Barbara (Hodel) Schwarzentraub
Barbara (Hodel) Schwarzentraub with 18+ years of leadership experience, a history of driving revenue and profit gain through ‘positive disruption,’ and a blend of expertise in supply chain, operations, finance and IT with Caterpillar
She is currently leading a worldwide organization of 3,000 providing end-to-end supply chain management for 20+ global distribution centers serving more than 2,000 dealer locations around the world. Barbara assumed this role in 2010 during a period of rapid expansion and was challenged to improve industry-lagging performance across a number of key metrics. Through a Lean-based process reengineering effort and new investment in facilities and systems, she transformed the organization into a recognized industry leader in terms of customer service, parts availability and supplier delivery performance. She is now working to further optimize the supply chain through enhanced dealer collaboration and automation initiatives to serve customers.
Barbara joined Caterpillar in 1990 and during that time she worked across numerous divisions, international borders, economic conditions, and functions, gaining an outstanding breadth of experience along with a proven ability to adapt to any situation. Throughout her career, she has driven success through a combination of strategic thinking, effective team leadership and a comprehensive approach to global change management. Her teams are always viewed as true business partners, and their impact is both immediate and sustainable.
Barbara holds an MBA and a BS in Accounting from Bradley University, and has also studied at Stanford University with Caterpillar’s Powering the Future program and the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern.
