The Future of Supply Chain is Promising
In honor of Supply Chain Professionals Appreciation Day, Whirlpool Corporation’s Amanda Tolhurst highlights the current and future state of Supply Chain.
When I opened my inbox recently and found my monthly Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) newsletter I was very excited to read they were launching a Supply Chain Professionals Appreciation Day — today, May 21! It instantly made me happy to have another opportunity to celebrate being part of such an amazing industry.
no two days are ever alike! “Variety” is an understatement.
So…what’s so great about being a supply chain professional, you ask? Well first of all — no two days are ever alike! “Variety” is an understatement. Working in the Integrated Supply Chain (ISC) organization means working cross-functionally, impacting multiple stakeholder groups internally and externally, and applying numerous different types of leadership each and every day. This variety brings about challenges, including managing complex problems and juggling multiple priorities, but with a talented team in place, these are all surmountable.
Another great thing about working in supply chain is that the future is promising! There are new innovations coming out every day and plenty of room for new ideas to help meet changing customer needs and to overcome macro factors such as labor shortages and rising commodity prices. At Whirlpool Corporation, we face these challenges head on every day and strive to be thought leaders in key areas, like sales and operations planning (S&OP), home delivery, and network distribution strategy.
There are new innovations coming out every day and plenty of room for new ideas to help meet changing customer needs and to overcome macro factors such as labor shortages and rising commodity prices.
If you’re thinking about a future role in supply chain, I would highly encourage you to reach out to someone you know in a supply chain role or industry and ask them to tell you about our careers. Think you don’t have the right background? Wrong! In supply chain we have the need for a multi-disciplinary approach to problem solving. Ask around and you’ll find successful supply chain professionals from all backgrounds — engineering, social science, mathematics, political science, technology, sales; just to name a few!
For those of you already in supply chain roles — Happy Supply Chain Professionals Day! Take a moment today to pass along the message to your co-workers in person, with a thank you email or via social media (#ThisIsSupplyChain or #CSCMP).
For those looking to get more involved with supply chain organizations outside of Whirlpool Corporation, there are lots of great organizations including CSCMP, APICS, and NAM that you should look into.
