IBM INTEGRATED SERVICES SUPPLY CHAIN WORKSHOP

FMS Delhi organized the 'Integrated Services Supply Chain Workshop' in association with IBM Business Consulting Group on the 8th of August, 2007.

The workshop was conducted by two international speakers, Mr. Mark Henderson, Program Director, Workforce Optimization, IBM Integrated Supply Chain and Mr. Priyadarshan Deshmukh, Asia Pacific Sourcing Manager, Technology, IBM Integrated Supply Chain.

The objectives of this workshop included -

• Understanding how supply chain principles and processes are critical to supporting and delivering services
• Overview of how goods availability (components and finished goods) must be coordinated with resources and expertise to meet a service demand
• Understanding (at a high level) the evolving / maturing nature of services based businesses and the emergence of "Services Science"
• Develop a basic understanding and awareness of how to market your skills and knowledge in Supply Chain management across multiple service based industries.

Noticing the changes in the supply chain domain Mr. Henderson emphasized on the need of expertise and a combination of skills set for modern service-based supply chain management. "Modern service-based supply chain management is completely different from traditional supply chain which required production capacity, bill of materials, and ways to measure performance and forecast requirements. Modern service-based supply chain needs expertise along with a combination of skills like understanding customer expectations and forecasting demand instead of forecasting requirements."

Calling supply chain in the service industry a booming sector, Mr Priyadarshan Deshmukh, Asia Pacific Sourcing Manager, Technology, IBM Integrated Supply Chain, talked about the importance of human resources the in supply chain management consulting industry. "In consulting, the biggest assets are people and their skills. In supply chain management consulting, you have to make sure to have the right person, with the right skills, at the right time, and at the right cost," he said.