Like the whole of manufacturing, the supply chain is suffering from a serious lack of talent – so says a recent survey and report titled “ Supply Chain Talent: State of the Discipline” from AMR Research.

It suggests a confluence of factors that have contributed to this malaise: fragmented definitions of what the supply chain is and does, a lack of corporate standards to train and establish expectations for supply chain professionals, and – shockingly – an insufficient response from academia, in general.

Specifically, the report pinpoints 5 areas of concern:

• No two supply chains are alike. Very few companies define the supply chain in the same way. Of the supply chain leaders with which we spoke, almost all had different spans of control. This contributes significantly to a lack of clear priorities for standards and for consistent curriculum development at universities.


• Leaders view supply chain management as a business discipline. Overall, supply chain management is still very engineering centric. Few companies include manufacturing and new product development within the definition and span of control of supply chain, which is a differentiator among leading companies. The dearth of companies with this view also makes clarity of priorities a challenge.


• Globalization has created urgency. A general flattening and global broadening of supply chain organizations has boosted the need for a more extensive set of complex skills and competencies within company ranks. In addition, a trend toward a more centralized supply chain structure has heightened the need for broader skill sets and faster ramp-up time.


• A common supply chain talent model is the foundation for improvement. For supply chain management professional development to evolve into a more universal body of capabilities, industries and academia need to adopt a shared, modern, comprehensive model that incorporates the growing depth and scope of the discipline. To this end, AMR Research has developed and tested a model through this research.


• Universities have an opportunity to take a leadership role. Schools can lead the way in providing more universal supply chain management skill sets. Truly comprehensive programs, covering the full talent attribute model, would gain strong support from the industry. This partnership model, with industry providing access for students to gain real-world experience, is a starting point for reducing the talent gap.

The report is a really good read; matter of fact, the executive summary is as thorough as I’ve seen in awhile.

But what struck me are those similarities between AMR’s supply chain deductions and the same issues with manufacturing overall.

While AMR points to training and academia adjusting themselves to consider a supply chain holistically - as an entire organism (including manufacturing and product development) – manufacturing is trying to catch up to the notion of itself as an evolving service economy, where business acumen and marketing savvy are as important as machining skills once were.

Maybe the talent shortages across the board all require a rework of how we create and support emerging manufacturers, regardless of where they fall in the chain.