As Board Chair for CSCMP, I was asked to write the introduction for what we are going to share for Women’s History Month. The day I sat down to write this introduction, Katherine Johnson died. For those of you who don’t know, her story was told in the 2016 movie, “Hidden Figures.” It made me wonder what we could do this month to unearth “Hidden Figures” in our own lives, and in our own Supply Chain worlds. We have to make an effort to write a more inclusive history and future, because the women were there, and are there today.

How many of you had working moms, or working single moms, or grandmothers?! Women have been running farms and ranches for a couple of centuries (or more); building tanks and flying military aircraft for 75 years; working in all our post-war factories; driving trucks; running distribution operations; running manufacturing plants; designing products; and calculating rocket trajectories. We just don’t see these women written into history.

In my first operations job, 30 years ago, in a 5-square mile chemical plant, my Distribution Operations Manager boss was a woman, and HER boss was a woman. It seemed normal. It should be normal. The majority of the most senior Supply Chain executives I am working with today–at some of the largest A&D companies–are women, and many of their bosses are women, either running multi-billion dollar business units or as CEO's. We need to accentuate their visibility. We need to accelerate bringing along more women. Guess what? It’s going to help us with our talent shortage.

Who could you write in to your history this month? Who could you reach out to and acknowledge they were or are a hidden figure in running yesterday’s or today’s supply chains? Post a call-out to any of those women on our CSCMP LinkedIn community. #HiddenFigures #CSCMP

That's what we at CSCMP and Supply Chain Quarterly aim to find out with our first annual salary survey. Completing our survey should take only about 5 minutes. Your anonymous feedback will help us better understand the salary trends for supply chain professionals, such as yourself. We'll publish the results in the Q2 2020 issue of CSCMP’s Supply Chain Quarterly and on www.supplychainquarterly.com.
 
Note: Responses will be used only in the aggregate and will be kept strictly confidential.

^{Thank you to Richard Donaldson, VP Platform, Requis for sharing this Hot Topic.}
A few years ago, unless you worked in supply chain, most people wouldn’t have known what the term meant. But the next few years will change that, because the 2020s will be the Decade of Supply Chain. Supply chain (or as we prefer, the value network) will gain increased visibility not only within organizations that are built on them, but in the public consciousness.
 
In the 1980s, anyone who was into computers was called a geek or a nerd, but now it’s the ‘in’ thing to be good with tech. Similarly, as our CEO Richard Martin says, supply chain managers should “get ready to become the cool kid on the block.”

CSCMP Featured Member Paige Harper's advice to new CSCMP members is to involve yourself as much as possible.
 

Harper says she got her start in supply chain "through luck and high hopes!" Working at Raymond Handling Solutions, she manages accounts and personal sales of material handling equipment. Learn more in Harper's Meet a Member feature here.
 
Learn more about Paige Harper via the link below. To view past Meet a Member features go here.

Supply Chain is one of the fastest growing industries today. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected supply chain jobs to rise at twice the rate of all other jobs in the US. In this on-site training, led by Rick Blasgen, President and CEO of CSCMP, and Susie Bodnar, Director of Operations and Client Strategy at FourKites, learn the concepts and magnitude of a strong and properly integrated supply chain along with the important issues impacting the supply chain. 

GS1 US's March webinar series “We ❤ Accurate Product Information” is a rebroadcast of their most popular webinars on data quality. Register today!
 
•  Streamline Your Data Management for the Digital Age Tuesday, March 17, 2:00 PM ET
•  Best Practices to Optimize E-Commerce Fulfillment Tuesday, March 24, 2:00 PM ET

The overall LMI score of 52.6 is down (-10.1) from this time a year ago, when it registered at 63.3. The lowest 11 scores in the history of the index have all occurred within the last 11 months. It should be pointed out that every score has been above 50.0, indicating growth in the logistics industry, though growth has been very slow (and has been trending slower). Logistics metrics, especially those involving transportation and inventory, are global in nature.

 

CSCMP designed the Supply Chain Exchange Exhibition to provide a platform for companies and organizations to meet and partner with the right solutions provider. And guess what? Decision-makers from organizations like Amazon, Home Depot, Lowes, Walt Disney, Nike, and many more, are attending EDGE 2020 in Orlando, Florida, September 20-23! Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with them by becoming a vendor of the Supply Chain Exchange. 
 
New for 2020 – The Innovation Stage. Think of this as a “Shark Tank” type of presentation taking place on our centrally located stage. Sessions will be held on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday with each session allowing for a 15-minute demonstration followed by a 5-minute Q&A.
 
As a Supply Chain Exchange participant, you can:
 
•  Display your innovative products to 3,000+ leaders spanning the end-to-end supply chain;  
•  Establish your products and services as the solution for organizations’ pain points; 
•  Reconnect with longtime customers and continue fostering these relationships; and
•  Establish new contacts and develop potential new business.  
 
Don’t miss out on showing off your products and services to the right folks. Sign up today before we sell out of premium exhibit space!

CSCMP will again be offering the SCPro™ Bridge Exam at EDGE 2020!  The SCPro™ Bridge Exam was created for professionals that already hold a previously earned credential or advanced degree similar to SCPro™.  

The 2020 Academic event submission and nomination period is now open. Those interested can submit a research session or poster presentation for the Academic Research Symposium, nominate a doctoral student to attend the Donald J. Bowersox Doctoral Symposium, or submit an application for the Doctoral Dissertation Award! If you have any questions about these submissions or nominations please contact Alison Hiller at ahiller@cscmp.org.