Why the Supply Chain Profession Needs Future-Proofing

Supply Chain: The State of Play

The pandemic has inflicted great pain worldwide, tested society, and caused high levels of disruption to the Supply Chain and in the boardroom - AlixPartners Disruption Index shows that 69% of CEOs are concerned with Supply Chain disruptions.

These continued disruptions have produced two interesting outcomes:

1?? Elevating the importance of a functioning supply chain

2?? Demonstrating that Supply Chain departments, and their capabilities, have not been adequately prepared

Traditional Supply Chain approaches have fallen short, years of forced cost saving have been short-sighted, and traditional Supply Chain capabilities have not been enough.

The fact is many organizations are struggling to exceed, let alone meet consumer expectations, indicates that organizations need to overhaul their entire Supply Chains to find a way.

With the disruptions not going away anytime soon, I believe that future-proofing Supply Chain professionals is a critical imperative, and it needs to start now.

Why do we need to future proof the supply chain profession??

Based on my experience recruiting supply chain professionals for over a decade, recent conversations with industry veterans and additional research I have concluded that Supply Chains are at a major inflection point with the following themes at play:

?? The world is changing, but many supply chain functions have yet to catch up

?? The organizations that have been investing in resilience, flexibility and digitization are realizing Supply Chain as a competitive?advantage

?? Conversely, underperforming supply chains impact both top and bottom lines

?? End-to-end supply chain knowledge & collaboration is deeply?linked?to high performing supply chains

?? A shift from Localized to Global Interconnected Supply Chains has meant one small disruption anywhere in the supply chain causes an adverse butterfly effect

With all things considered, Supply Chains have a great opportunity to shift from; cost-centres to boardrooms, analog to digitally integrated systems, fragility to resilience. To make these pivots, I believe that reimagining roles, building future-ready capabilities and forming optimum talent mixes will be key.

What capabilities are needed in the future?

I see that 3 key areas need to be considered and targeted to future proof the Supply Chain, on top of what may already be done today:

1?? Building groups of talent with targeted and deep supply chain expertise

A recent McKinsey study has illustrated the need for specialists, but also the investment gap. To expand, I have highlighted a handful of specialist areas that would benefit from a focus:

?? Artificial Intelligence

?? Robotics

?? Advanced Analytics

?? Network Design

?? End to End Planning

?? Logistics

2?? Building E2E Experts that connect the supply chain, eliminate silos and plug into the business?

To navigate these disruptions, organizations need to build talented teams with tangible experience, knowledge, and skills across each key part of the supply chain. They should have built cross-functional touch points and finally, can support business leaders in enabling strategies.

This is a bit of fun, but some of the new roles may look like this;

?? The Digital Supply Chain Ecosystem Navigator: Keeps up to date with major systems as well as emerging digital trends and players

?? The Brains Trust: A small group of E2E Supply Chain experts that maintain a Single Source of Truth, Quality Control, and Centre of Excellence

?? The Translator: Capable of speaking and translating between several languages such as Supply Chain, Strategy, Finance, Digital

?? The Connector: Expert communicators and facilitators capable of driving integration initiatives in-person and digitally

3?? Building Your “Future Proof” toolkit

Importantly, Supply Chain professionals need to be equipped with skills that will better serve them through future uncertainties, disruptions and “Blackswan” events. Here are my critical 6 future proof skills:

1.???Problem Solving

2.???Leading Complex & Dynamic Projects

3.???Strategic Thinking & Planning

4.???Effective Communication

5.???Navigating & Managing Change

6.???Data Handling & Digital Literacy

How can organizations develop our future supply chain professionals?

Developing the Supply Chain professional of the future will not happen overnight, but it will in time if organizations start exploring these strategic questions:

?? What business you are in, and what are your objectives?

?? How will the new supply chain look? How Digital? How integrated?

?? Which success factors will give you a competitive advantage?

?? What mix of “E2E Experts” & “Specialists” to enable your objectives?

?? Whom do we need to provide a “Future Proof” toolkit, how do we build these skills?

?? Will traditional talent sourcing channels be enough? Are there other channels available?

?? What is the right “Buy, Build or Borrow” talent mix?

I believe a collection of players will play a key role in enabling this transition – government, educators & training institutions, corporates and entrepreneurs launching new ideas to support this space.

Universities will play a key role in building a solid knowledge baseline, internships and immersive learning experiences can bridge the gap from “theory to application”, and organizations have opportunities to build targeted & compelling learning journeys for future graduates.

It is an exciting time for supply chain departments, supply chain professionals, and those entering the profession today.

The future is in our hands!