Stillman Alum, Now at L’Oreal, Presents on “The Beauty of Supply Chain”  

On February 21, Seton Hall welcomed alumnus Peyton Elder ’18 to participate in the Stillman School of Business’ Spring 2023 Distinguished Lecture Series in Business Analytics and Supply Chain Management, which presents executive lessons learned in analytics, advanced technologies and supply chain management.  

Peyton Elder '18 serves as the Demand Planning Manager at L’Oreal, the world's largest cosmetics company.

Elder presented on “The Beauty of Supply Chain” — specifically consumer-packaged goods (CPG) supply chain management — through the lens of the world's largest cosmetics company, L'Oreal.  

Originally from North Carolina, Elder was a student-athlete at Seton Hall, majoring in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Supply Chain Management, along with a double minor in Business Administration and French. He received several athletic and academic awards while at the University.   

“I came here for my undergrad for a chance to have a top education and also pursue my goal of playing collegiate soccer — so Seton Hall checked off both of those boxes for me,” he said. “I was a student in the College of Arts and Sciences majoring inEnvironmental Studies with a concentration in Supply Chain Management, along with a double minor in Business Administration and French. I had absolutely no idea how to put all of those [together]. Then, one out of a hundred lucky internship applications landed at L'Oreal, which is a French company very focused on sustainability.” 

Elder’s internship at L’Oreal in 2018 launched him into fulltime employment in 2019. He has since occupied several different roles within the area of supply chain at the company, now serving as their Demand Planning Manager. “In April I'll be moving to Paris to work at our global headquarters within global supply planning for consumer products,” he shared about his next role. 

Renu Ramnarayanan, Ph.D., serves as chair of the Stillman School of Business’ Distinguished Lecture Series in Business Analytics and Supply Chain Management. 

“I'm beaming with pride, I am so proud to say that Peyton was my student at Seton Hall — an excellent student at that,” said Renu Ramnarayanan, Ph.D., lecturer and co-director of Stillman’s Business Analytics program and chair of the event series. “I really admired the way he juggled his responsibilities as a student and an athlete, plus doing three very demanding internships during his time here.” 

Elder shared his definition of supply chain, “the collective steps required to have a raw material, convert it into a finished good and get that finished good to the customer.” He also emphasized why it’s important, explaining expertly but directly, “It drives cost savings, environmental impacts, how quickly you get your product to market and to the customer. It is the backbone of a CPG business — without supply chain you don't have product, you don't have a business.” 

To better understand the role of supply chain, Elder first presented the general divisional structure of a company. He asked the audience of mostly students, “Try to picture yourself in one of these [divisions] and see if this fits what you want to do, what drives you, where you find passion.” 

After outlining the responsibilities of each division, Elder pointed out, “Without any of these, the company will fail so they're just as important — even if they're not directly tied to the day-to-day functioning of a brand.” 

He also provided a detailed explanation of the lifecycle of a supply chain issue, showing how something can go awry in every step of the process and how the company can take steps to correct or overcome this issue. “When I first started at L'Oreal, someone that has been working there for a long time told me on Thanksgiving Eve they had a launch, with no wiggle room to be late, and a turkey flew through the windshield of the 18-wheeler delivering the product,” he shared. “I tell that story to amplify the fact that any world event can really have a drastic impact.” 

Later on in his presentation, Elder explained his passion for working in the supply chain industry. “While it is not an easy job, I enjoy it — it's very fulfilling and I feel challenged every day. You never know when another turkey is going to fly through the windshield. There's always a new problem, something new, exciting to fight.” 

View a full recording of the event »

Register now for the next event in the Spring 2023 Distinguished Lecture Series in Business Analytics and Supply Chain Management, “Navigating The Rough Waters of Supply Chain in Today’s World,” during which panelists will discuss hot topics in supply chain and how companies and service providers are learning to adjust to disruptive world events such as the pandemic, wars, political unrest and natural disasters. 

Categories: Business