DECEMBER 202419Implementing Systems for Greater Collaboration Balancing short-term tactile business with long-term strategic business goals is one of the thinnest lines you can walk as a leader in manufacturing. When you put the right systems in place, you're giving your team the space and ability to think critically, independently, and creatively to better solve problems. With multiple business units under the Textile Division, we recognized the need for greater collaboration and connectedness and began our supply inventory and operations planning (SIOP) journey a few years ago. Our process is leading to improvements in balancing supply against demand, scenario planning with supporting data, and identifying gaps to our goals. The implementation of the right tools allows our teams access to better information and enable them to work more efficiently.While the SIOP journey is one critical piece of the puzzle, we haven't backed down from making even more investments to aid in increasing inter-division connectedness. We're upgrading to a unilateral customer relationship management (CRM) system to provide better functionality across job functions, give us a clearer lens to our pipeline, assist us in managing and adjusting risk, and support our SIOP process. Making Strides in SustainabilityAt Milliken, we've outlined an aggressive corporate-level sustainability initiative that was developed to improve our global environmental footprint. Now, these initiatives are easy to push to the back burner when the world flips upside down, but that doesn't make it the right decision. Instead of using the pandemic as a reason for diverting attention from these goals, we're using it as a time to closely analyze the opportunities we have to make progress. For example, globally we're investing in small-scale projects that make our facilities and equipment more renewable, such as LED lighting installations and improved wastewater treatment systems to more large-scale investments, like the 2021 installation of one of the company's most energy-efficient machines. For Milliken, our compass is clear and unwavering--invest in textiles, address challenges creatively, and never stop innovating. In our experience, moments of crisis and chaos are not the time to start questioning strategy or experience. Rather, with leadership that is willing to support big ideas and enabling a team that thrives in the unknown, we know that's when manufacturing magic can happen. With the recent labor shortages seen across industries, identifying opportunities to be more efficient and effective will continue to be a priority
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