Shawn Donahue, product marketing manager of automation, The Raymond Corporation, a brand of Toyota Material Handling North America, was named a recipient in the Rising Stars category for this year’s Rock Stars of the Supply Chain Award, presented by Food Logistics.
Donahue joined The Raymond Corporation in September 2024 as product marketing manager of automation, where he oversees the entire product life cycle — from developing go-to-market strategies to driving adoption once products are in market. He also collaborates cross-functionally with teams, such as sales, project management and engineering, to ensure successful product launches.
Donahue has been instrumental in preparing Raymond products for market by providing essential support, including the development of marketing and sales strategies.
Most recently, Donahue played a key role in the rollout of a new automated solution that had been in the early stages of development. He also collaborated closely with the sales team to equip team members with the necessary materials to sell the product and ensured it was fully integrated and orderable through the customer relationship management system.
Before joining Raymond, Donahue held various marketing roles across multiple industries, including financial services and health care.
Looking ahead, Donahue is focused on advancing and developing go-to-market strategies for new automated guided vehicles while enhancing technology for existing AGV solutions.
Donahue sits down with Marina Mayer, editor-in-chief of Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive and co-founder of the Women in Supply Chain Forum, to talk about collaborating closely with sales teams, developing go-to-market strategies for new automated guided vehicles and the importance of putting yourself in your customers' shoes.
Food Logistics: Let’s first talk about you. Tell me a little bit about yourself and your journey to get to this current stage in your career? (feel free to pull info from nomination form).
Shawn Donahue: I am currently a product marketing manager of automation at The Raymond Corporation, a brand of Toyota Material Handling North America. I joined the organization in September 2024 and oversee the entire product life cycle — from developing go-to-market strategies to driving adoption once products are in market.
Prior to my role at The Raymond Corporation, I held various marketing roles across multiple industries, including financial services and health care. I also hold a Master of Business Administration from the University of Colorado and a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from the University of Minnesota.
Food Logistics: One of the things outlined in your submission is how you played a key role in the rollout of a new automated solution. Tell us more about this solution, what it is and why it’s necessary.
Donahue: The Raymond Corporation continues to innovate with a customer-centric, insights driven approach to end-to-end intralogistics solutions for customers and the impact of this work continues to reinforce my dedication to support customers’ evolving needs in automation. My role in the rollout of a new automated solution from The Raymond Corporation consisted of addressing several required tools and materials that are necessary to sell the solution. I collaborated closely with the sales team to equip them with the necessary material and knowledge to sell the product to customers. I also worked closely with the team to ensure the product was fully integrated and orderable through our customer relationship management system.
Food Logistics: You also collaborated closely with the sales team to equip team members with the necessary materials to sell the product. Why is doing this important to the growth and success of the new solution?
Donahue: Partnering closely with the sales organization is critical for any new solution. By equipping sales teams with clear positioning, value narratives, competitive differentiation, and customer-facing assets, we enable them to confidently articulate the business impact and operational benefits of the product. This alignment strengthens customer relationships by ensuring consistent, value-driven messaging throughout the buying journey.
Given that products evolve through defined life cycle stages, my role extends beyond launch execution to full life cycle ownership. That requires ongoing cross-functional collaboration to refine messaging, address market feedback, and support field enablement, ensuring sustained adoption, retention, and expansion.
As autonomous solutions continue to gain traction across facilities, cross-functional coordination becomes even more critical. Customers are navigating complex operational changes, and a unified approach across product, sales, and implementation teams ensures long-term value realization.
Food Logistics: One of the goals outlined in your application is to advance and develop go-to-market strategies for new automated guided vehicles. From where you sit, what do you see as the future of AGVs in the cold food space?
Donahue: The future of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) will help warehouses in the food space optimize, connect and automate their operations. AGVs will continue to promote warehouse efficiency by optimizing warehouse space and promoting security in the workplace, such as by reducing product damage and offering enhanced hygiene and handling. AGVs also will help reduce labor costs, allowing employees to focus on higher value tasks. The future of AGVs should lead to warehouse leaders incorporating practices to allow for continuous improvements.
Food Logistics: The Rising Stars category recognizes young or newer professionals whose achievements, hard work and vision have shaped the supply chain network. What advice do you have for other young professionals entering the supply chain space?
Donahue: The supply chain space is an exciting area for young professionals to work in. For young professionals entering the industry, I urge them to be open to always learning; we as professionals should continuously improve upon our skill sets and learn about the challenges that are out there that we can potentially solve.
In order for me to keep learning, I am an active member of two MHI working groups: The Robotics Group and Mobile Automation Group. As a member of those groups, I represent Raymond by attending digital meetings and biannual conferences. This allows me to not only stay knowledgeable of our industry but also learn from others and take back key findings to my team, so we can improve upon ways of working and solve for our customers’ biggest challenges. I encourage young professionals to seek out these kinds of opportunities; that way, they can push innovation forward with their teams and address the industry’s evolving needs.
Food Logistics: What are some things not addressed above that would be pertinent to include in the discussion detailing your strengths, achievements, overall goals, etc.?
Donahue: As more facilities adopt automation and our customers’ challenges become more significant, I am passionate about engaging with our customers not only to understand their challenges but also to bring those insights back to my team and act as the voice of the customer. By putting myself in our customers’ shoes, I can have a deeper understanding of their challenges to ensure the products we produce help meet their needs.
