Loyola University Chicago

Executive and Professional Education Center

A Member of the Loyola Business Leadership Hub

Tom Drake

Tom has spent 33 years across the Mfg. industry in Operations and Engineering roles.  After graduating from UW Stout, Tom began his career with Kraft Foods spending 10 years in plant operations and engineering roles before taking on supply chain process design at the headquarter level.  

Tom focused on leading process design and implementations for Kraft’s multi-year supply chain transformation program that included process design for Production planning, Demand Forecasting, Warehouse Management, SAP, Demand sensing and Customer Collaboration & Segmentation.  

Tom then joined JDA Software in 2015 as the Sr. Director of Global Industry Strategy specializing in comprehensive end to end supply chain strategies. Tom’s passion is in the area of identifying and implementing transformational solutions that bring manufacturers and retailers together through a common platform of collaboration. Tom transitioned in 2018 through his Adjunct Role at Loyola.  The same year, Tom started TD Supply Chain Solutions LLC specializing in end to end supply chain improvement consulting. 

Tom has worked with numerous clients in various industries. Tom’s experience has crossed the CPG, Chemical, Pharmaceutical, Hi-Tech, Grocery, C-Store, Softlines, and Hardline specialties like Sporting Goods and DIY.  Tom’s engagement activities have included:

  • Client discovery interviews to assess current state
  • Maturity assessment using KPIs and industry benchmarks
  • Provide process and organizational recommendations
  • Technology value assessment
  • Tom has written several White papers and articles on VMI, Customer collaboration and segmentation