As some point, most supply chain professionals struggle to
accurately communicate what they do. If Jane Smith introduces herself as a
doctor, I have a clear vision of what that means; she completed a bachelors,
went to medical school, sat for her boards, and earned a professional license
to practice medicine. Furthermore, she
might have a specialty such as pediatrics or oncology, and I know that means she
completed some advanced instruction and certification around children or cancer
respectively. The same analogy holds true for lawyers, engineers, teachers,
nurses, financial advisors, and accountants; there is a minimal education
requirement accredited by some widely accepted organization and then the
opportunity through advanced education and experience to specialize.
First, what is the over-arching occupational title for supply
chain? Until we, as a profession, can
come to agreement on this, I think there will be ambiguity and confusion. If one more person assumes that I am in
logistics and/or transportation because my title is Supply Chain Global Process
Owner, I may have a high speed come apart.
I would liken this to the assumption that every doctor is a
pediatrician, all lawyers understand the intricacies of tax law, or every
engineer can design an automobile.
Carving specialties out of Supply Chain is perhaps more
straightforward, but only after you agree on what functions and/or processes it
includes. When asked, I find it easiest
to leverage the APICS SCOR (supply chain operations reference model) framework
to describe the major components (functions and/or activities) of supply chain: plan,
source, make, deliver, return and enable. Beyond this basic definition, I often
describe supply chain as the realm where the digital meets the physical - yes,
stolen from Brian David Johnson, futurist! By this I mean supply chain is both
1) the tools and knowledge that we utilize to model, describe, optimize,
control, predict, etc…complex and unique organisms, i.e. our business, AND 2) physical
production and distribution of the “things” that people will then buy.
You will notice that I did not use the term products. ALL
businesses have a supply chain! It does
not matter what they produce. You can
provide a physical item or a service. At the end of the day, you are creating
something that a customer is choosing to purchase. That means you need to plan
what you are creating. You must source
materials, ideas, or expertise. You have
to package it, or make it, into something that is tangible and can be provided to
your customer. Then, you must deliver
to them, be it virtual or physical. Moreover,
you should probably provide a path for them to return it if there is an
issue. All of this requires some type of enablement or support, which is
generally technology focused: email, spreadsheets, ERPs, etc…
If we can all agree that every business has a supply chain and we
can align around the basic definition of what that supply chain is accountable
for and to, then perhaps, we can start to build consensus around title and the
accompanying educational and experience requirements. Today, it feels a bit
like the wild, wild west, making it a challenge to win the hearts and minds of
CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, etc… Who are we? What do we do? How do we support the
business? I would argue that a large swath of the public could describe these
key attributes for doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, nurses, etc… but that
most would struggle if asked the same questions about supply chain
professionals. In fact, a quick search online
revealed the following:
Webster’s lack of entry on Supply Chain is insightful. Dictionary.com takes a stab at a definition,
but still does not define a Chief Supply Chain Officer or Chief Procurement
Officer. At the least, this highlights a
lack of consensus and consistency in using the term supply chain, supply chain
professional and supply chain management.
I am going to support APICs by leaving you with their definition
of supply chain: The global network used to deliver products and services from
raw materials to end customers through an engineered flow of information,
physical distribution, and cash. Furthermore,
supply chain encompasses planning, sourcing, making, delivering, returning and the
associated enablement tools. Now, let’s
make sure that our academic partners are providing this broad foundation to
their students and ensure Supply Chain is a destination occupation, driving unparalleled
excellence and value.
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