Demand high for logistics managers: ThePost.ie


TCH Archives > Sunday Business Post > 2006/10/01 > Demand high for logistics managers

Demand high for logistics managers
Sunday, October 01, 2006 - By JJ Worrall
Demand for candidates with supply-chain skills is on the increase, according to Dr Bernd Huber of the National Institute for Transport and Logistics (NITL).

Huber said the sectors with the biggest requirement for professionals trained in up-to-date logistics methodologies would, in the coming years, include retail, construction and the pharmaceutical sectors.

‘‘Our interaction with companies indicates that the biggest demand is for staff with a knowledge of logistics/supply chain management (SCM) combined with advanced information and communications technology (ICT) capability,” he said.

A report released by the NITL in 2005 found that only one in twelve of the companies surveyed had a specialised SCM or logistics manager.

The report - Global Competitiveness: Chain Reactions – also found that just 5 per cent of the Irish-owned firms it questioned employed a logistics manager compared with 17 per cent of foreign-owned firms it questioned.

‘‘All available evidence points to a mismatch between supply and demand of such professionals and to a rise in the number of supply chain roles among Irish firms,” said Huber.

Garvan Cerasi, managing director of Logiskills said there was a wide variety of employment options available in logistics, ranging from inventory, manufacturing and freight in the operations area to planning and sales roles such as strategy or production scheduling, transport and distribution routing, business development and account management.

‘‘Third-level graduates are entering the industry either within the few graduate training programs available or within customer service positions,” said Cerasi. ‘‘Companies can prefer to pay for experience and decline the option of hiring graduates.”

Remuneration

For those who do secure a job in supply chain, there are attractive salaries on offer.

NITL estimates that, depending on geographical location, managers in areas such as commodities, logistics, operations, material and purchasing can earn between €43,000 and €75,000 annually. A supply chain head in a large company can expect to take home a €120,000 yearly pay packet in Dublin and about €95,000 regionally.

Junior buyers can expect yearly wages to average less than €30,000. In Dublin, a warehouse manager could typically expect to earn €50,000 annually compared to a corresponding figure of €45,000 for the same job in a regional location.

Managerial experience

‘‘In the nine months to date in 2006, the demand for experienced industry professionals has been at its highest for five years,” said John Halpin, general manager of recruitment services at Hy-Tech Logistics.

‘‘The main departure from the traditional routes for the logistics market has been driven by the shortage of skills and experience at the senior end of the market and the utilisation of search consultants has come more to the fore this year.”

Huber agreed that managerial competence was set to become a key focus in the years ahead.

‘‘This is especially true of developed economies such as Ireland where there is an increasing trend to outsource lower function manufacturing processes to lower cost locations while retaining high-skill functions - such as research, design, marketing and sales - at the primary base,” he said.

‘‘Excellence in supply chain management can offset the physical disadvantage posed by Ireland’s geographic location by securing savings elsewhere in the wider supply chain.”

Interest surges in SCM software

According to John Morrissy, head of pre-sales with SAP Ireland, the recent trend towards systems integration has fed a surge of interest in supply-chain management (SCM) software.

‘‘Integration has been one of the key developments in supply chain solutions over the past few years,” Morrissy said.

‘‘SCM solutions now provide organisations with a wide variety of methods of interacting with their business partners including customers, suppliers and logistics providers.”

Morrissy said a growing number of companies were using technologies such as web portals, XML for information exchange and mobile applications to transform their supply chain processes.

‘‘New technologies such as radio frequency identification technology (RFID) are now being incorporated by organisations to further streamline their operations and drive even greater efficiency,” he said.

Stephen Cross, managing director of supply chain (SC) software specialist ATMS, said the role played by SC software had changed significantly in recent years.

‘‘Nowadays, we’re talking about global manufacture, global distribution, extensive warehousing, vast product variety and vast consumption,” Cross said. ‘‘This all takes a lot of control - the control of stock in a warehouse for instance is no longer a simple process.

The warehouse may be the size of a football stadium with millions of products in stock - all in a world where ‘traceability’, security and stock rotation are vital.”

Mike Blackburn, one of three area sales managers with Torex Retail’s logistics division in Ireland, said that, while RFID continued to attract media coverage, ‘voice picking’ was the technology making the real difference in the supply chain sector.

‘‘Picking is when operators in a warehouse wear a small headset and are given computer generated demands of what product to pick and from where,’’ Blackburn said.

Supply chain

‘‘Costs vary depending on the solution being implemented and are often driven by scope and scale,” said Morrissy.

‘‘What is important to consider here is whether the investment in a solution is justified by the anticipated business benefits.”

Over the next 12 months, Cross said developments in supply chain software would focus on systems that are easier to implement and easier to use.

‘‘Increasing flexibility is another thing,” he said. ‘‘Customers don’t want to pay for expensive tailor-made software, nor do they necessarily know what functionality they want next year, or even next month. That’s why supplier selection is so important.”

SC software

Supply chain software can be used to control inbound and outbound logistics processes.

At a more advanced level, it can be used to enable integration between business partners or as a tool for forecasting and operational planning.

‘‘A comprehensive supply chain solution will encompass all of these elements, integrated together to allow organisations to manage their supply chain operations as a whole,” said Morrissy.

Software solutions currently available on the market include SAP Business One and MySAP SCM.

‘‘SAP Business One is a comprehensive enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, aimed at the SME sector, which contains many elements of functionality that enables comprehensive supply chain management,’’ Morrissy said.

MySAP SCM is an advanced supply chain solution, which can be implemented in conjunction with MySAP ERP or in a stand-alone context.

‘‘MySAP SCM provides advanced planning, global availability checks and process optimisation tools,” said Morrissy.

‘‘Optimum warehouse management and supply chain control are vital, and is the key to excellent customer service and high operating efficiency,” said Cross. ‘‘ATMS Warehouse Management System and Supply Chain Track and Trace solutions are designed for both third party logistics providers and dedicated in-house operations.”

Choosing a service provider

When choosing a suitable service provider to implement a supply chain solution, Cross advised companies to prioritise proven experience.

‘‘They must have a highly visible and a proven track record,” he said. ‘‘Software is only as good as the people who work with you to implement and support the software.

‘‘This teamwork ensures that you get real and tangible benefits. Look for a company that has vision - one that has a clear product road map and is always seeking out new ideas and studying market trends.

“That way your software is always likely to be up to date.”

Mike Blackburn of Torex Retail advised companies to take a good long look at existing IT systems before choosing a suitable service provider.

‘‘The first thing you need to do is look at your internal systems, looking at every single aspect of how you deal with your business,” he said. ‘‘You have to make sure the system is right before you want to spend or change anything. You have to talk to the company selling you a system and be upfront with them.

‘‘You do have to tailor things in respect to hardware. We work off a process where you’re capturing data, moving and managing it, that’s the principle of it and, with that in mind, it’s how much data is needed and what you expect to get from it.

“There’s many different ways to capture it, like new technologies such as RFID, which while still relatively expensive has saved millions for large companies.”

John Morrissy of SAP said the potential benefits of investment in supply chain software included process control and visibility together with reduced costs and increased efficiency.

‘‘What is often overlooked,” he said, ‘‘is the ability to offer new services to your customers, which differentiate you from your competitors leading to a competitive advantage.”