THE PROCUREMENT INTERVIEW
“ They’ ve lived through what you and I have lived through over the past five years, which is probably the most disruptive time procurement and supply chain has ever faced,” he adds, emphasising that experience combined with tech is crucial to creating resilient operations.
Real-time visibility through technology Jabil’ s digital transformation journey spans approximately a decade, though Frank is adamant this transformation will never truly end. Technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace – and supply chain systems must evolve with it to maintain competitive advantage and operational resilience. The company’ s primary focus is achieving end-to-end supply chain ecosystem visibility that provides actionable intelligence rather than mere data.
This capability enables rapid reaction to disruptions anywhere in the world. Given Jabil’ s global footprint spanning multiple continents, speed is absolutely essential to maintaining customer production schedules.
“ If there’ s an earthquake in Japan, for example, we have the ability to understand in real time the impacts of that earthquake and how many suppliers could potentially be affected,” explains Frank.
“ We can then take steps to go and readdress that supply chain. Once we’ ve checked the supplier and made sure everybody’ s okay, we can then make decisions around ensuring we keep our customers in production.”
“ WE NEED TO HAVE SOLUTIONS FOR OUR CUSTOMERS THAT ALLOW US TO NAVIGATE AND BE AGILE”
Frank McKay, Chief Supply Chain and Procurement Officer, Jabil
Ultimately, the goal is to maintain production, even during significant disruptions that would previously have caused major interruptions.
Sustainability as a shared responsibility Sustainability has become central to Jabil’ s operations as environmental considerations become increasingly important to customers and regulators alike. The company serves a host of technologically-advanced OEMs which have their own environmental commitments and targets.
“ They’ re looking for Jabil to help them with their own sustainability goals,” Frank continues.“ Pretty much every boardroom – certainly those at publicly-traded businesses – has goals these days. And we play a large part in understanding carbon footprint, for example.”
32 February 2026