What’s the driving wind that will keep our corporate
ship on course?
Yes, we know it’s skills, but what skills?
How can we be sure that we’re training for future success?
What
the market says and what academia thinks
Recent wanted ads in the Supply Chain
Management field look for very specific skills:
- Development of monthly tactical, budget and forecast process;
- Manage importation processes;
- Manage interfaces between vertical operations (logistics, procurement, quality, plants and suppliers);
- Pursue opportunities around storage, transport and stocks in order to optimise for lowest landed cost;
- Develop and implement policies, processes and procedures around supply chain strategies
- Plan, purchase and distribute up to 2000 inventory items.
When looking at the academic curriculum
intended to make those responsible competent to carry out these functions, the
terminology shows some scary differences:
- Describe the evolution of the current distribution system;
- Reason out why organisations hold inventory;
- Provide a broader perspective on supply-chain management and logistics management;
- Define supplier relationship management;
- Illustrate and explain the role of purchasing and supply management in acquiring transportation.
Whilst these differences clearly illustrate
why it is that university graduates don’t get jobs, what is perhaps more interesting
from both sets of statements is that neither address what a survey such as
Barloworld Logistics’ supplychainforesight identifies as key Strategic Supply
Chain Objectives over the next 5 – 10 years:
- Improving service levels to customers.
- Improving visibility in the supply chain.
- Integration of technology.
- Lowering procurement costs & reducing order lead times.
- Improving the flow of business intelligence.
- Reducing the environmental impact of supply chain operations.
What is also very concerning is the lack of
real future focus in all of these. In today’s disruptive world this is a costly
omission.
Famous brands of US made horse drawn
carriages were Weber, Columbus, Steel King and Buckeye- you don’t see those
names in today’s automobile industry but also seems unlikely that Ford, Fiat or
Ferrari will be the leading manufacturers of the autonomous vehicles of the
future.
So, what’s to be done?
The future
focussed company
It all starts with the company vision: By
defining what value it adds to its customers, not what it does, the company
vision can carry it into the future.
Living the vision: The current employment
environment precludes lifelong tenure or anything like it, so how will people be
driven by a future focused vision when there’s no chance that they’ll be around
to see it realised? The answer to this lies in the current benefits to be
gained from being part of a future focused organisation: after all, who
wouldn’t want to work for Apple, Google or Tesla?
Disruption comes from the ability to accelerate
speed-of-execution and the agility to seize new opportunities. People who
innovate are, by definition, entrepreneurs who thrive in an unstructured
environment. However, to sustain innovation, scalability is needed, which in
turn requires accountability, reliability, and predictability, which cannot be
achieved through an unstructured innovation network.
This leads to the conclusion that, in order
to compete in a disruptive world, the company needs both strong entrepreneurial
and structured cultures to co-exist.
The nature of Supply Chain Management in such
that, because of rapid developments in technology, success is anchored in the
ability to create and embrace innovation whilst at the same time carrying out
current day functions in compliance with to highly structured and regulated
procedures.
Clearly, completely different skills sets
are required to carry a Supply Chain Management into the future. We will be
exploring how these can be imparted and acquired in future articles.
What steps does your company need to be
able to thrive in the future?
How is your company training for future
success?
Is it possible to have a dual culture
company – one highly compliant?
