Supply Chain Careers - Sharing What I Have Seen

By Susan Pichoff, Retail Executive Adviser, Retail Value Chain Federation

I have been working in the supply chain for more than 35 years, but for the longest time, I did not know there was a supply chain. I was just doing work I enjoyed, improving processes at the companies I worked for, and learning things as I went along. Keyword highlights on my resume include department management, store management, buyer, Quick Response, EDI, product databases, product images & attributes, pricing systems, marketing, and standards- it’s almost as if I had a very short attention span!

I realized that all those things built on the last thing, allowing me to have amazing chances and opportunities that I would not have had if my path had been straightforward. I began to think about what I would tell someone entering today’s supply chain if I could share my experience.

• Take chances!
  • Try a new type of position that will teach you a skill that needs building. Often this does not mean changing companies but only focus. It could mean learning an older system or something on the cutting edge- both have value in an organization. Risk is invigorating for your spirit and pays off in unexpected ways. Sometimes you will meet resistance but hold on to the goal of learning and growing.
• Meet your peers, as well as your customers
  • Collaborate with all types of jobs and companies. The phrase collaborate to compete became popular a few years ago and it has great merit, as learning best practices and industry advancements benefit an individual as well as an organization. This is not sharing your secret sauce but benefiting from the wisdom shared among peers. Getting out to events, conferences, symposiums, or meetings jump-starts your ability to view situations with a new lens.
  • Build a meaningful network of diverse individuals, not just in your direct industry. This is not racking up a high number of connections on networking sites, but people you can bounce ideas off, examine roadblocks, and share professional accomplishments. Nothing replaces genuine conversations with other people, and nothing ever will.
  • Work across teams within your company to look at the good, the bad, and the frustrating. Communicating regularly prepares everyone to move towards perfecting processes like shipping on time and in full, order creation, inventory visibility, or data enrichment.
• Develop the skill of simple explanation
  • More than the 1-minute elevator pitch, this is a skill that distills projects or systems into a foundation of basic understanding: why is this a problem, who is impacted by this issue, how are we going to fix/manage it, and how are we going to measure our progress or success. Being too far in the minutia or too high level is equally detrimental to C-Suite, management, associates, or customers grasping what you are trying to accomplish.
  • Jargon can be great shorthand when you are in the midst of a process but remember it can alienate those that are new or learning (many times people are self-conscious about asking for an explanation). Take the time to make sure others know what you are talking about when you use acronyms or abbreviations and welcome their curiosity.
• Respect the past, embrace the future
  • Understanding how the supply chain got to where it is today is a great foundation for seeing where it will move to in the future. The use of EDI for business document sharing is widespread and entrenched but it is also open to the use of API and new technology to connect and expand capabilities within a company’s enterprise architecture. Embracing RFID, software that consolidates performance, changing identification standards, and looking at the responsible use of AI and machine learning are the future of retail.