When Oliver Wight’s Molly VandenHeuvel was named a winner of the Women in Supply Chain Award, the honor reflected not just her individual achievements but the kind of leadership, innovation, and practical expertise that clients expect when working with Oliver Wight. With more than 35 years of experience across industries and executive roles, she has navigated everything from manufacturing floors to the C-suite, ultimately shaping strategies that have transformed businesses.
For supply chain professionals navigating today’s complex landscape, VandenHeuvel’s perspectives on continual learning, risk-taking, and practical problem-solving can help leaders and teams drive meaningful results.
See the full list of 2025 Women in Supply Chain Award Winners
Proven Approaches to Problem-Solving and Innovation
Effective problem-solving is at the heart of supply chain leadership, and VandenHeuvel has built her career around tackling challenges that others might see as insurmountable. One early project required cutting inventory nearly in half while maintaining service levels — an ambitious goal that forced her team to define the problem clearly, break it into solvable parts, and work toward measurable milestones. The result was a 40% reduction, the best performance in the business unit at the time.
Experiences like this taught her that:
- Clarity comes first. Defining the problem thoroughly is half the solution. Too many organizations spend energy explaining why something happened without focusing on how to prevent it from occurring again.
- Direction matters. Innovation for its own sake is ineffective; progress requires a clear vision of the gap that needs to be closed and the outcomes to achieve.
- Diverse perspectives drive breakthroughs. Teams with varied experiences can reframe problems in new ways. Many breakthrough solutions have come from applying knowledge from one field to a completely different challenge.
These practices align teams, channel energy in the right direction, and create space for true innovation.
Career Lessons for Lasting Success
Beyond supply chain mechanics, career development itself can be approached with the same structured mindset, and VandenHeuvel’s path illustrates lessons that remain deeply relevant.
Map Your Path
VandenHeuvel credits much of her success to intentional planning. She built a career map early on, identifying the skills she needed to advance into leadership. That meant taking on roles throughout the supply chain, not just operations, so she could see how decisions played out across the entire business. While the path wasn’t always linear, every experience added a tool she later used in executive positions.
Say Yes to New Experiences
Promotions and titles are important milestones, but they are not the only markers of progress. Saying yes to stretch assignments, global projects, or work outside one’s immediate area can provide skills and exposure that lead to future opportunities. Leaders who are open to unexpected opportunities position themselves for growth that titles alone can’t deliver.
Commit to Lifelong Learning
Supply chain management is a discipline defined by change — shifts in technology, global trade, customer expectations, and workforce dynamics. Even after decades in executive roles, VandenHeuvel has remained a perpetual student. By staying curious and adaptable, she not only sharpened her own skills but also modeled growth-minded behavior for her teams.
Make Networking a Priority
When people think of networking, they likely picture job hunting or chasing the next promotion. But one of the most powerful — and often overlooked — benefits of building strong relationships across industries, functions, and even geographies is how much it can help you in your current role. Networking accelerates learning by exposing professionals to different perspectives, tools, and practices. It also fosters collaboration, as someone in your network often has faced a similar challenge and can share insight. Those who invest in their networks often find that when challenges arise, they already have allies ready to help.
Strive for Excellence in Every Role
Whether leading a global transformation or managing a small project, delivering excellence establishes a reputation for reliability and results. That credibility, in turn, opens doors to bigger opportunities. Striving for excellence also means being willing to step outside one’s comfort zone — volunteering for projects that require new skills or exposure to unfamiliar parts of the business. Over time, this commitment to doing every job well becomes a career-defining trait that colleagues, mentors, and executives remember.
A Legacy of Leadership and Learning
Awards like the Women in Supply Chain honor mark important milestones, but VandenHeuvel’s true legacy lies in the knowledge she has shared, the teams she has elevated, and the transformations she has helped organizations achieve. For today’s supply chain professionals navigating uncertainty, her journey offers both inspiration and a roadmap: Define problems clearly, set bold goals, stay adaptable, and never stop learning. That is how individuals, teams, and entire organizations achieve transformation.
If your organization is ready to take the next step toward supply chain excellence, contact us today to learn how our experts can help you chart the path forward.