There's a good feeling that hits you when you're wrapping up a major negotiation, completing a big project, or even finishing a book. It is very satisfying to tick something off your "to do" list, to get something done. Most of us crave it. Some call it the "completion high," and that craving is one reason why supply chain management (SCM) professionals are considered to be superb at execution. SCM professionals know how to get things done.
But some things should never really be finished. Expanding your knowledge and wisdom is one of them. While I firmly believe that earning degrees and graduating college are pivotal accomplishments, I also believe that they should not mark the end of your education. Continuous learning should be a lifelong, driving passion.
Critical thinking and analysis
Academic study and experiential learning are very different, yet both play a role in business success. Let's start by looking at what formal education has to offer.
Our formal education does two things in varying degrees. First and foremost, it teaches you to focus your mind and think. You learn how to identify problems, investigate alternatives, question assumptions, debate merits, revise processes, and reach conclusions. Learning to order your thoughts in this way (and practicing it regularly) is critical to achieving and maintaining success; it's a capability that stays with you throughout your life.
The second thing a formal education does is give you a set of tools, processes, and techniques. These change over time and are replaced by different tools, processes, and techniques. Why? Think of it this way: just as physicians need to constantly read journals and attend seminars to stay abreast of medical advances, you need to stay current with the ever-expanding body of knowledge and practices in supply chain management.
Learning from life
After a certain age, however, the vast majority of your education will be self-directed, based on your passion for your work and your personal drive for achievement. Your education will evolve from an early focus on academics to the most powerful learning of all: "life experience."
Supply chain management is a dynamic, rapidly changing field. No matter how cuttingedge your supply chain organization may be, you will still need to learn what others are doing, what researchers are finding, and who is blazing new trails. You need to continually upgrade your industry knowledge by reading, attending seminars and conferences, and building your professional network. New relationships are one of the most important learning sources you can leverage.
Not all of your professional growth and knowledge will come from outside sources. Inside your company there are excellent opportunities to expand your knowledge base. However, like picking up a magazine or enrolling in a course, you have to take action if you are to obtain that knowledge. Sitting around waiting for invitations to participate in some initiative or learning opportunity usually results in a lot of sitting and very little participation. If you want your passion for growth and achievement to be noticed and to pay off, then you must actively pursue opportunities to learn.
Opportunities all around
Take a look and you'll see there are opportunities to learn all around you. Here are some examples and advice on how to take advantage of them:
In order to make their supply chains better, faster, and more effective, companies need to explore alternate models, especially those outside their own industries. Volunteer to conduct some research, visit some noncompeting companies, and put together a white paper for your executive team.
Don't shy away from learning opportunities because they might require a significant time commitment. I recently made this suggestion to a vice president of logistics who had been asked to join a strategy taskforce in the coming year. She was apprehensive about the commitment, saying, "it will require a lot of my time." After congratulating her, I explained that this request was an example of "management by invitation," one of the highest compliments an executive can receive. I also suggested that this would be an excellent opportunity to deepen her knowledge of the company's strategic direction and priorities. Most importantly, by participating in the taskforce she would be in a position to help shape the company's strategic decisions.
Remember that while you may think of yourself as a supply chain professional, you are first and foremost a business executive. What are you doing to improve your general business skills and perspectives? While it may not be within your comfort zone, learning more about your organization's marketing, finance, and other strategic capabilities will make you a stronger, betterrounded business manager.
Recognize that knowledge is not just a matter of facts or technical details. Your lifelong education includes all those things that make you a better, more interesting person. I often recommend that my clients include an "airport assessment" when considering a job candidate. I tell them to imagine being delayed for hours in an airport with the candidate and ask themselves, "Could I truly enjoy spending time with this person? Is he or she interesting and engaging?" Personal presence and the interpersonal skills you have learned by experience do matter. In fact, they often are the "tiebreaker" in the final hiring decision. Would you pass an "airport assessment"?
Some of the learning opportunities you encounter may not seem relevant at first blush. Back in high school, I would sometimes get frustrated by some of the subjects I was being "forced" to study. "Why do I have to learn this stuff? I am never going to use it," I used to grumble. But I suspect that, like me, you have seen some pieces of information you once thought useless come in handy later in life. For me, at least, this seems to be happening more and more as I grow older.
Learning for a fast-paced world
Change is the only constant in the world today. And knowledge, perspectives, and possibilities keep changing at an almost inconceivable pace. You can only keep up with these and other changes by committing to a life of continuous learning.
To take full advantage of the education, both formal and informal, that will help you succeed in such a changeable environment, try to develop an opportunistic mindset that drives you to remain ever vigilant for opportunities to learn and grow. And never forget to take the time to enjoy what you are doing. We only live one life—be sure to make the most of it.
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The U.S. manufacturing sector has become an engine of new job creation over the past four years, thanks to a combination of federal incentives and mega-trends like nearshoring and the clean energy boom, according to the industrial real estate firm Savills.
While those manufacturing announcements have softened slightly from their 2022 high point, they remain historically elevated. And the sector’s growth outlook remains strong, regardless of the results of the November U.S. presidential election, the company said in its September “Savills Manufacturing Report.”
From 2021 to 2024, over 995,000 new U.S. manufacturing jobs were announced, with two thirds in advanced sectors like electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries, semiconductors, clean energy, and biomanufacturing. After peaking at 350,000 news jobs in 2022, the growth pace has slowed, with 2024 expected to see just over half that number.
But the ingredients are in place to sustain the hot temperature of American manufacturing expansion in 2025 and beyond, the company said. According to Savills, that’s because the U.S. manufacturing revival is fueled by $910 billion in federal incentives—including the Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS and Science Act, and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—much of which has not yet been spent. Domestic production is also expected to be boosted by new tariffs, including a planned rise in semiconductor tariffs to 50% in 2025 and an increase in tariffs on Chinese EVs from 25% to 100%.
Certain geographical regions will see greater manufacturing growth than others, since just eight states account for 47% of new manufacturing jobs and over 6.3 billion square feet of industrial space, with 197 million more square feet under development. They are: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Tennessee.
Across the border, Mexico’s manufacturing sector has also seen “revolutionary” growth driven by nearshoring strategies targeting U.S. markets and offering lower-cost labor, with a workforce that is now even cheaper than in China. Over the past four years, that country has launched 27 new plants, each creating over 500 jobs. Unlike the U.S. focus on tech manufacturing, Mexico focuses on traditional sectors such as automative parts, appliances, and consumer goods.
Looking at the future, the U.S. manufacturing sector’s growth outlook remains strong, regardless of the results of November’s presidential election, Savills said. That’s because both candidates favor protectionist trade policies, and since significant change to federal incentives would require a single party to control both the legislative and executive branches. Rather than relying on changes in political leadership, future growth of U.S. manufacturing now hinges on finding affordable, reliable power amid increasing competition between manufacturing sites and data centers, Savills said.
The number of container ships waiting outside U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports has swelled from just three vessels on Sunday to 54 on Thursday as a dockworker strike has swiftly halted bustling container traffic at some of the nation’s business facilities, according to analysis by Everstream Analytics.
As of Thursday morning, the two ports with the biggest traffic jams are Savannah (15 ships) and New York (14), followed by single-digit numbers at Mobile, Charleston, Houston, Philadelphia, Norfolk, Baltimore, and Miami, Everstream said.
The impact of that clogged flow of goods will depend on how long the strike lasts, analysts with Moody’s said. The firm’s Moody’s Analytics division estimates the strike will cause a daily hit to the U.S. economy of at least $500 million in the coming days. But that impact will jump to $2 billion per day if the strike persists for several weeks.
The immediate cost of the strike can be seen in rising surcharges and rerouting delays, which can be absorbed by most enterprise-scale companies but hit small and medium-sized businesses particularly hard, a report from Container xChange says.
“The timing of this strike is especially challenging as we are in our traditional peak season. While many pulled forward shipments earlier this year to mitigate risks, stockpiled inventories will only cushion businesses for so long. If the strike continues for an extended period, we could see significant strain on container availability and shipping schedules,” Christian Roeloffs, cofounder and CEO of Container xChange, said in a release.
“For small and medium-sized container traders, this could result in skyrocketing logistics costs and delays, making it harder to secure containers. The longer the disruption lasts, the more difficult it will be for these businesses to keep pace with market demands,” Roeloffs said.
Jason Kra kicked off his presentation at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) EDGE Conference on Tuesday morning with a question: “How do we use data in assessing what countries we should be investing in for future supply chain decisions?” As president of Li & Fung where he oversees the supply chain solutions company’s wholesale and distribution business in the U.S., Kra understands that many companies are looking for ways to assess risk in their supply chains and diversify their operations beyond China. To properly assess risk, however, you need quality data and a decision model, he said.
In January 2024, in addition to his full-time job, Kra joined American University’s Kogod School of Business as an adjunct professor of the school’s master’s program where he decided to find some answers to his above question about data.
For his research, he created the following situation: “How can data be used to assess the attractiveness of scalable apparel-producing countries for planning based on stability and predictability, and what factors should be considered in the decision-making process to de-risk country diversification decisions?”
Since diversification and resilience have been hot topics in the supply chain space since the U.S.’s 2017 trade war with China, Kra sought to find a way to apply a scientific method to assess supply chain risk. He specifically wanted to answer the following questions:
1.Which methodology is most appropriate to investigate when selecting a country to produce apparel in based on weighted criteria?
2.What criteria should be used to evaluate a production country’s suitability for scalable manufacturing as a future investment?
3.What are the weights (relative importance) of each criterion?
4.How can this methodology be utilized to assess the suitability of production countries for scalable apparel manufacturing and to create a country ranking?
5.Will the criteria and methodology apply to other industries?
After creating a list of criteria and weight rankings based on importance, Kra reached out to 70 senior managers with 20+ years of experience and C-suite executives to get their feedback. What he found was a big difference in criteria/weight rankings between the C-suite and senior managers.
“That huge gap is a good area for future research,” said Kra. “If you don’t have alignment between your C-suite and your senior managers who are doing a lot of the execution, you’re never going to achieve the goals you set as a company.”
With the research results, Kra created a decision model for country selection that can be applied to any industry and customized based on a company’s unique needs. That model includes discussing the data findings, creating a list of diversification countries, and finally, looking at future trends to factor in (like exponential technology, speed, types of supply chains and geopolitics, and sustainability).
After showcasing his research data to the EDGE audience, Kra ended his presentation by sharing some key takeaways from his research:
China diversification strategies alone are not enough. The world will continue to be volatile and disruptive. Country and region diversification is the only protection.
Managers need to balance trade-offs between what is optimal and what is acceptable regarding supply chain decisions. Decision-makers need to find the best country at the lowest price, with the most dependability.
There is a disconnect or misalignment between C-suite executives and senior managers who execute the strategy. So further education and alignment is critical.
Data-driven decision-making for your company/industry: This can be done for any industry—the data is customizable, and there are many “free” sources you can access to put together regional and country data. Utilizing data helps eliminate path dependency (for example, relying on a lean or just-in-time inventory) and keeps executives and managers aligned.
“Look at the business you envision in the future,” said Kra, “and make that your model for today.”
Turning around a failing warehouse operation demands a similar methodology to how emergency room doctors triage troubled patients at the hospital, a speaker said today in a session at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP)’s EDGE Conference in Nashville.
There are many reasons that a warehouse might start to miss its targets, such as a sudden volume increase or a new IT system implementation gone wrong, said Adri McCaskill, general manager for iPlan’s Warehouse Management business unit. But whatever the cause, the basic rescue strategy is the same: “Just like medicine, you do triage,” she said. “The most life-threatening problem we try to solve first. And only then, once we’ve stopped the bleeding, we can move on.”
In McCaskill’s comparison, just as a doctor might have to break some ribs through energetic CPR to get a patient’s heart beating again, a failing warehouse might need to recover by “breaking some ribs” in a business sense, such as making management changes or stock write-downs.
Once the business has made some stopgap solutions to “stop the bleeding,” it can proceed to a disciplined recovery, she said. And to reach their final goal, managers can use the classic tools of people, process, and technology to improve what she called the three most important key performance indicators (KPIs): on time in full (OTIF), inventory accuracy, and staff turnover.