By : Mohamed Elkholy
Capgemini, a global leader in consulting, technology, and outsourcing services, has recently published its white paper addressing fifteen supply chain jobs of the future. The white paper provided a definitive guide to the emerging roles driving the intelligent transformation of supply chain operations.
According to Capgemini’s white paper, 45% of organizations said their supply chain cost base has increased over the past three years to improve resilience, sustainability, and customer-centricity. Nearly 35% of organizations find it challenging to balance these objectives.
Organizations need to create new roles to assess the potential impact of these changes and mitigate the fallout for their partners and customers in the supply chain.
“The supply chain industry is undergoing a significant transformation, says Hossam Seifeldin, CEO of Capgemini Egypt, “The challenges that modern supply chains face cannot be solved with a quick fix. Instead, what is needed is a complete overhaul of the way we approach supply chain operations.
The key to this transformation is empowering people with new roles and skill sets to tackle challenges, harness technology, and meet sustainability expectations.
At Capgemini, we strive to help our partners transform and manage their businesses by unleashing human energy through technology to shape the future of their industries and drive tangible business impact.”
“Our vision for our partnership with Capgemini is to transform, innovate, and operate our end-to-end supply chain, from sourcing to delivery,” says Rania Heida, Integrated Planning Head at Unilever Arabia, “Capgemini’s team in Egypt will be instrumental in helping us achieve this vision by driving improved customer loyalty, creating more business value, and delivering superior and reliable business outcomes.”
Supply Chain Challenges:
The challenges in supply chains are significant and are impacting organizations across all industries, where many organizations are not adequately prepared to handle the new supply chain reality.
A recent report by Capgemini Research Institute (CRI) surveyed 1,000 organizations across the consumer products, retail, manufacturing, and life sciences sectors. The report found that while over half (54%) of organizations acknowledge that their supply chains have altered significantly in the past two years, only 27% are implementing end-to-end supply chain transformation.
With supply chain now a board-level priority, fewer than 20% of organizations are currently equipped to handle the new supply chain reality. The need for organizations to implement end-to-end supply chain transformation arose in order to be successful in the future.
Emerging Roles to Drive Supply Chain Transformation:
Talent remains a mainstay for innovation and transformation in global supply chains. Today and in the future, a new breed of talent with fresh ideas and innovative approaches to navigate a myriad of challenges will be needed.
As the world enters a new era of digitally-enabled and responsible supply chain management, several new roles emerge to shape the future of the industry. These roles include the Supply Chef, who will be responsible for maintaining a portfolio of alternative and sustainable suppliers; the Disruption Director, who will react quickly and effectively to any disruption that may arise; the Inefficiency Architect, who will conduct a comprehensive analysis of supply chain operations to identify areas of highest risk and inefficiency; and the Head of the Tailor-Made Supply Chain, who will oversee operations and strategy across the entire supply chain to ensure it stays ahead of consumer demand.
Other roles include the Supergrid Hero, who will coordinate and collaborate with competitors and logistics businesses to create a more connected transportation and communication network; the Parameter Pedant, who will drive supply chain performance by identifying new opportunities and implementing cutting-edge technologies; the Metaverse Merchandizer, who will bridge the gap between the real world and the metaverse, bringing a brand’s products and services to life in a virtual world; and the Bionic Human, who can perform physically demanding tasks across the supply chain with the aid of exoskeleton devices.
Sustainability in Supply Chain:
One major contributor to an organization’s carbon footprint is its supply chain. Enterprises need to address and abide by stringent sustainability targets – with supply chain being one of the most important factors in reducing CO2 emissions. The impact on sustainability metrics comes from direct changes such as sustainable product procurement or electric vehicles, as well as secondary changes such as reducing waste.
Capgemini's research shows that only one in four organizations are actively scaling their sustainability initiatives in the supply chain. The numbers are alarming with only 24% measuring the carbon footprint of purchased goods and services, 18% implementing a robust supply chain for returns, and just 15% embedding sustainability metrics and action plans for returnable packaging.
This highlights a pressing need for new supply chain professionals who can quantify, forecast, and implement sustainability measures in their supply chain.
New roles such as the Waste Wealth Manager, Chief of Packaging Possibilities, Carbon CapEx Calculator, Circularity Olympian, Emissions Materials Thinker, and others will be crucial in helping organizations reduce their environmental impact and create a more sustainable future for all.
People are the Future of Supply Chain:
Moving towards an intelligent supply chain requires significant and consistent investment in streamlining processes, implementing new technologies, and supporting emerging roles and skillsets. These new supply chain roles have the potential to drastically increase an organization’s brand value while also improving working conditions, giving people a greater sense of purpose, and having a knock-on positive effect on recruitment and retention.
Organizations that can redesign their supply chain roles to orchestrate human creativity and innovation with intelligent technology will be ahead of the curve in achieving an enhanced competitive advantage within the new supply chain paradigm. Unleashing human energy through technology will be fundamental in building not only sustainable and revolutionary supply chains but also an inclusive workforce.
