What skills should every supply chain manager have? This question prompted a variety of answers from readers of the Q&A section of the Focus Research Web site.
The more popular answers were:
- forecasting ability,
- customer service (including the ability to capture customer requirements),
- international supplier relationship management, and
- materials and inventory management and planning.
Although mentioned by fewer readers, two suggestions were particularly interesting:
- industry/technical knowledge and
- social and environmental responsibility.
What skills do you think are essential for a supply chain manager to have? Do these responses sufficiently address all the duties of a supply chain manager?