the use of our data towards predictive indicators. We leverage this in a variety of different models, from demand scenarios to shortage anticipation and prevention.

“We see our supply chain as a competitive edge – we are dependable and we make things happen. So when we’re looking at our suppliers, we’re interested in seeing the handle they have on their data, and if they’re clear on what they’re trying to accomplish. I’m not interested in people flashing exciting new technologies without a synergy with an established, clear strategy. Pick your tools wisely – if you want to make an omelette, don’t reach for a power drill.

“By looking at potential suppliers under these new parameters, our goal was risk prevention and mitigation. I like to apply Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), a statistical approach heavily used in the automotive industry, among others, to determine, in the entirety of our design, where there could be a catastrophic failure, and focus solutions and attention towards those risks.

“We apply this concept in order to zero in on our data. There are so many variables in our production – we have over 500 partners and each one of our simulators is bespoke, even if it’s for the same airline. When you consider the amount of variables we have to manage, focus is the key.

“We leverage machine learning to help us draw more insights with exploratory analytics. This is where we’re looking at possible correlations and causation between data points to see how specific insights help inform the next step in our strategy.”

Access to reliable data insights, Valerie stresses, is crucial when working with suppliers – particularly in such a dynamic industry.

“Without data, I’m rudderless,” says Valerie. “And if I’m rudderless, how can I expect my suppliers to deliver on what I need? I need to be clear on what my risks and intentions are, so I can be clear to my suppliers what my requirements are.

“In such a high-pressure industry, I need suppliers to be agile, dependable and collaborative. We want suppliers that reinvest in their business, in their people and in their systems. We’re looking for continuous improvement in technology and infrastructure.

“We trust the suppliers we work with to do the right thing for their business, but we also tell them very clearly that we expect them to be in constant motion – to invest in their operations, and to be transparent with us. If you as a supplier see risk, we want to hear about it so we can find a solution together.”

In order to ensure CAE’s suppliers meet these standards, Valerie and her team have developed a supplier performance programme.

“Very often, supplier performance programmes will be incredibly two-dimensional,” says Valerie. “They focus on on-time delivery, price and competitiveness.  But these are mere outcomes of numerous inputs and decision points. This is where we need to exert influence.  Our supplier performance programme, CAE Resilient Together, has involved focusing on those key partnerships that can help us move the needle on both holistic operational performance and sustainability.

“We have hundreds of suppliers, but a small pool of our key partners represent over 50% of our spend. We’ve selected these key partners by looking at their progress, their intentions, their values and their desire to move with us. In fact, some of our partners outrank us in terms of sustainability capabilities – which helps us continuously improve and get inspired from best practices.”

Two such partners are automation and industrial products developer Siemens and visual solutions provider Barco.

“Barco has been a longstanding partner of CAE,” says Valerie. “Historically, we have leveraged one another’s technology roadmap, and they have always worked to innovate in their new product lineup to try and help us attain the very frontiers we were pushing.

“As a developer of projection systems, Barco has a reliance on electrochemical components. The need for specific products was challenging during the pandemic, but they were very creative in working with us to manage our top priorities, as well as helping us minimise the cost of our transport and operations.

“If we think about Siemens Canada, we worked with their engineers after the COVID-19 pandemic to revisit existing design solutions to make them more cost-efficient. They didn’t have to do that for us, but they worked closely with us so we could find a way to produce a product that allowed them to keep their cost margins while taking costs out for us. It’s an incredibly mutually beneficial relationship we’ve built. Our partnerships are all about collaboration in order to build resilient supply chains that work smarter together. Everything that we do is underpinned by that model.”

One particularly beneficial relationship has been with custom precision sheet metal fabricator BMP.

“We have enjoyed a very fruitful relationship with BMP,” says Valerie. “Throughout our relationship, if there have been impacts to their production line, they’ve been transparent about what they have been dealing with. They’ve been very nimble in seeking solutions for us and are always investing within their local communities to attract and retain talent. It’s a fantastic internal culture that they’ve built.

“When we had challenges on another system where production was not where we wanted it, we turned to BMP and asked if they had the capacity to take this on – and they did. They were able to introduce this new product very successfully, helping us reduce risk elsewhere in our supply chain.

“We continue to grow in business with them, and they were actually the first recipient of our new Crystal Award last year, recognising excellence in supply chain.”

But while CAE’s relationship with BMP is rooted in history, the company is always looking to nurture new supplier relationships – more recently with energy and chemical solutions company Rampf.

“Rampf was the result of a two-year search, where we were actively seeking to add in a new partner in composites,” says Valerie. “As we emerged from the pandemic, planes were taking back to the skies and there was an immense demand for aircraft to be delivered – a composite-reliant product.

“This is a very labour-intensive process, and we searched worldwide for the right supplier to successfully meet our needs. The stars aligned with Rampf, who were in the process of growing their capabilities and capacity.

“When we first began working with them, they were a small company with a lot of engineering talent. From the moment we began working together they engaged with us, challenged our designs, and helped us as we ramped up very quickly in production capability. They’re a company we’re thrilled to grow and develop alongside.”

As the first Canadian aerospace company to reach carbon neutrality, CAE has put significant emphasis on developing a sustainability strategy both within the company and with its external suppliers.

“Sustainability is of tremendous importance within the aerospace industry, and it is accelerating exponentially,” says Valerie. “At CAE, we’re welcoming what sustainability is bringing to us as an agent of change. We’re building it into our very operating model, future generations of our products and our supply chain strategy.

“When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we continued to prioritise our sustainability strategy – taking a closer look at our Scope one, two and three emissions. This led to a transformation in the way we did business, generating a lot of conversations about how we can do business differently.

“This is a new language for everybody – it certainly was a new language for myself. We understand that this is a new language for suppliers as well, so we take the time to educate and to engage in conversations rather than dictating what we think is right.

“I volunteered to step into the fold for sustainability within my unit because I wanted to test drive the new protocols we were deploying and ensure they worked in practice – I didn’t want to be preaching for the implementation of an approach that would fail to deliver meaningful, lasting change.

“As we moved forward with these sustainability initiatives, we focused on doing this alongside our key strategic suppliers – the ones that will move the needle. We told them: ‘You are the early adopters, you are the ones we want to develop and deploy in our sustainability practices, and you are the suppliers we want to share that responsibility with.’

“Our motto is that sustainability has to be part of your operating model. It cannot be bolted on. So we go to our suppliers and meet with their leadership on their turf to understand their reality and discuss solutions.

“We’re keenly aware of the fact that we are competing with our peers – both in the aerospace industry and beyond – for our suppliers’ capacity. We want to deal with innovative suppliers that will always push their own envelope to support us, so we need to be the customer of choice. I want my suppliers to enjoy the work they do with us, developing alongside us in sustainability and innovation.

“I’m enthused by the work we have done to embed sustainability within our businesses, and I think we’ve generated positive momentum with our suppliers. There is an industry-wide change taking place, so it’s crucial that we’re enacting meaningful progress rather than trying to look good.

“Sustainability, technology and innovation all go hand-in-hand. When fostering growth within small and medium enterprises, we say that we want to fund innovation. This isn’t about the next cool machine, or the next new patent we’re going to be delivering. Instead, it’s how we do business differently. Business as usual will not solve the problems for the world of tomorrow. The status quo is not an option.”

Learn more about CAE here.

ADDED VALUE

Looking at the bigger picture

“One of my favourite TED Talks is ‘Start with Why,’ which Simon Sinek gave almost fifteen years ago,” says Valerie. “The concept of it is so important to my whole philosophy, particularly as I’ve grown in my career. I started thinking about what moves me, and the importance of the bigger picture.

“When you’re working in supply chain, it’s easy to feel like you’re at the bottom of the pyramid – with other sectors driving changes while you have to react. But we’re looking at the bigger picture to see how supply chain can be at the forefront of development and setting new directions and innovations. Simon Sinek’s approach is all about understanding how it’s the ‘why’ that compels your suppliers, your colleagues and your leaders to follow the new direction you’re spearheading.”

Working with the leaders of tomorrow

“I’ve been able to collaborate with peers in the industry giving university lectures,” says Valerie. “We’re very fortunate in Montreal, with several English- and French-speaking universities, and it’s great to be able to take your hat off and work alongside this new generation. I’ve been lucky to have the opportunity to give lectures on sustainability in supply chain, and doing this is something I’m very passionate about.

“It’s not just about giving back to the community, it’s helping to understand how some of our decisions now will have ramifications on academia and the future of the supply chain both at a local and international level.”

Boss Class

“I don’t often listen to podcasts,” says Valerie. “My commute is too short, and I fill my days too much. But when I do get the opportunity to listen, I have been engrossed in a series of podcasts by the Economist, called Boss Class.

“Just because we have decades of career experience behind us doesn’t mean we don’t need to take the time as leaders to reframe how we lead. Boss Class is a very thorough podcast that cites numerous examples of types of leaders and academic insights from different types of leaders, and I find it very useful to look at different approaches and see what would be good to embed into my leadership style.”

Connect with Valerie on LinkedIn.