Articles

Education & Careers

Al Morris: Perfect for the Part

Al Morris: Perfect for the Part

Al Morris is director, global supply chain, at TERiX Computer Service in Sunnyvale, Calif. He has worked for the company since 2004. Responsibilities: Procurement and logistics. Experience: Procurement manager, Marathon International Group. Education: BS, Private and Commercial Recreation, San Jose State University, 1991. I graduated college during a recession, and was glad when a friend […]

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Shay Scott

Eight Ways to Find and Retain Qualified Supply Chain Talent

The burgeoning need for talent to operate today’s complex supply chains has begun to garner significant attention. Not only are supply chain management roles expanding at a rate outpacing qualified new graduates, but supply chain is also rapidly becoming more complex, creating the need for existing personnel to dramatically retool their skill sets. These trends […]

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Cheryl Citrone

Attracting More Women to the Transportation Profession

More than 13 million Americans comprise the transportation workforce, and nearly half of them are eligible for retirement within the next 10 years, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Not only is this particular workforce an older population, it’s also male dominated, as women account for as little as 13 percent of transportation occupations […]

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Sean Smith: Ingredients for a Great Career

Sean Smith: Ingredients for a Great Career

Sean Smith is supply chain director at Agropur Ingredients in La Crosse, Wis. He has worked for the company since 2013. Responsibilities: Purchasing, inbound and outbound logistics, production planning, inventory management, analytics, and warehouse operations. Experience: Supply chain manager, U.S. Army; strategic sourcing manager—facilities, Citigroup; supply chain manager—contracting and sourcing, Adventist Health Systems. Education: Diploma, […]

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Ryan Repich

Building Bench Strength With Supply Chain Graduates

Gripped by financial pain in 2008, organizations across all industries cut labor to keep the lights on. While this approach provided short-term relief, many businesses were left with a resource plan that was thin. Within the past year, the economy has improved and across most industries, organizational growth has translated into increased pressure for businesses’ […]

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Trends—May 2015

Trends—May 2015

U.S. Ports Critical to Sustained Economic Growth Transportation budgeting at the state and federal levels has become a contentious battleground as politicians and private sector lobbyists search for new funding mechanisms to execute much-needed infrastructure upgrades. One point of consensus is that U.S. ports are key to sustained economic growth—and therefore should be a priority […]

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Supporting a Multilingual Workforce

As today’s workforce becomes increasingly multilingual and diverse, employers are focusing on ways to effectively communicate with their staff. Open lines of communication are key to avoiding confusion, mistakes, and accidents. While it is not necessary for managers to be fluent in every language the staff speaks, it is important to take steps to make […]

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Jim Young: Sourcing for a Startup

Jim Young: Sourcing for a Startup

Jim Young is senior supply chain manager at Applied Microstructures, Inc. in San Jose, Calif. He has held this position since 2011. Responsibilities: All supply chain activities required to support product development, configuration, and production, as well as shipment of products to customers. Experience: Variety of positions in materials and manufacturing support; materials planning and […]

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Trends—March 2015

Trends—March 2015

Learning the ABCs of DCs To be competitive in today’s dynamic retail space, online companies need to rethink distribution networks that were built to serve the brick-and-mortar store model, suggests research conducted by supply chain faculty at the University of Tennessee’s (UT) Haslam College of Business. Supply chain faculty surveyed more than 200 companies, and […]

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Charlie Saffro

Preparing Your Company Today to Hire for Tomorrow

The logistics sector will create more than one million jobs through 2016, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. To complicate matters, there is a skills gap in logistics, so recruiting proven and experienced professionals has become a priority for many companies. With competition for talent increasing, organizations must attract candidates who will be the […]

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