2021 NESCON Supply Chain Hall of Fame Winner
David J. Kriz is the 2021 New England Supply Chain Hall of Fame Award winner. The qualifications for this award are multi-faceted and stringent, and Mr. Kriz has exemplified, embodied, and excelled at each one of the qualifications for this award.
Dave’s parents were children of Czech immigrants to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. His father was a graduate engineer who served in WWII, and the family moved from Black River Falls, Wisconsin where Dave was born, back to Iowa during his dad’s deployment in the South Pacific, and finally to Denver, Colorado when the war ended.
One of the award qualifications is a commitment to lifelong learning, education, and improvement both for himself and others. Dave earned a B.A. in History from Tufts University and an M.S in Business Policy from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. But he has never rested on those laurels continuing to learn and explore earning the “Certified Professional in Supply Management” (CPSM) and the “Certified Professional in Supplier Diversity (CPSD)” designations from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). Most recently, our honoree has delved into contemporary supply chain management topics such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and has presented on this and many other topics at venues such as the University of Massachusetts undergraduate Supply Chain Management program. He continues to provide his knowledge and experience to further the education of young people new to the profession as a member of the Advisory Board to the UMass-Boston Supply Chain Management faculty. Dave is passionate (fanatical?) about promoting both the importance and the profession of supply chain management.
Another criteria for this award is making significant contributions to a supply chain professional organization. For more than forty years, Dave has been a member and served on the Board of Directors as well as president of what was originally the Purchasing Management Association of Boston (PMAB) which became ISM-Greater Boston. Through the organization’s dynamic history, Dave was instrumental in re-defining the association as economic pressures and the transition to a more virtual networking model threatened the existence of this organization. Dave’s proposed recovery plan resulted in the reinvention of the association to become the Nation’s oldest, and 6th largest affiliate of ISM. In addition to ISM, Dave has served in the past, on NESCON’s leadership team as Program Committee Chair and Awards Chair.
One of the most important criteria for the Hall of Fame award is the recipient’s pioneering work in the supply chain profession. It is extremely difficult to summarize Dave’s accomplishments and contributions over his vast professional career. He has worked in both the public and private sectors as a practitioner and advisor in supply chain management, operational strategy, and supplier and customer relationship management. His responsibilities have involved him in every aspect of business, with heavy concentration in:
- manufacturing,
- manufacturing support,
- total quality,
- distribution and supply,
- financial relations,
- customer care, and
- strategic planning.
His contributions have been in numerous industries including:
- oil and gas,
- chemicals,
- pharmaceuticals,
- consumer products,
- electrical and electronic products, and
- telecoms.
His considerable skills include:
- negotiations,
- materials control,
- quality management,
- distribution,
- change management, and
- project management.
He is a change agent in start-up, growth, and mature environments, experienced in global integration, and adept at initiating and implementing alliances and consortiums.
His professional roles have included:
- Materials Management Analyst,
- Director of Purchasing and Materials Management,
- Corporate Director General Services,
- VP of Operations,
- Director of Procurement, and
- Consultant at numerous companies, culminating in his own consultancy.
He has lived and worked all over the world including the US, Europe, the Far East, Middle East, and Africa.
One might think that our award winner’s extensive background and experience in supply chain management has been his singular focus over a lifetime, but this would be incorrect. The dictionary definition of a “renaissance man” is “a person with many talents or areas of knowledge” and “a person who has wide interests and is expert in several areas,” and Mr. Kriz exemplifies this definition. Some little-known facts about Dave: he was a Head Cheerleader in both high school and college, was Chairman of the Student Judiciary Council, played lacrosse and ran track, and even performed a clown act. He was active in the Boy Scouts, earning the highest rank of Eagle Scout, and membership in the Boy Scout honor society – the Order of the Arrow, as well as giving back later serving as Cubmaster for six years. He served as a member of the Town Finance Committee and Chair of the Hospital Evaluation Committee for the town of Marblehead.
He has met Nelson Mandela, while consulting in South Africa, and managed a project at a factory in Algeria that was the former headquarters of the French Foreign Legion. He was presenting to 200 local supply chain managers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 9/11/2001 and was subsequently stranded in Saudi Arabia for several weeks. And despite his remarkable memory and ability to recall every company, practitioner, and focus of the New England supply chain management community, it is arguable that Dave has forgotten more about supply chain management than many of us hope to learn in our lifetimes.
Throughout his career, Dave has been supported by his family: his wife Ginny and children David Jr., Kathleen, Kelly, Clayton, and Brian. He and Ginny share their vintage farmhouse with their dogs Sophie and Tucker, and an old truck which he swears he will finish restoring some day.
All of these extraordinary accomplishments earn David J. Kriz the 11th chair in NESCON’s (New England Supply Chain) Hall of Fame.