ABSTRACT
Communication is the most important skill for supply chain people. Supply chain people optimize the supply of goods and services from suppliers through our businesses to the customer. The most senior supply chain person needs to both represent the supply chain at board level and develop the capability of the organization and supply base. In many cases, significant improvements are needed by the business. Locating people together in the same area would certainly help with communication. Even if there are too many to locate in an office or the floor of a building, we could locate them in subgroups or teams based on the flow of work rather than their functional skills. Reporting structures also need careful thought. People could organize reporting to team leaders focused on getting the job done with customer satisfaction and profitability as key drivers. Cellular manufacture followed group technology quite quickly in the late 1980s and 1990s.
