MHD SUPPLY CHAIN
Supply chain has moved from the shop floor to C-suite level.
MASTERS OF ORCHESTRATION
Seasoned supply chain professional Abe Eshkenazi intended to visit Australia to deliver a keynote at MEGATRANS. With the event now postponed until 2021, Abe delivered his keynote virtually. MHD reports.
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be Eshkenazi is the CEO of the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM). Launched under Abe’s leadership, ASCM is built on the foundation of APICS. The topic of Abe’s keynote is professional development, and why continuous professional development in supply chain roles is now more important than ever. Abe believes that supply chain roles are no longer tactical. He says we’re currently witnessing a transition from the tactical activities into a much more
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aligned, highly integrated activity. “Supply chain managers used to be a subject matter expert with functional competency. However, now you need to have more strategic imperatives to be able to understand how the organisation fits from its vendors all the way to the customer, and the customer’s customer,” Abe says. Abe says this is exasperated by recent activity around COVID-19. “Four months ago, when most of us were in a room with other professionals across our organisations, many didn’t
know what we did. The conversation was around questions about what we supply, what products, when and how. However now the conversation has changed. We are now being asked to defend ourselves,” Abe says. Supply chain professionals are being asked to explain delays and outages rather than explain what they actually do, Abe says. According to Abe, as little as six years ago supply chain was seen as a function. “We were called upon when there was a problem, but now we play a crucial role
