The people you need at the heart of your supply chain

For anyone managing a supply chain, the past few years have been hard, really hard. A global pandemic, lockdowns, freak weather incidents, ships wedged in strange places - there’s been a lot to contend with.

And while we tend to think of supply chains as systems, and moving parts, the truth is, that when things go wrong, it’s the people that have to step in. 

Even though many manufacturers have discovered their systems need an overhaul to make them more fit for purpose, we still shouldn’t overlook the people at the heart of the supply chain and the important traits the good ones demonstrate.

And despite all the fancy enterprise systems, when it really comes down to it, the dirty truth is that supply chains are still often run manually from a spreadsheet, by the people!

At MySupply, Avnet Silica’s supply chain management consultancy, we are used to requests to help companies design greater resilience, agility and transparency into their supply chains. But recently, we’ve found we’re also being asked what kind of people OEMs need to run their supply chain too. And rightfully so.

It’s the people that run the supply chain that have to step in when systems stop working. It’s the same people who were jumping in their cars and driving parts to the factory during the chaos of the pandemic – seriously! It was the people working ridiculously long hours to solve problems even when their personal lives were disrupted by the pandemic too.

Supply chain managers are firefighters. When things are running smoothly they aren’t called upon so much, that’s what the system’s for. The people are there to manage the exceptions. And how those exceptional circumstances are handled is what’s really going to determine whether you’re successful or not when something out of the ordinary happens.

It takes a specific type of person to fill those boots. 

Here are some of the traits those people have.

They understand the cost of inaction

Say you’ve got orders to deliver but something goes wrong with your usual courier. When faced with important decisions or stressful situations, many of us will get lost in the details, paralysed by perfectionism, hoping to find the ideal solution

In this case, it would be natural to look at cost. How can we find an alternative, at short notice, that doesn’t eat into profit?

But this can be a red herring. And hunting for cheap alternatives or the perfect solution can waste valuable time. Creative thinkers understand that inaction usually comes with a higher cost.

They know that, although a solution like ‘next flight out’ delivery will cost 5 times more, the manufacturing plant can get their order in time. They understand that a delay of a few days can potentially cost tens of thousands, or more.

When under pressure, perfection might not be possible. Successful supply chain managers know how to look at the whole picture to find the parts worth focusing on. They know how to make decisions.

They’re resilient

We’re used to talking about resilient supply chains but we need resilient people too.

When the pandemic set in, emotions ran high. Even the most stoic among us were rocked by the uncertainty, and people were stressed with a capital ‘S’. Often that stress was levelled at those on the frontline of supply chain disruptions. Dealing with that pressure requires some serious grit.

But it’s not just about an ability to withstand the pressure. A good supply chain manager has emotional intelligence and empathy. In even the most heated conversations, under the most stressful circumstances, they understand that people aren’t emotional for the sake of it - they’re under pressure too. 

So when communication goes awry, they can find a way to listen. To appreciate where the other party is coming from, understand what the real issue is, and find a way to move forward. They know that understanding is half the battle when it comes to conflict management.

They think about consequence across context

Strategic thinking (also known as big picture thinking but we’re trying to avoid that particular buzzword!) is like critical thinking on steroids.

A strategic thinker understands that it’s not about making decisions in isolation, but that each decision impacts another, and another, and another. They have the ability to see how any given choice will play out over time and across different contexts.

If we take the example from earlier, but this time, it’s not just our usual courier, but our usual mode of transport has fallen through. We’ve already considered the cost of inaction so we might be inclined to simply arrange a new mode of transport.

A strategic thinker, however, will have more questions. How will this new mode of transport be received by Customs? Will it get flagged as out of the ordinary? How might this impact the timing of the delivery? How will that impact production?

It’s not just about anticipating the immediate impact and asking difficult questions, the ability to zoom out and consider broader implications is a critical factor in good decision making. 

When issues arise out of the blue, you need someone you can rely on to make sound decisions under pressure.

Unsung heroes

Managing your supply chain in an ever-changing market is no easy task and the last couple of years have been particularly trying for even the most resilient of supply chain managers.

Many manufacturers were lucky enough to have the right people in place that could step up and fight the fires. These unsung heroes got us through. Maybe not perfectly, maybe not entirely unscathed, but still, they were in the trenches, fighting, making decisions, dealing with stressed colleagues and customers, withstanding it all.

And for those people, it’s been an incredibly tough couple of years.

We’ve known for a while that we need to start overhauling our supply chain systems. To make them more resilient. More agile. More forward-looking. But we want to recognise the people at the heart of these systems too. 

Because even when you’ve got the most robust system in place, it’s people that will be called upon in the toughest of times.

If you'd like support in redesigning your supply chain, getting the right people in place, and equipping them with what they need to get you through the next storm, please get in touch. We'd love to help.

We know that each change a business makes to its supply chain comes with risk. And we know there’s no one size fits all. So, if you'd like expert support with your supply chain challenges, please get in touch. We'd love to see if we can help.

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