Supply Chain Frontiers issue #44
How has the mix of supply chain management skills changed over the last decade, and what capabilities will the professionals of tomorrow need?
Both providers and employers of supply chain talent are wrestling with these questions as the industry tries to build a skill base that meets current and future demand.
“Supply chain management has evolved beyond its pure logistics roots with a tight focus on internal cost control to a more strategic bridging function geared toward improving top-line revenue and guaranteeing a quality outcome,” says Dr. Chris Caplice, Executive Director of the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (MIT CTL), Cambridge, MA, USA.
Gregg Ramos (SCM 2007), Global Director of Transportation at the multi-national global brewing company Anheuser-Busch InBev, says that a decade ago the profession was viewed as a vertical area of functional expertise that was logistics centered rather than supply chain focused. “People were predominately experts in areas such as transport, warehouse, and planning,” he says.
Today’s supply chain executives “must be well versed in all areas of the business, the interdependency of all the different disciplines, and, most important, the ability to influence and drive change across all departments, both local and global,” says Ramos. As a result, “it is more important today to be 30 feet wide and 10 feet deep in your supply chain knowledge than 10 feet wide and 30 feet deep.”
This transformation has redefined the job specs for a supply chain professional. Individuals now need a blend of both “hard” technical and “soft” people skills. These capabilities enable them to “solve the problem and enact the change,” Caplice says. They must be able to work in cross-functional teams and communicate effectively within the organization and across the extended supply chain. “Additionally, they need to be intellectually curious about how other disciplines and industries operate as well as how current trends are reshaping the competitive landscape,” he notes.
A decade ago, the concept of risk management was gaining recognition, says Dr. David Gonsalvez, Director of the Zaragoza Logistics Center (ZLC), Zaragoza, Spain. Now, safeguarding supply chains against costly disruptions is a central part of the supply chain manager’s job.
In regions such as Southeast Asia and Latin America, “the supply chain knowledge base was rudimentary 10 years ago,” adds Gonsalvez. Extra training was needed to bring organizations in these countries up to speed. Much work still remains to be done, but the level of supply chain expertise has improved markedly in these geographies. This process is expected to accelerate as organizations such as the MIT Global SCALE Network raise the educational bar in these geographies.
One of the most profound changes is the globalization of the supply chain function. Communicating across time zones and cultures and managing virtual teams located in multiple countries are now routine activities for many practitioners.
Given the number of variables and interdependencies that managers juggle in this globalized work environment, “having analytical skills is simply the price of admission to a supply chain career,” maintains Ramos. “Schools must focus on making sure that students have the social skills, self-awareness, persuasiveness, strategy development expertise, scenario-planning experience, and cross-functional understanding in disciplines such as finance and marketing,” he says.
Looking ahead, supply chain leaders “must learn how to manage people’s time when they are working across time zones 24 hours a day, and continue to collaborate with customers and suppliers across regions,” believes Gonsalvez. Global challenges such as environmental sustainability will gain in importance. “And leaders are going to have to migrate from technical expertise in supply chain management to strategic expertise; how to manage multicultural and multinational issues, for instance,” he says.
A better grasp of how supply chains differ across the world is becoming more important, according to Ramos. “The type of distribution network, the way in which it’s run, the incentive systems that drive performance – all of these vary from global region to global region, and the ‘new’ supply chain executive must understand work across these physical and cultural borders.”
It is critically important for the supply chain community to build a talent pipeline capable of meeting these demands. Many companies are putting the pieces in place.
For example, “I see myself focusing on a much higher level of talent over the next five years – less plant focused, less manufacturing focused, much more strategic and analytical, and probably outside of the United States,” says a talent management leader in a multibillion-dollar machinery manufacturer headquartered in the United States. The company has embarked upon a major supply chain transformation project, and this executive is responsible for supporting the recruitment and deployment of supply chain managers anywhere in the world.
“The supply chain profession has gone through some extensive changes over the last decade, and the next 10 years promise to be just as transformative,” says Caplice. The MIT Global SCALE Network will play a central role in helping companies to ride this wave of change and develop the expertise they need to fulfill their plans for global growth.