Former Walmart EVP Joe Metzger Joins U of A Supply Chain Management Faculty

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Joe Metzger, former Walmart EVP, joins the Master's in Supply Chain Management Program as a lecturer.

Joe Metzger has accepted a lecturer position within the Master of Supply Chain Management Program for the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the U of A, Department Chair Brian Fugate announced Friday.

Metzger joins the J.B. Hunt Transport Department of Supply Chain Management — the No. 2 graduate supply chain program in North America, according to Gartner — with over 36 years of exceptional end-to-end business performance for top-tier retail and consumer packaged goods companies and has a history of transformation and operational success. He led the strategy, planning, capital and automation investment for Walmart, Kellogg's and Kraft/Heinz, achieving significant top-line growth and strong profit margins for all three companies.

"Joe Metzger's exceptional and wide-ranging experience leading supply chain for some of the world's top companies will be an invaluable asset to our students," Fugate said. "His deep expertise across all facets of the supply chain, combined with his passion for developing future leaders, makes him an outstanding addition to our nationally recognized faculty." 

"Even after retirement, 'Supply Chain Learning' and 'Developing Supply Chain Leaders' are still two of my passions, and this role will allow me to continue being engaged with those passions while staying connected to the supply chain industry locally," Metzger said. "I have been a huge fan of the U of A Supply Chain Department and the graduates they produce for a long time. It's an honor to now be part of that same team helping develop the supply chain leaders of the future."

Metzger joined Walmart in 2019, where he concluded his career as executive vice president of supply chain operations. There, Metzger executed responsibility for the company's end-to-end supply chain from supplier to customer consisting of 140,000 associates across 115 distribution centers and 38 fulfillment centers, including leading the transportation fleet of 13,000 drivers. Prior to this role, Metzger led global and domestic transportation for Walmart. He navigated Walmart's supply chain operation through the pandemic with precision, building sustainable strength with industry-leading business results while accelerating automation and technology transformation.

Before joining Walmart, Metzger served as the senior vice president-Kellogg North America Supply Chain for the Kellogg Corporation from 2016 to 2019. In this role, Metzger led the Kellogg supply chain end-to-end including manufacturing (27 factories), logistics, distribution/transportation (8 DCs), and procurement and food safety/quality with over 10,500 associates. During his time there, Metzger led Kellogg to new growth and transformation initiatives, including Direct Store Delivery to Warehouse Delivery for Keebler as well as driving significant margin improvement across the portfolio with deep experience in snacks, cereals and new healthy food platforms. He also significantly improved supply chain performance in safety, quality, service and cost.

Prior to the Kellogg Corporation, Metzger was the vice president of integrated supply chain at the Kraft Heinz Company until 2016. For Kraft/Heinz, Metzger headed manufacturing, distribution/transportation, procurement and customer logistics across multiple divisions of Kraft/Heinz's integrated supply chain. For 28 years, Metzger provided food industry leadership across cheese/dairy, grocery, food service and meat business units, delivering end-to-end stellar top-and-bottom-line results while delivering transformation in technology and workforce evolution.

Metzger earned his bachelor's degree in dairy science manufacturing from South Dakota State University in 1988. He earned his Corporate Based Mini M.B.A. from Mankato State University in 1991. Metzger would go on to be selected for the prestigious Harvard Development Program, which he completed in 2019. Since retirement from Walmart, Metzger has joined Pritzker Private Capital as a senior adviser for sugar foods — advising a number of companies for Pritzker — in addition to supporting the Partners Group Private Equity as a board of director for Surewerx.

"I'm excited to share my nearly 37 years of supply chain experience," Metzger said. "But I am almost equally as excited to continue learning from the talented students in the program as well."

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