In this episode, Softeon CEO Jim Hoefflin and CTO Mark Fralick discuss their decision to join Softeon, the customer-focused culture they’re building, and valuable advice for aspiring supply chain professionals on becoming indispensable in their organizations.
After working together for over 35 years, the Pioneers break down their journey and what led them to Softeon.
“We’re at Softeon because we have the opportunity to fulfill what we set out to do a long time ago and got ¾ of the way there,” says Jim Hoefflin, CEO, Softeon. “Now coming into Softeon, the opportunity is to take new technology and fuse it in with the enablement philosophy we have talked about to this product center. As we go to market, we are uniquely positioned against everybody to deliver far more results more quickly.”
Mark Fralick, Softeon’s CTO, adds to Hoefflin’s passion about teaming up once again.
“I don’t intend to retire because I love this work so much. For us to be in a position to apply these ideas that we have developed over the last six years or so into a company that already has amazing products is like a dream come true to me.”
“We don’t do gates. We do keys.”
Mark Fralick, CTO, Softeon
Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) require a unique mindset and culture to thrive. Before the arrival of “The Pioneers,” Softeon had already established a strong customer-centric culture. CEO Jim Hoefflin explains how Softeon is building upon this foundation, enhancing it with new cultural elements that emphasize innovation and teamwork, all while staying deeply committed to customer success.
“We have people that have been here for over 30 years. You can’t just book learn that. We have the expertise and we have the passion. The passion and commitment to customer focus.”
Jim Hoefflin, CEO, Softeon
“We walked into an organization that would do anything to make a customer successful. We’ve helped expand that definition so that is also has elements of being more innovative and including more teamwork. It’s really rooted in that customer focus so that the customers gets what they need as soon as they possibly can get it.”
When discussing talent and how it fits into Softeon’s culture, The Pioneers emphasize a search for relentless innovators.
“Relentless is a great word for it,” says Mark Fralick. “The key is to find somebody that can see the bigger picture and see where a process fails or where the gaps are for ROI. That’s a hard thing to develop unless you have folks that have been around to teach it.”
The Pioneers wrap the episode up by explaining one piece of advice they would give to an aspiring young supply chain professional.
“I would say be curious,” says Hoefflin. “You have to dive in and be fearless about learning and trying new things. There is such a wide variety of things that happen in the supply chain and warehouse. You have to like that level of chaos and unknown in your job and thrive in it.”
“If you really want to increase your value learn the technology but listen to the Opps folks and learn the operations side. Somebody that knows both the side of the operations and the technology is worth their weight and that will never change no matter what happens. The technology will change and you will be able to move with it.”
Mark Fralick, CTO, Softeon
To learn more on how to become the most valuable person in your organization and the Pioneers decisions to join Softeon, subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, or other popular podcast channels.
