If you’re happy that Subway restaurants now serve Pepsi products, you have Anthony Orr to thank. He helped lead the 2025 effort, which was the largest foodservice conversion in industry history. As supply chain director for PepsiCo since 2020, Orr oversees a $450 million annual portfolio covering complex logistics, fleet innovation and automation initiatives. Since joining the company in 2017, he has advanced to new roles seven times — three of them newly formed or created with expanded expectations. He has introduced ways to repurpose idle inventories, scale engineered solutions at low cost and reduce operating costs while maintaining top service levels. He centralized all P&L/balance sheet supply chain activities to one organization for all North America, resulting in 50% CWIP (capital work-in-progress) reductions in two years, 25% reduced parts inventories across 150+ locations, and 6,000+ storage facilities supporting 3,600+ frontline technicians.

He managed commercialization of the global SodaStream Professional equipment platform, logging 400,000+ air miles in 2022 as he visited international markets and suppliers in Europe and Dubai. In line with pep+ sustainability goals, he guided the integration of fleet electrification through the launch of the Class 8 heavy-duty Tesla semi-truck and guided the organization in using 100% renewable biodiesel. Through four points of inflection in the company, Orr further emerged as a leader, taking “opportunities to step into the challenging positions and face uncertainty head-on while remaining vigilant on delivering what the organization needed most: stability and results,” he said.

Within the Purdue IE community, he mentors students and sponsors senior capstone projects, serves as the executive sponsor for PepsiCo’s on-campus efforts, and earlier in 2026, became Purdue’s youngest recipient of the Outstanding Industrial Engineer Award.