This month, we are excited to feature Tamara Fox, Director of Sales & Operations Planning at Sartori Company! We had the opportunity to connect with Tamara and gain valuable insights into the exciting work her team is doing and how you can apply key lessons learned at Sartori to elevate your own company’s strategies.
What Tamara is working on:
In her field of supply chain, Tamara shares that the most significant trend she is seeing is AI and its role in a supply chain. She noted that when attending UWEBC events, she finds that many companies are still trying to close foundational process and technology gaps before they begin to utilize AI. Tamara shares that she is excited to see where AI could eventually take them as they have been learning how it can help with demand sensing, collecting market data, procurement time, availability of parts in the market, and more.
About six months ago, Sartori Company kicked off a large multi-year planning systems enhancements project. Tamara explains that the company has grown tremendously over the past five years and has realized it’s time for its planning technology to be updated. Tamara and her team have been starting the process of vetting demand and supply planning software.
How Tamara and her team benefit from UWEBC:
Tamara loves taking full advantage of her UWEBC membership to further her and her team’s goals. In fact, she has been attending events for over 14 years! Tamara has served as the supply chain track champion, serving as the liaison between her company and UWEBC, for 2 years.
One of Tamara’s favorite event types is the Sales and Operations Planning Special Interest Group (SIG). These events allow her to dive deep into the topics most relevant to her team. Tamara enjoys talking to other member companies, discussing best practices and technologies they have implemented, and learning ways to overcome their struggles with planning processes and stakeholders. She says this SIG is a nice “pulse check” for her and her team.
A tip from Tamara on how YOU can get the most out of your UWEBC membership:
As a UWEBC Supply Chain champion for Sartori Company, Tamara aims to broadcast any upcoming event offerings to her team. She finds forwarding the monthly newsletters and emails is the easiest way to raise awareness. Tamara also finds that discussing cross-functionally with other practice area leaders is a great way to bring awareness to UWEBC events. Additionally, each month, Tamara provides a monthly written update to leadership that highlights the UWEBC events her team has attended that month.
Although Tamara is busy as a hardworking professional, she loves to spend her free time with her family and friends. Her time is occupied by the activities of her three boys. Tamara is a UW-Madison graduate of the Food Science program and is looking forward to having her kids hopefully attend her alma mater in the future.
We want to thank Tamara for her active participation and contribution to UWEBC over the years she has been involved with us. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Tamara in the years to come!
Published March 5, 2025
Dylan Kopf, Marketing Student Assistant