Tomorrow's supply chain jobs
Logistics and transport account for 10% of France's GDP and 10% of jobs in the commercial sector. Supply Chain is a very dynamic sector with more than 2 million jobs and a strong growth potential for the years to come. It now plays a central role in business strategy, both in terms of differentiation and in the competitiveness of organisations.
The supply chain professions are transversal professions that position the supply chain within the strategy and management committees of companies in France and abroad.
This leads to a need for new skills and the emergence of new professions that will shape the Supply Chain of tomorrow.
France Supply Chain, the leading French network of supply chain professionals, and Michael Page, the leading executive search firm, present the results of a series of interviews and workshops conducted with France Supply members and outline four key professions for the supply chain of tomorrow.
Sébastien Perdereau, Practice Manager at Michael Page, came to present the results of this survey to ISLI students, KEDGE global supply chain management reference programme, in November.
4 new supply chain professions
1. Supply Chain Architect
The Supply Chain Architect position involves various missions from the existing Network Design position (Logistics Network Design & Logistics Flow Management) but on a medium/long-term horizon with a global scope. It is therefore a mature Network Design function, or an enhanced function integrating an innovative dimension with the choice and integration of systems. According to Michael Page and France Supply Chain, this new job will be a response to the variables of a "VUCA" (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) environment. The Supply Chain Architect is an expert in the design of networks over a 3 to 5 year timeframe for the entire flow, including last mile delivery and reverse logistics. The role of Supply Chain Architect involves the hybridisation of systems and technological innovations with the realities on the ground and the requirements of operational staff.
2. Data Analyst Supply Chain
Supply Chain is a driver of business transformation directly influenced by the challenges of Big Data and AI. The Data Analyst job meets a strong demand from companies for this type of profile. Unlike the Data Scientist job, which involves translating business problems into mathematical and statistical data, the Data Analyst job consists of :
- Translating business needs to the IT and Digital Departments
- Exploiting and interpreting the data for Operations
3. Supply Chain Innovation Leader
The Supply Chain Innovation Leader position has emerged with the rise in power of digital, automation and more globally of innovation within the Supply Chain. The Supply Chain must permanently innovate, adapt to new products and new modes of consumption and constantly develop new ideas.
While the Supply Chain Architect role focuses on networks and processes, the Supply Chain Innovation Leader role focuses on technology, ideation and monitoring. Its spectrum extends to the industrialisation of solutions, including experimentation. The Supply Chain Innovation Leader is above all a facilitator.
4. Sustainable Supply Chain Manager
The function of Sustainable Supply Chain Manager already exists in some large groups, but it is set to develop strongly. This new job meets several needs:
- a stricter regulatory and legal framework (AGEC/Grenelle II law),
- consumers who are integrating sustainable development variables into their purchasing decisions
- the desire of Supply & Operations Departments to take into account circular economy issues and in particular the decarbonisation of the chain.
The Sustainable Supply Chain Manager is integrated into the company's strategy and usually reports to the CEO in the service sector and to an Operations & Supply Chain department in industry or distribution.
The key skills to access these new professions in the ISLI curriculum
Marie-Laure FURGALA, Director of ISLI and alumni of the programme, supply chain expert for more than 25 years, is a member of the Board of Directors of France Supply and is part of the LAB RH of France Supply Chain led by Xavier DERYCKE, Supply Chain Director Europe of the REXEL Group and Philippe RAYNAUD, Philippe Raynaud VP Supply Chain at BIC. Her involvement at the heart of job attractiveness, skills development and training, all of which are HR priorities for organisations, allows her to integrate the latest developments in the sector into the ISLI programmes.
The environmental and societal aspects of the supply chain
ISLI focuses on the green supply chain. Marie-Laure Furgala wants today's ISLI students to take up the challenge of building the sustainable supply chain of tomorrow.
Smart cities, last mile, carbon-free transport, distribution network design, relocation, the warehouse of tomorrow, but also everything related to mechanisation, robotisation, eco-design, reverse logistic, recycling... all these notions are addressed during the year of training.
In addition, the students obtain a sustainable development certification recognised by the ADEME. At the end of this certification, graduates will be able to transfer their Bilan Carbone ® licence to their company. In addition, they will be equipped with the scientific skills needed to recommend and implement sustainable decisions.
New technologies, linked to data or "data supply chain driven"
High tech, robotisation, autonomous vehicles, exoskeletons, mechanisation call for other skills that must be developed. It is also important to incorporate all aspects of new technologies, such as the Internet of Things, AI, 5G, 3D printers, blockchain and Industry 4.0. ISLI students can follow a Data Science training course delivered by Le WAGON, a training centre in Web Development and Data Science.
It allows them to learn:
- the fundamentals of Pandas to advanced Deep Learning models,
- the challenges of Big Data: learning how to explore, clean and transform data to make it actionable,
- the implementation of Machine Learning models from A to Z in production.
ISLI offers an international expert programme in Global Supply Chain Management. This Master of Science (MSc) is accessible from 3 years of higher education and available on KEDGE Bordeaux campus in full time and taught in English for an international career.
