Analyst Insight: Procurement and sourcing is a continuously evolving profession. A global Gartner Supply Chain study of 453 companies finds 51 percent of procurement and sourcing talent hired in the last three years was to satisfy short-term needs, with a focus on basic, intermediate and advanced procurement and sourcing skill sets. Procurement and sourcing hiring strategies for 2012 shifts to long-term needs and advanced skills requirements in the areas of SRM, supplier collaboration, performance management and analytics, and financial procurement. - Mickey North Rizza, Gartner Supply Chain Research

Analyst Insight: It can be a struggle for organizations to obtain the right balance between keeping enough inventory on hand to meet customer demand and minimizing costs related to carrying inventory. APQC's research indicates that best-practice organizations achieve this balance through the creation of inventory optimization programs with well-designed strategies, effective processes, appropriate technology, and regular assessment. - Becky Partida, knowledge specialist, APQC

Back in the early 1980s, when I was new to the world of transportation, logistics and the supply chain, I recall ocean carriers complaining that their freight rates weren't high enough to meet operating costs, let alone generate a profit. They were begging shippers to accept higher rates, in exchange for greater service reliability. Yet every time they would achieve some traction on the rate front, they would flood the market with new capacity, and offer deep discounts in order to fill the new ships. Then they would appeal to shippers for higher rates ...

Analyst Insight: 2011 marked a watershed year in the way supply chain managers conceived of global practice. Natural disasters that shook up traditional global sourcing coupled with a growing willingness to rethink the value of lowest piece-part pricing led companies to reassess what it means to operate efficient, effective supply chains. Companies are rethinking and reconfiguring supply chains to be more rational, regional, practical, low in total cost and risk, and high in fostering quality and customer value - moving toward rational, lean value streams. - John Shook, chairman and CEO, Lean Enterprise Institute

Analyst Insight: It is common for high-tech companies to have established processes to ensure they are not overly dependent on too few suppliers. Far less common are processes or intelligence to ensure they are not overly dependent on a specific geographic region. But recent events have pushed the issue of risks from geographic concentration of the supply base to the forefront. - Bill McBeath, Chief Research Officer, ChainLink Research

Analyst Insight: Supply chain organizations over the past several decades have experienced the structural pendulum as it has swung from one extreme of specialization and parallel silos of expertise to another of all generalists with relatively limited experience in a number of organizations. New findings from a number of highly regarded supply chain organizations and research enterprises show the need for a balanced approach of specialists and generalists for truly world-class performance. - Michael G. Hasler, Ph.D., The University of Texas