Expert supply chain management (SCM) is critical for organizations to enhance operational efficiency. Gartner highlights four key elements crucial for the future of SCM and enabling organizations to gain a significant overall business advantage: commercial innovation, achieving sustainable outcomes, real-time decision execution and human-centric work design. Each of these elements requires highly educated leaders to execute.
The online Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a concentration in Supply Chain Management program at the University of Southern Indiana (USI) prepares students for leadership roles in the high-demand field of supply chain management. Students learn to analyze and redesign logistics networks, examine opportunities from breakthrough technologies and utilize software for supply chain optimization. With recent supply disruptions causing trillion-dollar losses across multiple global industries, there is an urgent demand for supply chain specialists and leaders with these skills.
What Is Supply Chain Management (SCM)?
SCM is the “process of managing the flow of goods and services to and from a business,” according to Investopedia. It encompasses every step involved in transforming raw materials and components into final products and delivering them to customers. Effective SCM helps streamline a company’s activities, eliminate waste and maximize customer value.
SCM represents an ongoing effort by companies to make their supply chains as efficient and economical as possible. Typically, it attempts to centrally control or link the production, shipment and distribution of products. Through careful management, companies can cut excess costs and steps in order to deliver products to consumers faster. This is achieved by maintaining tighter control over internal inventories, production, distribution, sales and the inventories of vendors.
How Smart SCM Is Impacting Competitive Advantage in Business
The following are some examples of SCM developments, trends and strategies that support modern business practices:
Leveraging Real-time Data
Companies utilize supply chain analytics to integrate real-time data from all business operations. This approach enables accurate demand forecasting and agile plan adjustments based on rapidly shifting market conditions.
Enabling Customers
Customers enabled by the supply chain to accomplish their goals are twice as likely to repurchase compared to merely satisfied customers. However, according to Gartner, only 23% of supply chain organizations prioritize customer enablement.
Transworld provides visibility to customers and operations, enabling the tracking of items through the Internet of Things (IoT). This transparency satisfies customers receiving updates. Transworld recognizes blockchain and IoT’s future impact on supply chains. Rather than just logistics, these resources aim to provide technology solutions for efficient, cost-effective client operations and ultimately transform client businesses and Transworld’s approach.
Addressing Challenges in Reverse Logistics
Enhancing returns or reverse logistics processes presents a billion-dollar opportunity for businesses, according to Ascent Solutions. However, the surge in fraudulent returns (costing companies $100 billion in 2023) is a new wrinkle. Adopting cloud-based solutions offers visibility into online orders, returns and warehouse operations to tackle this challenge.
Fostering Collaboration Across the Network
Large enterprises have extensive networks of suppliers, vendors and distributors. These stakeholders collaborate to maximize supply chain value and ensure customer satisfaction. Nurturing strong relationships with suppliers is as crucial as maintaining customer relations.
Promoting an Agile Mindset
While disruptive technologies can improve supply chains, they can also be costly. Agile process improvements focus on constant, incremental enhancements. Over time, these small improvements compound into significant transformations. An agile approach allows for low-cost, low-disruption implementation.
Embedding Sustainability
According to Gartner, engaging in circular economy activities is crucial for 75% of supply chain leaders, but only 19% believe they have sufficient sustainability capabilities. To achieve sustainability outcomes, organizations must fund initiatives, embed sustainability in operations and coordinate change across the value chain.
Embracing AI for Retail
Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming indispensable for retailers, with 97% of them having an AI strategy in place, per Ascent Solutions. Incorporating AI into e-commerce and supply chain systems provides real-time insights to drive improvements across various use cases. The race to leverage AI continues, with companies like Salesforce enhancing their solutions through cutting-edge research.
Transitioning to Real-time Decision Execution
According to Gartner, 96% of supply chain leaders focus on closing the decision-execution gap. On average, only 7% have real-time decision-making capabilities. Supply chain organizations must react quickly to changing conditions, requiring automated decision-making. Without real-time execution, supply chains know what to do but react too slowly.
Prepare to Become an In-demand SCM Leader
Supply chain management offers extensive career advancement opportunities and competitive salaries. Supply chain managers in the U.S. earn an average annual salary of $86,594, with the potential for higher wages based on location and experience. Positions in this in-demand field are projected to grow 4% through 2029 as businesses require experts to oversee production, storage and logistics.
USI’s online MBA in Supply Chain Management program equips students with vital SCM skills. The curriculum covers the Lean Six Sigma methodology for enhancing organizational efficiency and effectiveness. With 100% online coursework, students can conveniently prepare for leadership in one of the 21st century’s most important fields.
Learn more about USI’s online Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Supply Chain Management program.
