Baking & Snack - December 2017 - 22

OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR

do whatever you're asked to do and then some. Go above
and beyond, and you'll set yourself apart from the rest.' "
Even with this work ethic, Mr. Holland attributes his
success not just to hard work but also a bit of dumb luck.
"It seems like every time I stick my toe in something,
I fall into it, and it just works out somehow," he said.
"I've been in the wrong place at the right time. When
my company needed somebody, they'd say, 'Let's give it
to this guy.' I knew my bosses were putting a lot of faith
in me, and there was no way I was going to fail."
If one were to chart Rich Holland's career on a graph,
it would look more like zig-zag than an upward trajectory. A few moves might look like steps backward - a
supervisor even referred to one of his job changes as "a
waste of talent"- but Mr. Holland had an end game.
At Princeton, he went from logistics manager, running warehousing and transportation for multiple facilities, to production manager. "I was reporting to the vicepresident of operations and then had to report to a plant
manager," he recalled. "But I knew in the grand scheme
of things, it's what I needed to move through operations.
The idea was that I'd cut my teeth as the operations manager at a difficult plant, and then they'd move me to a
smaller one to run it."
Ralcorp's acquisition of a Lofthouse cookie plant in
Ogden, UT, became the first notch in Mr. Fix-It's figurative toolbelt. After starting up a new 120,000-sq-ft
freezer, he moved on to restructure plants in Dothan,
AL; Newport, AR; and South Beloit, IL, among others.
"Any time we had an acquisition, I was the first guy who
went into the plant," Mr. Holland explained, recalling
that he often was seen as "big brother," or the guy sent in
to change everything and who was not to be trusted. In
reality, though, the opposite was true.
He learned early that the role of continuous improvement was to deliver a seamless integration of an
acquisition and not only streamline operations for employees but also deliver cost savings for the company.
"My No. 1 job was to get people to trust me. I was there
to make their jobs easier," he said.

Navigating the zig-zag
Until 2013, Mr. Holland knew all about acquisitions ...
from one side of the sale. From an operational standpoint, it had become his point of differentiation.
So when ConAgra purchased Ralcorp that year, Mr.
Holland had a very distinct skillset that helped him navigate the transition. After all, Ralcorp was, as he put it, "a
pretty big fish." At the time of the highly publicized $6.8
billion purchase, Ralcorp had around $4 billion in sales,
all of which came from private brands. "[ConAgra] was
going to need someone to help them run it, so I proved
to them I was a person they needed to keep."

22 Baking & Snack December 2017 / www.bakingandsnack.com

People skills and family ties
Rich Holland, director of manufacturing,
TreeHouse Foods, is a true people person.
From implementing Gemba Walks in
many of the 17 plants he oversees to his
involvement in training programs and
continuous improvement, people are
always at the heart of what he does.
In fact, Mr. Holland believes it's impossible to do his job without direct interaction
with employees on the plant floor. And he
holds his direct reports - three directors
of operations and a director of engineering - to the same standard. In fact, years
ago, a TreeHouse employee had an opportunity to do continuous improvement as
a direct report to Mr. Holland, but he was
concerned about the travel requirements.
"I told him if he could figure out how
to fix the plants from our office, then we
would never have to travel," Mr. Holland
recalled.
During his career, Mr. Holland traveled up to 48 weeks a year. And while the
people in plants were important to him
as director of manufacturing, the people
at home were just as important. While
his wife, Brandi, made the decision to
work inside the home and focus on their
two children - Chandler, now 24, and
Kerrington, now 18 - Mr. Holland juggled
his travel schedule and still make it home
to coach his kids' sports teams.
"Somehow, I was never short on time
... I just managed it really well," he said.
Personally and professionally, Mr.
Holland knows how to show his passion.
"He is always on his 'bakery game' but
also believes in the proper balance. He
enjoys having good clean fun and helping
others take themselves a little less seriously," said Dave Van Laar, senior advisor
to the president and CEO: B&CMA transition and development for the American
Bakers Association.
Today, Mr. Holland's travel has slowed,
allowing him extra time to play guitar,
sing some karaoke or, if the timing's right,
enjoy some quiet time on the golf course.
And now that the nest is empty, Brandi
might even join him for a trip or two.

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Baking & Snack - December 2017

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