About Us
Our Purpose
Working together as a Team, we create innovative solutions to solve our Customers’ most pressing supply chain problems.
Our Mission
Our passionate pursuit of excellence adds value to our Customers and each of our Team Members. We enable the enablers of a better world by disrupting the status quo and working together to build a better tomorrow.
Our Values
- Team – Our people (and their people).
- Quality – The pursuit of excellence.
- Accountability & Execution – Get it done and own the results.
- Innovation – Curious exploration that solves problems.
- Customer Success – Create successful Customers and experiences.
Passionate about customer success and delivering tailored services, Banneker is a leading provider of end-to-end supply chain management and integrated third-party logistics solutions to a wide range of Fortune 100 companies in multiple industries.
Team Banneker delivers value to our customers through a unique mix of services and solutions including 3PL Warehousing and Transportation Services, 4PL Supply Chain Solutions, and Logistics Consulting.
As an ISO 9001, AS9100, and AIB (food grade) compliant and registered company, Banneker leverages a highly capable Lean Six Sigma trained Team that reflects Banneker’s commitment to provide customers with the most innovative and high quality services available in the market today. Banneker understands the underlying processes involved in managing customer product. This enables Team Banneker to provide cost effective solutions to multiple customers in diverse markets including E-Commerce, Retail, Food/Beverage, Industrial Manufacturing, Aerospace & Defense, and Government among others.
Ethics Policy and Credo
We as Team Banneker members value each other and work both individually and collectively to achieve Customer Success. We strive to achieve this goal by continuously improving ourselves, our processes, and our supply chain solutions each and every day. We act with integrity and are open and honest in our communications – we do what we say and say what we do. As a world class company, we are socially responsible for our communities, our environment, and our country.
Social Responsibility
Our Corporate Social Responsibility Mission:
“An ethical and ideological responsibility to contribute to the welfare of our communities and society at large; acting with concern and sensitivity and being aware of the impact of individual and collective actions on others, particularly those who are disadvantaged.”
Each year we map out a plan on how we intend to execute our Corporate Social Responsibility vision by developing specific goals and aligning ourselves with various charitable and non-profit organizations in the surrounding communities of our operations. At Banneker, we believe social responsibility and community service should be integrated into the daily activities at the Company and adopted by Team Members at all levels, we also create ways to intimately involve our Team Members as well as customers in our goals.
Over the years, we have aligned ourselves with dozens of charitable organizations including the following:
If you are interested in learning more about our Corporate Social Responsibility, we encourage you to contact us at marketing@banneker.com.
Our Founder
Born in Englewood, New Jersey on May 18, 1958 to the late Sylvia Watkins and William Watkins, Jr., Cheryl Watkins Snead’s career exemplified her pioneering and inspirational spirit. She was the first African-American woman to graduate from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a B.A. degree in Mechanical Engineering. After a decade of honing her engineering and management skills at General Electric and earning her MBA from Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management, Cheryl charted her own path by founding Banneker Industries, Inc. in 1991, named after Benjamin Banneker, the first recognized African-American mathematician, astronomer and inventor.
Our History
Banneker Supply Chain Solutions, Inc. started as the continuation of a small, machine shop (Peerless Precision and then Banneker Industries) in Lincoln, Rhode Island that Cheryl Snead worked for as the Vice-President of Operations. As a machine shop, the company specialized in the precision machining (CNC milling and turning) of defense oriented components and assemblies for the aerospace and defense sector. Companies such as Textron Lycoming, Hamilton Standard, Raytheon, and Sikorsky were clients as well as the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force. Unfortunately, like many machine shops in the Northeast, the company could not sustain the high costs of union labor, worker’s compensation, and high utilities costs in New England and eventually closed in June 1991. As if matters couldn’t be worse, it was also at the start of Operation Desert Storm in the Middle East and the machine shop was producing machined parts for major defense systems. From previous training at General Electric and a strong desire to “not keep the customer hanging” Cheryl decided at the time to find a way to finish the work to help their customers rather than to pursue employment with another manufacturer or as a consultant. The machine shop was closed and Cheryl bought the assets and started Banneker Industries with the sole intent of completing the companies open machining contracts and transitioning into another industry soon after.
To determine where Banneker would go after machining, Cheryl did some real “soul searching” to identify the company’s core competencies. With a background in engineering, Cheryl decided to focus on Banneker’s core processes (procuring materials, expediting deliveries, receiving and inspection, inventory management, cycle counting, kitting and sub-assembly, and distribution). Anticipating the eventual decline in defense manufacturing and increased opportunities in relationship-based services, Banneker began diversifying its business into other service oriented aspects of the manufacturing industry, specifically warehousing, logistics, procurement, and supply chain management (SCM) – a term that was not well known in the manufacturing industry in the mid-90s. At this time Cheryl’s passion for leadership and team building drove her to create the moniker of “Team Banneker” – a team of individuals that work together for the betterment of the company while also seeing themselves as part of something bigger than themselves; they were to be a part of a system and a vision that would take grow Banneker to new heights.
On January 22, 2018, Cheryl Watkins Snead passed away due to a brief illness and complications resulting from surgery. Prior to Cheryl’s surgery, she named Junior Jabbie as acting President & CEO and upon her passing, he was named her successor. When Cheryl passed Banneker lost a visionary and inspirational genius, and the world lost an amazing human being. Cheryl was more than just Banneker’s Founder and President & CEO, but also an incredible person, a dynamic business leader, a trusted confidant, a community champion, an inspiring mentor, and a close friend to so many. Cheryl left behind a company that only she could have built, and her spirit will forever be ingrained in the very fabric that makes up Team Banneker.
Behind the Name
Cheryl W. Snead originally named Banneker Industries after one of her heroes, Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806). He was the first recognized African-American mathematician, astronomer, and inventor. He is credited with making the first American striking clock, publishing several almanacs, and was influential in the design of our nation’s capital. In 2019 the company changed their name to Banneker Supply Chain Solutions, Inc. to commemorate the honor of our rich history and deep roots while also recognizing the vast array of services and solutions the company offers to its clients today.