A Decade of Accelerating Change

Supply Chain Management is a dynamic and changing industry.  As innovative technology continues to evolve the supply chain and logistics sector, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) is an essential resource providing education, skill development and networking.

The past 10 years have brought unprecedented change to the logistics and supply chain sectors.  The next 10 years will see the trend continue, but the change will come at a pace we have never seen before.

History has already put a lasting marker on the Year 2007 which saw the birth of a seemingly simple, yet dizzyingly complex device that is now an ever-present part of the daily lives of most every human on this planet.

When Apple founder and CEO Steve Jobs took the stage at the MacWorld conference on January 9, 2007, he unveiled a device that, among other things, was a phone, a music player, a video streaming screen, and a personal computer (more or less) all in one tidy little handset.

When it officially went on sale in June of that year, the iPhone almost instantly became deeply engrained into the very fabric of our business and social culture.

In the 10 years that have followed that historic launch, the emergence of new enabling technologies has flowed steadily and rapidly. For those of us who toil in the vineyards of logistics and supply chain, emerging and often (and aptly) called disruptive technologies have been born and gained steady traction.

CSCMP proudly provides education and training to #supplychain professionals for every step of the career journey  Tweet

From artificial intelligence, to 3D printing, autonomous vehicles, robotics, automation, big data capture and analysis, and the Internet of Things (IoT) the pace at which these breakthroughs have come at us has been dizzying.

And yet, we have only seen a scratch of the surface of these new business tools.

In the Q1 edition of CSCMP’s Supply Chain Quarterly, I suggested in my Afterword column that 2017 may well become “The Year of Living Disruptively.” After a decade of hearing a lot about all these new technologies and how they will disrupt our businesses (hopefully in a positive and profitably way) we are now on the cusp of adoption of these technologies at a pace heretofore unimaginable.

In fact, the entire Q1 edition is devoted to innovation and technology and offers some intriguing looks at how embrace, adopt, and thrive through these and other new technologies. 

The Q1 edition also provides a good snapshot of The Quarterly’s role and mission.

Like the iPhone, it was launched in June of 2007.

And, like CSCMP, the association is serves, The Quarterly’s mission is to provide a platform for the profession’s thought leaders and subject-matter experts to present their thoughts, ideas, and innovation breakthroughs with CSCMP members as well as thousands of other supply chain and logistics executives around the world.

“To lead the supply chain profession by connecting, developing, and educating the world’s logistics and supply chain management professionals throughout their careers" – CSCMP Mission Statement

The Quarterly itself can be viewed as a microcosm of CSCMP and its mission to provide a platform for networking, collaborating, and idea sharing amongst the very best and brightest the profession has to offer. That is why we so often say that in a figurative sense, Supply Chain Quarterly IS the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals!

Both CSCMP, the association, and its magazine speak to the criticality of ongoing education and professional development.  Tweet

While it has always been important to be a life-long learner, for logistics and supply chain professionals it is more important now than ever before – and that importance is only going to increase as time marches forward.

There is no better place than CSCMP to gain the network, earn the credentials and build the toolkit you need to have a long and successful career, despite the disruptive and everchanging times ahead.

About CSCMP

Since 1963, The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, CSCMP, has been the leading worldwide professional association dedicated to education, research, and the advancement of the supply chain management profession. With more than 8,500 members globally, representing business, government, and academia from 62 countries, CSCMP members are the leading practitioners and authorities in the fields of logistics and supply chain management.  For more information, visit https://cscmp.org.