Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

DIRECT CONNECTION

Caretakers of the supply chain industry

COVID-19 threw the industry a curveball, yet professional organizations like CSCMP are there to help supply chain professionals stay resilient, respond to the new challenges, and navigate this complex problem.

Welcome to the final stretch of 2020. Who would or could have envisioned our current environment merely a year ago? In September, CSCMP completed our first ever, virtual EDGE Supply Chain Conference. It represents a real testimony to how supply chains can pivot, be resilient, and alter their course to satisfy the needs of our customers when thrown the largest curveball we've ever seen. By most, if not all, evaluations, it was quite successful. We greatly appreciate our speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, volunteers, and of course attendees and members who participated. Our staff worked so hard to bring the best possible content, networking, and interactive experiences possible.

This year marked our 58th annual conference and now—when it’s so critical to stay connected—we invite you to maintain your CSCMP involvement.


Obviously, the past few months have mobilized and challenged us—probably more than ever before—but I don’t want to talk about “new normals,” “we’re in this together,” or toilet paper. If you’re like me, you’re tired of hearing about it, and little more can be said. The fact is, this is what we do … this is our reality.

We’re resilient, we respond to challenges, and we solve complex problems. It should come as no surprise to anyone that we, as a profession, rose to the occasion. We’re the people who physically make it happen for the consumers’ benefit and well-being.

You’ve probably heard me say it several times before, but, in spite of advances in data and technology, supply chain is still a people business.

As an organization, CSCMP exists to connect, educate, and develop, but we also sit on the leading edge as a witness to—and shaper of—supply chain history. So how do we invest in ourselves and those that work with us? Well one way is to maintain a strong relationship with your professional association, your CSCMP. We have professional development for every stage of one’s career. I invite you to give it a try, you’ll be impressed.

What do we offer in the way of supply chain leadership? We boast leaders who will definitely talk with you or your associates about how to navigate the supply chain profession. I've seen leaders who have decades of experience talk with students and young professionals and cultivate strong relationships. As I mentioned, it's a people business, supplemented by the greatest content ever assembled through CSCMP. We can offer the connections you need throughout your career. CSCMP members will engage with other CSCMP members. Join us.

When CSCMP says that we take our job as caretaker of the supply chain industry very seriously, what we mean is, we make it our business to get you and keep you prepared for whatever supply chain challenges come your way. Whether you’re a supply chain practitioner, an academic, or a student, the supply chain community represented by CSCMP cares about you, your professional development, and your success.

Let’s stay connected!

Recent

More Stories

screen shot of AI chat box

Accenture and Microsoft launch business AI unit

In a move to meet rising demand for AI transformation, Accenture and Microsoft are launching a copilot business transformation practice to help organizations reinvent their business functions with both generative and agentic AI and with Copilot technologies.


The practice consists of 5,000 professionals from Accenture and from Avanade—the consulting firm’s joint venture with Microsoft. They will be supported by Microsoft product specialists who will work closely with the Accenture Center for Advanced AI. Together, that group will collaborate on AI and Copilot agent templates, extensions, plugins, and connectors to help organizations leverage their data and gen AI to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and drive growth, they said on Thursday.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

holiday shopping mall

Consumer sales kept ticking in October, NRF says

Retail sales grew solidly over the past two months, demonstrating households’ capacity to spend and the strength of the economy, according to a National Retail Federation (NRF) analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.

Census data showed that overall retail sales in October were up 0.4% seasonally adjusted month over month and up 2.8% unadjusted year over year. That compared with increases of 0.8% month over month and 2% year over year in September.

Keep ReadingShow less
chart of global supply chain capacity

Suppliers report spare capacity for fourth straight month

Factory demand weakened across global economies in October, resulting in one of the highest levels of spare capacity at suppliers in over a year, according to a report from the New Jersey-based procurement and supply chain solutions provider GEP.

That result came from the company’s “GEP Global Supply Chain Volatility Index,” an indicator tracking demand conditions, shortages, transportation costs, inventories, and backlogs based on a monthly survey of 27,000 businesses. The October index number was -0.39, which was up only slightly from its level of -0.43 in September.

Keep ReadingShow less
employees working together at office

Small e-com firms struggle to find enough investment cash

Even as the e-commerce sector overall continues expanding toward a forecasted 41% of all retail sales by 2027, many small to medium e-commerce companies are struggling to find the investment funding they need to increase sales, according to a sector survey from online capital platform Stenn.

Global geopolitical instability and increasing inflation are causing e-commerce firms to face a liquidity crisis, which means companies may not be able to access the funds they need to grow, Stenn’s survey of 500 senior e-commerce leaders found. The research was conducted by Opinion Matters between August 29 and September 5.

Keep ReadingShow less

CSCMP EDGE keynote sampler: best practices, stories of inspiration

With six keynote and more than 100 educational sessions, CSCMP EDGE 2024 offered a wealth of content. Here are highlights from just some of the presentations.

A great American story

Keep ReadingShow less