Joe Niehaus, senior vice president of logistics solutions at LMI, has been named chair of WashingtonExec’s Supply Chain Council for 2024-2025.
Niehaus brings over 20 years of experience in leadership roles in the logistics field. At LMI, he leads logistics consultants developing and delivering advanced logistics solutions in acquisition and sustainment; infrastructure, energy, and environment; and supply chain management. He works to help LMI’s customers build supply chain resilience and deliver innovative supply chain solutions in the federal space.
As chair of the council, Niehaus will guide discussions on critical topics such as building supply chain resilience across the defense industrial base; innovation of supply chain risk management; the modernization of acquisition business processes; and more. In the interview below, he shares insights into his experience in the supply chain sector, what this role as chair means to him and the importance of fostering connections between industry executives and government officials.
Based on your extensive experience, what are some of the focus areas/hot topics you want to discuss with the council this year?
Building and maintaining supply chain resilience across the defense industrial base is a high priority topic across the national security enterprise. With the ever-accelerating advances of data analytics, modeling and simulation, and emerging artificial intelligence (AI), on top of a proliferation of data collection, the opportunities to implement supply chain solutions at scale are immense.
The challenges and competitive stresses on our industrial base supply chains are ever-increasing. That’s why it’s valuable to explore how investments are aligned across the defense industrial base relative to the federal government’s strategies and policies and executive orders. This includes the National Defense Industrial Base Strategy, Regional Sustainment Framework, Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, climate adaptation, and resilience.
A specific area I’d like to see the council discuss is innovation and implementation of impactful supply chain risk management and cyber SCRM solutions that enhance resiliency and generate return on investment.
Another area for discussion is innovation and modernization around acquisition business processes and systems. This modernization is taking shape within the digital engineering ecosystem and also includes the application of AI tools.
How will your personal and career experience and expertise within the supply chain community help lead the council in discussions on trending supply chain-related topics?
Throughout my career in supply chain and logistics, I have worked in different roles and companies that provided me with diverse experiences and perspectives across commercial and federal government spaces. My professional career started in commercial packaging, then a majority of my career has been spent in developing and operating scaled defense and civilian agency supply chain and sustainment solutions. My current role with LMI focuses on helping clients modernize their operations for current and emerging challenges, all while drastically shortening the time to value for their investments.
I believe these different roles help me relate to the aspirations, constraints, and challenges of the diverse and highly seasoned council members who represent original equipment manufacturers, system integrators, and consultancies.
What does it mean for you to be chairperson of this council?
This is a unique opportunity to facilitate meaningful collaboration with influential industry, government, and academic peers. I look forward to seeing our council exchange insights and perspectives on highly relevant topics that impact our national defense industrial health, our economy, and our government customers’ mission successes.
Do you feel there is great value in connecting industry executives with government officials to discuss topics facing the supply chain community? If so, why?
There is tremendous value in connecting industry executives and government officials who manage our supply chains and the industrial base.
Since the pandemic, supply and demand disruptions and cyberattacks have exposed the significant fragility of our global supply chains and the industrial networks they enable. Additionally, the national defense strategy and sustainment demands have put increased workload on the defense industrial base to prepare for near-peer conflicts abroad. The combination of these challenges and demands requires an investment in modernizing the industrial base and supply chains, not to mention enhancing acquisition processes to meet the pace of need.
Certainly, there are positive developments, including significant increase in government and private investments; a wave of relevant technology; and collaboration across government, industry, and academia to directly address these challenges.
Given the challenges outlined, we need this type of collaborative engagement between government, academic, and industry supply chain leaders now more than ever to drive more timely results. Government and academic counterparts will share and gain insightful perspectives firsthand on complex topics and emerging technologies that they can leverage in their roles. Council members equally gain from those insights but also learn from industry counterparts on perspectives and ideas to shape their approaches.
What do you hope to accomplish as chair of this council, and what do you hope council members get out of your leadership?
My focus is to facilitate meaningful exchanges among these leaders and stakeholders—exchanges that will assist them in their roles. Within that, I have three specific goals. First, I intend for these council engagements to increase understanding and perspective on relevant complex topics. Second, I hope to see members and guest speakers grow and strengthen their professional network for enduring collaboration. Third, I hope that our efforts enable meaningful impact in strengthening the resiliency of our national security.