Laurent Gauthier (SKEMA 2024), Ambassador of the Supply Chain Business Club

Could you briefly tell us about your career since graduating from SKEMA and what motivated you to become an ambassador for the Supply Chain Business Club?

I graduated in November 2024, and in the summer of 2025 was appointed by the French Armed Forces Commissariat to head up the Angoulême Commissariat Support Group (director of a 150-strong Business Unit). On a daily basis, I manage the support of more than 2,200 people in all administrative, financial, supply and operational areas of my geographical reference zone. In particular, I support the activities of 2 military regiments and a training center. This new experience has given me the desire to go further in my mastery of Supply Chain business subjects and to pass on my knowledge.

How do you see your role as ambassador for the Supply Chain Business Club? Could you share a few ideas for events or initiatives you'd like to set up?

Thanks to my 25 years' experience with the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, I bring a complementary viewpoint to that of my counterparts in the pure supply chain field. Having been a supply chain manager in the textile industry for 3 years, before taking over the management of my own company, I think I can bring a more operational view of supply.

In this context, I think I can dedicate a special discussion time to the notion of resilience within the supply chain, by sharing my feedback on the management of the COVID crisis within MINARM, with regard to the acquisition, storage and distribution of raw materials.acquisition, storage and distribution of barrier articles, but also on the problems and impact of the COVID crisis on supply chain management linked to textiles, could be one of the themes that would be interesting to address.

What message would you like to pass on to our alumni, encouraging them to join and become actively involved in the Supply Chain Business Club?

In order to encourage young alumni to join the supply chain club, I think it's important to emphasize that, whatever the field in which people are called upon to exercise their responsibilities, it's vital to have an eye on supply. It doesn't matter how well you finance your business, or how good your digital marketing is... if the products aren't supplied and delivered to the right place, then everything else is worthless. What's more, in a crisis, communicators and timekeepers take a back seat. Supply, on the other hand, takes center stage. It is therefore essential to have a certain amount of knowledge in order to guarantee the company's long-term future.