I’m Kyle O’Brien, the Supply Chain Engineer. I was born and raised in Northern Kentucky before moving to Louisville, where I earned both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in industrial engineering. After living in Indianapolis for a few years, I eventually made my way west and now live with my wife in the San Francisco Bay Area.
 

My career has progressed from hands-on industrial engineering and simulation into data science, algorithm development, automation design, robotics, solution strategy, and engineering leadership. Along the way, I have worked with Bastian Solutions (now Toyota Automated Logistics), FORTNA, Sam’s Club and Walmart, and Robust.AI. Through those roles, I have supported complex supply chain operations across retail, e-commerce, consumer products, food and beverage, healthcare, and manufacturing.
 

I began by analyzing customer data and building simulation models of warehouses and automation systems. That experience gave me a strong foundation in understanding operational complexity: identifying constraints, accounting for variability, developing solution concepts, and validating performance before organizations committed significant time and capital.
 

As my career progressed, my responsibilities expanded beyond analysis and modeling into end-to-end solution delivery. I became increasingly involved in automation strategy, system design, hardware and software integration, controls, deployment, change management, and continuous improvement. I also began leading engineering teams, developing other engineers, and creating the processes and standards needed to deliver complex work with greater speed, consistency, and confidence.
 

Today, I work at the intersection of engineering, operations, technology, and business strategy. I am most interested in helping organizations translate difficult operational challenges into practical, scalable solutions, and in building teams capable of delivering those solutions repeatedly.
 

What I enjoy most is not simply arriving at a technical answer. It is understanding the underlying business need, bringing the right people together, identifying the assumptions and tradeoffs that matter, and creating a path from concept through execution. I believe strong engineering leadership should make complex decisions clearer, connect technical work to measurable business outcomes, and create an environment where teams can do their best work.
 

I created The Supply Chain Engineer to make the lessons, methods, and tools from that work more useful and accessible. The site brings together case studies, interactive applications, tutorials, and ideas related to supply chain design, capacity planning, slotting, simulation, robotics, automation, and engineering leadership.
 

It is also a record of how my approach has evolved. Early in my career, I focused primarily on solving individual technical problems. Today, I spend more time building reusable capabilities, improving engineering processes, developing people, aligning cross-functional teams, and helping organizations make better technical and investment decisions.
 

My career is important to me, but it is not the whole picture. I also value travel, time outdoors, new experiences, and the people with whom I share them. Those parts of my life help me bring curiosity, perspective, and an appreciation for the relationships behind every successful project.

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My goal is for The Supply Chain Engineer to become a lasting body of work: part professional record, part educational resource, and eventually a broader community for people interested in advancing the practice and leadership of supply chain engineering.

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