Navigate welcomes seasoned c-level executive with deep experience in customer experience and supply chain transformation.

Navigate, a management consulting firm with offices in Wayne, Pa. and Philadelphia, recently welcomed Lou Arace, a seasoned executive with chief operating and supply chain officer experience, as principal. Arace has hands-on experience optimizing supply chain performance to maximize both customer experience and financial performance. In his role as principal, he will oversee growth and delivery of the firm’s supply chain-related work.

“Lou brings a unique mix of leadership and supply chain experience matched by his ability to assess business challenges and recommend innovative approaches for measurable improvement,” said Navigate Founder and CEO Robert Kathol. “This skill set will be of particular value to our clients in the pharmaceutical industry, where supply chain optimization and business transformation are critical to profitable growth.”

Before joining Navigate, Arace served as chief operating officer of SmileDirectClub, the first digital, direct-to-consumer brand for straightening teeth. His work there centered on implementing changes to improve customer experience and meet growing demand, including enhanced supply chain capabilities and call center alignment. Prior to that, Arace was president and chief operating officer of Systech International, which provides product serialization and anti-counterfeiting technology for brands in a variety of industries. He led the company’s development and growth into the anti-counterfeiting space, including transformation of the company’s consulting organization, and use of Agile product development and software engineering to create two new growth-driving SaaS products.

Earlier in his career, Arace amassed deep business transformation experience in supply chain operations and held several senior executive positions at companies including Dorman Products, NutriSystem, and Cardone Industries. He was also a partner at Logistics Resources International and a frequent lecturer at the Supply Chain Logistics Institute at Georgia Tech University.

Arace earned his MBA from the Pennsylvania State University and his B.S. from Messiah College.