Multi-tiered manufacturing supply chains can end up in some unexpected places - including prisons.

At 29 years of age, Katy Conrad, site lead at Shell's Geismar Chemical Plant, is a terrific ambassador for her profession. She loves everything about supply management - working with smart engineering and business professionals, solving tough problems, and making a bottom-line impact. At Shell, she has delivered significant savings, built a regional B2B sourcing strategy, and held an overseas assignment.

For most of the past three decades, private equity firms and other investors have relied on two simple questions to assess the supply chains of the companies in which they've invested: Are our companies leveraging low-cost country supply sources and are they keeping supply chain costs in check? Deeper inquiries have always seemed unnecessary, so private equity firms and investors have focused on other aspects of the businesses they own to drive value.

Diebold CEO Andy Mattes can't just stroll down the hall at his company's headquarters in Canton, Ohio, to confer with his top executives over coffee. That's because many don't work there. His chief strategist works and lives 2,100 miles away in San Jose; his chief marketing officer is in Boston.

A report from APICS Supply Chain Council examines critical success factors of a supply chain leader, including his or her attributes, leadership style and ability to formally and informally influence a multitude of stakeholders.