Everything HR Needs to Know About Supply Chain Management

I had the opportunity this summer to attend SAP Ariba LIVE, an event focused on e-procurement and supply chain management. Now you might be saying to yourself, “What does HR have to do with supply chain?” The answer is – a lot.

First of all, as
human resources professionals, we are responsible for helping the organization
find talent. That includes supply chain management professionals. Second, when
it comes finding talent, many organizations are increasing their use of
external workers (i.e. freelancers, contractors, and consultants). HR has a
role in this process. It’s simply not a “hire the cheapest” person. Companies
have to find the right contractor, just like they have to find the right
employees.

Finally, I’ve
said before that organizations are focused on performance. Part of that
conversation has to do with how products and services get to market. That’s supply
chain. And human resources professionals who want to make the connection
between talent management and business results might want to spend some time
learning more about supply chain management and its relationship to talent
management. To help us understand more, I spoke with Leah Knight, senior
director of supply chain marketing at SAP Ariba.

Leah, before we
dive into specifics about what supply chain involves, let’s talk about the
“Why?” Why should human resources professionals be knowledgeable about supply
chain?

[Knight] Supply
chain is a growing and rapidly evolving field. Gartner has done some research
on the supply chain of the future and anticipates that there may be a shortage
of qualified supply chain staff because of this skill set evolution. Technology
skills are becoming increasingly important in this field, and human resources
may be called upon to find professionals in a discipline where they are
difficult to find.

Consider over the
past 5 to 10 years how supply chain technology, especially integrated business
planning, has changed the role of the supply chain planner from doing number
crunching on Microsoft Excel to today’s supply chain planner, who uses software
with highly sophisticated mathematical algorithms that help to build their
production plans – across regions, factories, product lines, and a complex web
of suppliers, logistics partners, and contract manufacturers.

Please also
consider how supplier collaboration technologies have led to a similar shift in
skill set: from manual collaboration – e.g., asking a supplier over the phone
or email whether s/he can commit to a forecast – to now using automated
collaboration tools that leverage Web services, XML, Cloud technologies, AI,
machine learning, and mobile.

I expect that the
HR function will become more important to the supply chain as their need for
technologically savvy professionals continues to grow.

Just to make sure
that everyone is on the same page, tell us what supply chain management
involves? And how does it relate to procurement or purchasing?

[Knight] There
are typically two components to supply chain management:

First, the supply
chain function owns the management of goods and services in support of
production, the related flow of these goods, and the supporting information.
This responsibility includes managing raw materials, work-in-process, and
finished goods as they flow from supplier or distribution center to various
manufacturing locations across the globe. It also includes contract
manufacturing, tolling, co-packing, and/or logistical services; and returns.

Supply chain professionals typically concern
themselves with long-term planning
(e.g., forecasts of a 6 month or more time horizon for these goods); mid-range
and near-term execution of inventory programs (e.g., consigned inventory,
supplier-managed inventory); quality of supply, work in progress (WIP) and
finished goods; delivery; replenishment of customer warehouses; etc. The
typical key performance indicators (KPIs) include:

Customer service (measured in terms of on-time/in-full deliveries, stockouts, revenue upside), Working capital / inventory efficiency (measured inventory turns, days inventory, inventory aging, etc.),Inventory and finished goods quality, and Productivity.

Next is the supply
chain / direct sourcing area. It’s also known as ‘commodity management’, ‘buyers’,
or ‘direct procurement’ in some industries. This area owns the sourcing and
contracting of raw materials, components, assemblies and related services (such
as contract manufacturing, tolling, co-packing, and logistics services). These
suppliers and services are needed to design, produce, and deliver their final
products.

Supply chain professionals also make a build
versus buy decision – that is,
deciding whether it is more effective to engage a contract manufacturer or
supplier for components, rather than building the components themselves. The
typical KPIs are:

Cost of materials
(including whether they achieve annual or quarterly cost reduction targets), Cycle time (e.g.,
the time required to complete a source-to-contract process), Team productivity,
Supplier quality,
and Supplier risk.

During SAP Ariba
LIVE, I learned how Cirque
du Soleil is using an integrated dashboard for its supply chain needs, which included
talent. Can you share with readers how supply chain technology is impacting HR
today?

[Knight] Supply
chain technology requires an evolution in skill sets for supply chain
professionals. Cloud technologies are requiring an interesting further shift,
because many supply chain professionals are embracing Cloud technologies in
order to bypass the queues, long lead times and/or competing projects in their
IT departments. Cloud technologies can be selected directly by the supply chain
department, but this requires an added level of technology evaluation and
selection, and ongoing collaboration with technology vendors that once may have
been the purview of IT, rather than supply chain.

Last question. I want to shift our conversation from the recruitment and development of supply chain professionals to another aspect of talent. One of the discussions I heard during the conference was about human trafficking and the need for organizations to understand more about their talent sources. How can supply chain and HR professionals work together to make sure that they are using ethical sources?

[Knight] Supply
chain/sourcing professionals own the selection of sources, which means they
have a significant and lasting impact into their organizations’ use of ethical,
sustainable, and diverse sources. One opportunity is to ensure that they do a
thorough supplier qualification process that includes such factors as
sustainability, ethical business and social practices, and diverse or inclusive
business practices. And then to ensure that only suppliers that are qualified are
allowed to participate in sourcing/supply chain opportunities.

But in my
experience, a one-time check is not enough. Ongoing monitoring is very
important, especially in our global, disaggregated supply chains, where a
supplier of a supplier can lead to unethical or non-sustainable practices in
anyone’s supply chain.

I want to extend a huge thanks to Leah and the SAP Ariba team for
giving me the opportunity to learn more about supply chain management. If you
want to learn more about how supply chain management brings value to the
business, check out
the SAP Ariba Resources Page on their website.

Given the challenges in today’s talent market, I only see the increased need for HR and suppliers to partner. The time to start building those relationships is now.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of Key West, FL

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