For our 2015 Rainmakers, success isn't just about fame and fortune. It's also about making a contribution to the logistics field and advancing the profession.
Q: Some see supply chain management (SCM) as a business management discipline, while others place it in the realm of engineering. Do you see those approaches as competitive or complementary?
A: SCM is such a new discipline that the first generation of supply chain management experts is still working! The divisions between the approaches to SCM reflect these experts' different origins. Those with engineering roots tend to take a mathematical approach and look for the hard trade-offs between options. Those with a more managerial or business background tend to look at the relationships and how companies interact. These are both valid approaches to the same core problems. In fact, you are starting to see more overlap between the two camps as the discipline matures. So, I think they are complementary rather than competitive.
Congratulations to Dr. Chris Caplice for being named a 2015 Rainmaker by DC Velocity.