New Chief Supply Chain Officer Study

Whenever I promote something related to IBM, I always first disclose that I work for IBM. So consider yourself disclosed. A few weeks ago IBM released a new study based on interviews with 400 supply chain executives from the Americas, Western Europe and Asia called the Supply Chain of the Future. The report boils down to 5 major challenges including cost containment, supply chain visibility, risk management, increased customer demand and globalization. You can download the report here, which includes a forward by Bob Moffat, senior vice president, IBM Systems and Technology Group. While it's not implied in his title, he owns the responsibility for IBM's $38 billion supply chain.

On a side note, when I was working in the US I had the pleasure to spend considerable time with Bob on numerous occasions. He lives in breaths supply chains and has dedicated a large part of his career to transforming IBM's supply chain from a broken-up network to globally integrated. Books could be written about what he's done to IBM's hardware supply chain, which is now also being applied to IBM's services and global delivery business. His endorsement of this study and his participation in it really makes it a must read in my view.