The 1980’s produced recognition that a company’s supply chain was a vast reservoir of additional profit and improved service. From that time supply chain management has been based on a never ending search for continuous improvement. And its evolution is nowhere near complete. Nor will it ever be. The need for experience, a wide range of skills, and appropriate persona in a company’s supply chain personnel has never been more important.

Supply Chain Management encompasses all activities involved in financial and customer service success. It includes collaboration with suppliers, intermediaries, third-party service providers, and customers. It incorporates manufacturing, and it drives coordination across marketing, sales, product design, finance and information technology.

How then do you recruit to achieve success?

A very wise person once told me “The major responsibility of management is to ensure that all personnel are afforded every opportunity to excel.”

And this applies more than ever to supply chain recruitment. No one person can do it all. But collectively management can provide the best environment for success.

We all too often find that good supply chain personnel do not achieve when employers fail to understand the complexity of their environment and provide them an informed and supportive construct. The success of their decision making is almost always dependent on the quality of information they receive, and the ability of others to act appropriately to their output.

The Supply Chain manager’s primary function is therefore to facilitate a culture and construct, that will provide maximum benefit from genuinely collaborative processes and activities, and oversee performance. Something akin to a conductor. “No one person can whistle a symphony” comes to mind.

This should incorporate –

• An agreed company supply chain plan and program.
• Accurately defined job descriptions.
• Appropriate resources.
• The provision of all facilities and resources required for success.

Obviously all personnel cannot report to the supply chain manager. And this often results in significant levels of confusion and lack of a uniformed approach.

How do you ensure that your supply chain recruitment process provides you with the best possible result? 

Our observations gleaned from 3 decades of experience suggest the following –

• Ensure that your business has an understanding and commitment to an effective supply chain. Because if it doesn’t (from the top down), it will not succeed to an acceptable level.
• Don’t anticipate that Superman will ride in and change the world. He/she will require a great deal of support. There is every likelihood that personalities will be challenged, and managers offended by an invasion of their turf.
• Accept that every action will not result in a reduction in expenditure. An effective supply chain requires collaboration. Sometimes we have to give a little to receive elsewhere. Improvements in performance can lead to significant new business opportunities.
• Communicate your supply chain commitment to all. Internal and external. If you’re not doing it now you’ll be surprised where support will come from.

Lastly HAVE A PLAN. You can’t build a house without a well thought out documented plan. You can’t achieve a great supply chain without first identifying where and how you’re going to achieve it. And you can’t expect any prospective employee to achieve success unless you can tell them what you want.

Like a formula 1 race car. A driver’s ability to achieve is fundamentally limited to the car that he is given. If they have the ability, your supply chain managers will only be limited by your ability to support them. And if you have a plan, the skills and experience they will require to achieve your objectives will be immediately evident.

Please don’t hesitate to call on 02 9487 4442 or visit supply chain personnel to review our credentials.