08. Supply Chain, Operations and Procurement Market Insights

We are your specialist Supply Chain, Operations and Procurement search and recruitment partners.

These are our insights.

A GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN UNDER PRESSURE

The global supply chain has been thrown into the media and political spotlight in New Zealand. Our location at the bottom of the world, together with our small economy means regardless of whether it be imports or exports, global macro-economic factors will have a major impact on our value chains here in New Zealand.

We’re seeing many businesses reorganising their supply chains to be able to better react and plan for the constant array of problems they are facing.

TALENT SHORTAGE HITS SUPPLY CHAIN PROFESSIONALS DIGITAL SAVVY WAREHOUSE AND DISTRIBUTION CENTRE MANAGERS

Partnership With some economic commentators forecasting supply chain issues will continue into 2023, businesses with foresight are looking to mitigate this ongoing risk by upskilling their supply chain teams. and Potential.Often this means employing new talent with the right skills. However, recruiting supply chain professionals in the current market is tough. Hunter Campbell has experienced an increase in demand for all supply chain, procurement and operations positions. Whilst supply chain issues have been predominantly influenced by global factors, the availability of candidates has been impacted by other compounding factors including New Zealand’s incredibly low unemployment rate, currently sitting at 3.2%. Border closures for more than two years have resulted in a reduction of available talent for all markets. Large numbers of 20-30 year-olds are expected to head overseas in the next 6+ months - futher compounding the shortage of skilled supply chain professionals. Once again, these changes have seen an increase in the demand for skilled warehouse and distribution center managers who understand space management, have great relationships with their freight providers, are digitally savvy and can stay on top of millions of dollars of working capital tied up in inventory.

Businesses looking to future-proof their workforce are seeking candidates with skills and experience in automation, in order to help circumvent future labour shortages and rising labour costs.

We take a fresh approach to recruitment, viewing each role as an opportunity to transform the function and enhance performance. As this Kiwi success story discovered, working with Hunter Campbell is far more than working with just a recruitment partner. THE EVIDENCE Over the past four years, this global business has been on a high growth trajectory, more than tripling revenue through organic growth and acquisitions. Since 2019, the company has completed multiple bolt-on acquisitions, expanding the product offering, and placing the business in a leadership position in all core markets. To sustain this pace of growth and ensure the ability to deliver on the strategic plan, the company has a real focus on continued investment in great people. Hunter Campbell partnered with the CFO who was charged with shaping the future structure of the

Hunter Campbell is a people business that understands the business of people. This enables us to do much more than simply recruit for roles. We add real value to the conversation, share unrivalled insights across our network, and better understand which people and teams will create good chemistry – and in turn, deliver the best results. finance team. We collaborated to ensure a highly capable team was in place to support both the THE RISE OF THE PLANNER CFO and ensure the business could respond to this extreme growth phase. In the current environment, if your planning function is not performing, your supply issues will be exacerbated. This involved mapping out the finance function, roles As a result, we have seen an uplift in the requirement for talented planners. and responsibilities and seniority of talent required. This demand is across all levels and functions of planning The broader involvement of Hunter Campbell in and includes supply, production, and demand planners. the curation of the Finance and Senior Leadership The planning function is often centralised and is managed team has meant we have a thorough understanding by a sales and operations planning (S&Op) manager or an of the team capabilities and culture, and can select integrated business planning (IBP) manager. candidates who will compliment and add to this high performing team. This in-depth knowledge allowed FROM JUST IN TIME, TO JUST us to tell the company’s brand story to candidates; IN CASE engaging and exciting them about the journey ahead, ensuring they were invested in the role right from the beginning.18 months ago, everyone was talking about just in time (JIT) inventory management - where raw materials for production or finished goods for distribution arrive just in time for Underpinning the entire process was the idea production or distribution to customers, and no sooner. that drives the nature of business – creating good In today’s challenging environment, JIT has been replaced chemistry. It’s the power of us, the power of you and with ‘Just in Case’. With supply being increasingly erratic who we connect together.

and potentially leading to lost sales, businesses are holding inventory ‘just in case’ they can’t get supply to meet their customers’ demands. This has a downstream effect for warehousing and distribution. More inventory means there is a requirement for more warehousing space, and better overall control of inventory and distribution. Clients are demanding more from their 3PL providers and supply chain managers are demanding their distribution and warehouse managers find more space in already constrained distribution centres. DESIGNING A SUPPLY CHAIN STRUCTURE FOR THE FUTURE Interestingly, one of the key trends we have seen is businesses reviewing the ‘current state’ of their supply chains with the aim of designing a ‘future state’ that is fit for purpose. Often one of the first things that businesses realise is that no one person has responsibility for, or control of, the end-to-end supply chain function across the business. This has resulted in an increased demand for qualified supply chain managers who can implement a supply chain strategy, drive the planning function across the whole business, and ensure a cohesive inbound, inventory management and distribution model. ENGAGING THE EXPERTS There has been an uplift in businesses seeking guidance from Hunter Campbell on how to design an enabled supply chain. The questions we’re often asked are: • What does an enabled supply chain structure look like? • What are the key functional roles within the structure? • What are their responsibilities and deliverables? Hunter Campbell have provided supply chain advisory services to a number of businesses, assisting with the design and development of an enabled, effective and future-proofed supply chain structure.