Blue Bird Taps New Exec for Supply Chain Management

School bus manufacturer Blue Bird Corporation has appointed Jim Nelles as its senior vice president for global supply chain management.

In this role, Nelles is responsible for optimizing the company's global supply chain, managing costs and forging strategic partnerships to secure critical components.

Nelles has over 20 years of international leadership experience in supply chain management and operations. Most recently, he advised Fortune 500 industrial companies on procurement, supply chain, distribution, due diligence, and negotiations. Before then, Nelles served as director of supply chain for private equity company American Securities from 2015-2019. Leading up to his role at American Securities, he held executive leadership positions at SteelSeries, LG Electronics, Roland Berger, and McKinsey & Company, among others.

“Jim is a strategic, creative, and results-driven global supply chain leader,” said Matthew Stevenson, president and CEO of Blue Bird. “The COVID-19 pandemic, now in its third year, the semiconductor shortage, general labor availability, inflation, and now the war in Ukraine have put considerable strain on the global economy and supporting supply chains. Jim will be instrumental in building a robust supplier network which safeguards a stable, high-quality production environment for Blue Bird, our customers, and our dealers.”

Nelles holds a master’s degree in business administration from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and a bachelor's degree in economics and French from the same university.