Seasoned Leadership in Action™ – An Interview with Sam Samadi, Head of Global Quality/Compliance at Casper!

Sam Samadi

At Supply Chain Game Changer we believe in sharing experiences and expertise from people in every industry and from across the globe.  As such we have introduced our “Seasoned Leadership in Action™” Interview series at Supply Chain Game Changer. This interview is with Sam Samadi, Head of Global Quality and Compliance at Casper.

I first met Sam as a part of the team helping me turnaround an operation that was in significant operational and financial trouble. Sam’s lean manufacturing and operational expertise were readily apparent and I immediately saw that he was an incredibly valuable and trustworthy colleague.

Casper
Sam Samadi, Head Global Quality/Compliance at Casper

Later on after joining a different company I learned that Sam was actually now my customer in his role at GoPro, a position he was eminently qualified for. It underscored for me that it really is a small world. A colleague today could be a customer or supplier in the future, and then again a colleague. It’s vitally important to develop and nurture relationships and your professional network.

Thank you Sam for your friendship and taking the time to share your experiences and expertise with us.

Here is our interview with an exceptional Industry leader, Sam Samadi:

Tell our readers a little about your background and experience

I came to United States nearly 40 years ago. My career began as an Industrial Engineering intern at Xerox and led me to a 9 years span which was fundamental in developing who I am to this date.

Surrounded by excellent mentors and supported by Xerox’s generous training and educational offering, I was able to mature personally and professionally throughout my tenure. I was afforded the opportunity to became manager at 27 at Xerox which was foundational in my development as a leader.

My career lead me next to TRW Automotive, where I built on and was exposed to a deeper appreciation for Quality given the safety critical nature of products.

Next, I intentionally joined a very small company as I desired to experience the dynamics of such environment (startups did not exist at the time!!). I was fortunate to be able to manage the operations, supply chain and quality and began to apply lean manufacturing techniques which I had become exposed to and intrigued by, while at Xerox.  

I then joined Harris Corporation, as head of Operations for a multi-site division in S. CA, where I was able to apply lean manufacturing to transform factories while for the first time I was exposed to off-shore manufacturing in China as we moved several products lines to China.

My journey continued when I joined Celestica, in Toronto, Canada with mission of deploying and sustaining lean manufacturing across multiple sites. A short stint as General Manager for Flextronics in Colorado lead me to a major shift in career, when I joined Kyocera Wireless as their Quality leader.

I continued on the same path joining Palm, Belkin and finally GoPro leading Quality (hardware and firmware), Customer service, Reverse Logistics, Supplier Engineering and others functions along the way. In most cases, my role and contributions in the past several years have been transformational in nature.

What are some of your greatest achievements in business?

Frankly speaking, my greatest accomplishments and achievements have been meeting the people that I have met and specially those that I worked with to achieve goals and objectives at every level.

I have seen peers that I worked with to flourish and become leaders of large and small organizations on their own.  Naturally, I am proud that I have through my interactions contributed to their success at any level.

How has the business and supply chain changed over the course of your career? 

I would categorize the evolution under three essential shifts:

  1. Dramatic migration of manufacturing and supply chain from localized to globalized. It has brought many advantages and has also afforded opportunities for many to learn from the challenges and dynamics along the way. Supply chain complexities from sourcing to qualification and execution and need for development of ethical supply chain along the way have all offered interesting and learning experiences. Recent implications of tariffs on cost of goods sold has further created complexity of sourcing and product and manufacturing site transfer dynamics.  
  2. Digitization of business and supply chain has brought dramatic changes to business along the way. I often wonder how we managed and executed businesses without digitization enablement that we take for granted nowadays. 
  3. Along with digitization, data and analytics have become so critical. Availability of data and more importantly, ability to transform the data to critical and vital information for business and supply chain has been another dramatic change over the years. 

What are some of the lessons you learned in your career that you would like to share with others to learn from?

Throughout my career and life in general, there have been many peers that have mentored, encouraged, and advised me on many occasions. So, if I can share any lessons or advice, I would encourage the readers to mentor and develop others that come along to pay it forward.

Further, treat everyone that you come across with respect, regardless of who they are. Lastly, be open to change. Change is manifestation of life itself. Those who resist, shall perish. 

What challenges facing the world are important to you?

I think I am very much aligned with many others that our biggest challenge is saving our natural resources and our planet for generations to come. Be it a business and or supply chain entity, we all must do our share to ensure that we take every possible measure to support efforts to save our planet.

In the past several years, I have continued to champion ethical and environmentally responsible practices to support the cause.  

What is the role of Business, Supply Chain and Change Leadership to address these challenges?

All businesses and enterprises exist to be profitable. I strongly support that but as business leaders, we need to combine desire for success and profitability with view that we also need to leave a strong legacy of care for our planet.

Leaders must walk the walk and act as role models with equal focus on profitability along what is right for community, environment and ultimately the planet. 

What are you working on these days?

I have recently joined a 5-year-old rapidly growing company in the Bay Area (N. California) with focus on Operations, Quality, Compliance and Process development / improvement. I am excited to contribute to ongoing growth and helping the organization to get ready for the next steps in its evolution.

What advise would you give people who have a career in, or who are considering joining Business or Supply Chain?

Despite the premature and early notions that Operations and Supply chain is on a path of demise, these disciplines continue to be critical and essential to every business regardless of type or channels they sell into.

If you are already in the field, I suggest to continuously expand their horizon, learn other aspects of the business / process allowing flexibility and ability to serve the business in different areas. Further be open to changes and technologies that are rapidly evolving and changing the business. 

For those who are entertaining getting into operations and Supply Chain, I would encourage them to jump in as operations and Supply chain remain critical to success of every enterprise, large or small.

And remember, flexibility, willingness to learn and being lucky enough to be paired with people who can mentor will be a strong recipe for success. 

How can people contact you?

I am on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ssamadi/and glad to connect with like minded people. I would also offer my support in providing insights, mentoring and helping my colleagues anyway I can.

Originally published on May 7, 2019.