All News & Insights

The Culture is the Company

Fostering a culture of collaboration, partnership, and agility is key to leadership success, believes ALOM Technologies’ CEO Hannah Kain.

Q: What is your role and focus?
A:
ALOM services Fortune 100 companies from 19 global locations. As CEO and founder, my role is to support long-term growth and keep and enhance our customer promise, as well as serve our employees

Q: What are the most pressing issues facing manufacturing?
A:
Covid- and trade-related supply chain disruptions. Shifts in demand have increased the need for agility in manufacturing, yet US infrastructure, from ports and roads to cybersecurity, are under extreme strain and geopolitics have made goods movement more complex. Longer term, the competitiveness of US manufacturing and developing the next generation of industry leaders are concerns. I support free trade, yet I am also worried about the implications of overseas US supply chain dependencies.

Q: What is your most important corporate initiative?
A:
A huge but gratifying challenge has been putting our systems and experience to good use producing and shipping millions of Covid-19 test kits for the medical sector while keeping our workers safe. Our evolving digitalization project creates competitive advantages by improving productivity. We strive to be leaders in visualization, connectivity, and traceability, and I’m excited about today’s tools for creating insightful analysis, including predictive analysis.

Q: What will be the most important leadership qualities to possess in the future?
A:
I believe in servant leadership – seeing yourself as serving customers, suppliers, employees, and other stakeholders, often putting their interests first. Fostering and orchestrating a framework for collaboration must be key success criteria. In the end, the culture is the company and the company is the culture. Our culture is inclusive, collaborative, improvement-oriented and quality-focused, with a strong sense of ownership. Supporting that culture may be the most important thing I do.

Q: What are the greatest opportunities for manufacturers over the next five years?
A:
With every shift, there are opportunities. I hope some pandemic disruptions will trigger more near-sourcing. Technology represents a huge opportunity in terms of product and supply chain strategy. Using technology prudently and executing a strategy in an iterative manner are key. Companies need an agile supply chain and manufacturing environment. Making manufacturing demand-driven is not easy. Yet we must be able to better accommodate demand shifts. Lastly, figuring how to harness all the talent in manufacturing in an inclusive way.

Q: What is your favorite activity outside of work?
A:
I love traveling and am counting the hours until I can make that a reality again. In the meantime, I cook, read, and have put my volunteer activities, like women’s issues and manufacturing, on steroids.

Hannah Kain

Title: President & CEO
Company: ALOM Technologies Corporation
HQ: Fremont, CA
People: 300 employees
Revenues: Privately owned
Industry: Contract Manufacturing; Fulfillment; Technology
Web: Web: www.alom.com

View More