Wen Ji, Director of Global Supply Chain at Chauvet, manages the company’s products’ global distribution and fulfillment. This includes procurement; supplier management; warehouse operations, inventory management; and finally, global distribution and logistics. Coming from a previous large corporate background, her daily contributions truly move the needle for the success and growth of the company’s private business.She says, “It excites me to be a partner on our board where supply chain solutions can transform other functions for their success.” Her motivation comes from her passion for continuous team development and process improvement.
Below are highlights of the interview:
Describe your background and what did you do before you joined Chauvet Lighting?
Before joining Chauvet, I was the supply chain manager for a Danaher Life Sciences facility. I established and managed processes across raw material procurement, production planning, and finished goods distribution. Prior to my supply chain management role, I led and deployed various global continuous improvement initiatives for lean manufacturing operations throughout Danaher Life Sciences.
Tell us more about Chauvet Lighting.
Chauvet is a major innovator, developer, and manufacturer of lighting and control systems. leading the entertainment lighting market in terms of design, flexibility and options. It is widely recognized as the trusted brand delivering reliable lighting solutions that enhance the audience’s visual experience across diverse events and venues. Under the leadership of company founder, Albert Chauvet, Chauvet Lighting has grown from a single product company into a thriving organization offering over 1,000 products with over 300 employees worldwide. We have a strong portfolio of brands distributed globally through a network of authorized dealers and distributors. Chauvet’s headquarters are in the USA at Sunrise, Florida, with other USA corporate offices and distribution centers in Las Vegas, Nevada and Los Angeles, California. In addition, the global footprint expands into the United Kingdom, Belgium, Mexico, France, and Germany.
Who is your target audience? How do you create services that align with what they’re looking for?
Chauvet offers a comprehensive portfolio of high value lighting fixtures. Our lighting solutions help create supreme visual experiences for audiences and venues globally—across markets as diverse as concerts/tours, houses of worship, theaters, broadcasts, film, corporate events, hospitality, wedding celebrations, and other live entertainment events and venues.
What are the major changes happen in client behavior and market operation since pandemic?
Being in the entertainment business segment, our clients were sensitive to the market disruption from the pandemic. Demand receded in 2020 due to massive event postponements, cancellations, and venue shutdowns. We then experienced the opposite, surge demand as the world began to re-open in 2021 in the middle of continued supply chains and logistics lag. The whipsaw of demand and supply in a short time horizon has been the key challenge to solve. Those who survive in a global environment are companies that have diversified portfolios, lean operations, healthy cashflow, and finally, committed team members who thrive in challenging environments. This transformed our clients value of our flexibility to maintain continued supply and constant communication for their visibility. We also accelerated the innovation of new product pipelines during the pandemic. Critical, was creating new supply chain solutions with rigorous vendor collaboration to secure alternate components while improving product quality. And finally, proactive logistics management with new uncharted solutions to secure reliable logistics routes.
Kindly describe how you will specifically know what success looks like for you.
Focusing on personal development unlocks motivation for our team to grow and achieve greater heights. Success ultimately is measured to ensure we are doing better than yesterday. Success is not final. It is the courage to continue that counts. It is important that everyone sees our path forward to achieve our goals. There is never a dull moment for my team and myself.
What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders?
My advice to other female leaders is to understand how you operate. Continuously improve yourself through training, execution, and expanding networks. Be confident and believe in your personal core values.
My English is my secondary language, so starting my career as a young female resulted in feedback such as “softly spoken in meetings.” My voice was often not heard, even if I had great suggestions or valid concerns. I sometimes get frustrated when I want to contribute but others did not hear my input. Soon I realized that my quietness was due to a lack of confidence. I realized my communication improved in one-on-one versus group settings. Therefore, I spent more time in my early career developing my knowledge set. I also connected with mentors who helped me grow my skills and challenged myself to step out of my comfort zone. Even if my voice was not heard in meetings, I found other ways to collaborate with others to drive results.
It’s important that we believe in ourselves without being stubborn. Learn, make sure your voice is heard, but always keep an open mind for meaningful feedback and constructive critiques.
What are your future plans to sustain your and the company’s success?
Chauvet is a fast-growing company. We aim to provide our customers with the best-in-class service and visual experience by being at the forefront of lighting technology. Our team is very focused and motivated to become the top entertainment brand, and continuously expand our product applications and footprints across the globe.
We will achieve this through technology innovation, global market expansion, and a broader distribution network.
My goal is to continue our team’s scale up in supply chain distribution. Executing our global growth strategy by process standardizations and talent development.
Website: www.chauvetlighting.com
