What makes a great supply-chain leader? Steve DiBlasi, vice president of global sourcing with Lanier Clothes, has an answer.

Through exclusive education certificate programs and an extensive agenda of industry conferences, APICS Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advances supply chain and operations management innovation through research, publications, education and talent development, provides professionals with critical skills in sales and operations planning (S&OP) and supply chain risk management, two programs fundamental to a company’s ability to optimize their supply chains.

Supply-chain talent management is Topic A for many executives -- even though they harbor a number of misperceptions about the subject, according to Shay Scott, managing director of the Global Supply Chain Institute at the University of Tennessee.

Finding logistics workers with the right skills is a growing challenge for all companies. One approach that promises to help is a national certification program funded by the Department of Labor and being developed by two universities and nine community colleges.