Renee Wawrzynski has led GM’s global logistics since January 2023, responsible for the carmaker’s multi-billion-dollar annual worldwide transport network across inbound, vehicle logistics, containers and packaging. She has worked at GM for more than 35 years across manufacturing, production control and logistics roles at numerous assembly and component plants. Over the past decade she has had leading central logistics and purchasing roles, including as director of containerisation and packaging in North America, and as director of global logistics, containerisation and future programmes. She later moved into direct purchasing, including as director for raw material purchasing and for body and exterior purchasing. Prior to her current role, Wawrzynski was director of demand and supply planning and scheduling within GM’s global supply chain team. She has a degree in materials management from Kettering University in Michigan, and an MBA in international business from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Greg Toornman is the Global VP of Materials, Logistics, and Demand Planning at AGCO, a global manufacturer of agricultural equipment. He has worked at AGCO since 2004 in the Aftermarket, Purchasing, Sales and Operations Planning, Materials Management and Logistics areas. He now leads the transformation of AGCO’s global end-to-end Sales and Operations Planning. He has previously led successful global transformation initiatives while being based in Brasil and Switzerland, and prior to that worked in heavy truck, automotive, and high-end electronics. He received a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Marketing and Operations Management from Western Michigan University and has studied further at Emory and Stanford Universities in Strategies in Leadership and Supply Chain.

Terri Stevenson is the Director of Materials at Magna Seating. In her role she leads the materials teams by creating and implementing materials management objectives, policies, and procedures to ensure key objectives are successfully achieved, primarily related to cost and delivery. Terri plays an instrumental role in the company with her deep knowledge and expertise in seating that continues to support 19 divisions across North America. Stevenson started her career at Magna as a Production Associate at Qualtech Seating in 2003. She has held various roles throughout her career including Material Handler, Material Planner, Production Control Manager, Launch Manager, Assistant General Manager, and Director of Materials at four divisions. Stevenson has a Bachelor of Psychology from University of Western Ontario. She has participated in the Magna’s Mentoring Matters Program for the last two years, as a Pod Mentor and recently as the US Facilitator.

Dr Jacob Ward serves as supply chain deployment manager in the United States Department of Energy’s new Energy Sector Industrial Base program within the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, where he leads the federal government’s efforts in modelling, mapping, and analysing America’s critical energy supply chains. Previously, Dr Ward worked for 15 years with US DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office, where he served as the program manager for operations and analysis, the acting program manager for mobility systems, and the director for DOE’s sustainable-transportation industry partnership. He holds a Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy and Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, where his research focused on the energy and environmental impacts of shared, automated, and electrified mobility systems. Dr Ward also holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Georgetown University and the University of Texas at Austin, respectively.

Ryan Etherton has been with American Axle & Manufacturing for 4 years, holding the role of senior manager global transportation and logistics. His current responsibilities include supporting the development and deployment of AAM’s logistics strategies, policies and procedures and operational execution. Ryan leads strategy and procurement of global air and ocean transportation and participates on AAM’s Sustainability Council as key representative for SCM Transportation activity. Ryan has over 16 years of professional supply chain experience working for global tier-1 suppliers to the automotive industry.

Steve Brown is responsible for the parts supply chain for Toyota plants across North America, which includes Toyota’s production parts and service parts supply chains. He oversees teams responsible for central planning and coordination of parts logistics, route engineering, new model planning, IT systems and sustainability initiatives for logistics. He also works closely with service parts planning as part of Toyota’s integrated parts supply chain function. Steve has worked with Toyota for more than 30 years across assembly, production control and logistics. He is based at Toyota’s North American headquarters in Plano, Texas.

Bridget joined Magna International in September 2013 and is currently assisting its 136 plants in North America achieve cross-group synergies. She has built a Packaging and Transportation Steering Committee to optimise this non-core business area by identify cost-saving opportunities across all the plants in North America, Europe and Asia. She holds the position of Great Lakes Regional Vice-President for the Institute of Packaging Professionals and has also served as President of the MSU School of Packaging Alumni Association. Bridget has considerable experience in the automotive industry, including roles at Ford and The Budd Company, and in 2008 started the Packaging Consultant Group, helping firms like Mobis, Polaris and Caterpillar with packaging optimisation.