2021 Global Summit

Darrell Edwards currently serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for La–Boy Incorporated.  In this role, he leads an operations team composed of more than 7,000 employees in the areas of manufacturing, global procurement, distribution, lean engineering sales and operations planning, customer experience, and research and development.  Edwards joined la-Z-Boy in 2004 and has held several positions of increasing responsibility during his tenure with the company, including his prior role as Senior Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer.

Throughout his career at La-Z-Boy, Edwards has achieved several notable accomplishments.  Most recently, he launched the company’s Supply Chain Operational Excellence (SCOE) initiative, realigning every component of supply chain strategy, including forging new ways to work with suppliers to further improve the efficiencies within their own organizations to benefit customers.  In addition, he established an Asian-based operation to source, manage, and flow component parts and product to ensure efficient and on-time production at the company’s U.S. manufacturing facilities.  Edwards also served on the leadership team that drove the implementation of cellular production across La-Z-Boy’s branded manufacturing facilities.  The move to this more modern process significantly decreased costs and increased production speed and quality, which, in turn, improved profitability, as well as the company’s competitive positioning in the marketplace.

Prior to joining La-Z-Boy, Edwards spent 20 years with Fieldcrest Cannon, a division of Pillowtex Corp., a global consumer products company and producer of textile home furnishings.  During his time there, he led operations for the Bath Rug Textile Division, overseeing manufacturing, distribution, all supply chain management functions and customer service.

Currently, Edwards serves on the Advisory Board for the Global Supply Chain Institute at the Univesity of Tennessee and the Michigan State University Supply Chain Management Council.  Additionally, he was selected as a 2018 Rainmaker Award recipient by DC Velocity Magazine and most recently received the Executive DBA Distinguished Leadership Award from the Fox School of Business at Temple University.

Edwards holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from the Fox School of Business at Temple University, an MBA from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and a Master’s in Global Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.