Dr Rajiv Aserkar, Professor & Head, Logistics & Supply Chain management, SP Jain School of Global Management, details on the growing demand for logistics professionals and the most sought after skill sets.
What is the awareness level among students at junior college and degree level about career prospects in the logistics and supply chain industry?
Junior college and degree level students have little awareness about career prospects in the logistics and supply chain industry. This is because it is a sunrise industry for which the career opportunities are now emerging in the wake of upgradation of physical infrastructure in India and ongoing Vikasit Bharat campaign.
Why choose a career in logistics and supply chain management?
In the last few years, the government has invested crores of rupees to improve India’s road, rail, port and airport infrastructure. IT infrastructure is also upgraded to provide end-to-end visibility to the cargo and facilitate digitisation of processes and documentation. With improvement in ease of doing business in India, a large number of multinationals in manufacturing and services industry are now investing in India. These factors are contributing towards new opportunities for a career in logistics and supply chain management.
Are the current courses offered at institutions in sync with the latest market requirements in logistics and supply chain companies?
Logistics and Supply Chain Management is an ever-evolving field. To be in sync with the market requirements, the institutions must have a dynamic and pro-active approach towards offering suitable curriculum to the students. Fortunately, there are institutions in India and overseas, who offer cutting-edge courses which are aligned with the market requirements.
What are the skill gaps noticed in current logistics professionals?
The main gap is noticed in analytical skills in current logistics professionals. Programming skills in Python and R languages are desired by the industry. In addition, the knowledge of AI/ML, data visualization and analytics is expected. Cutting edge courses can easily bridge these skill gaps.
In the next two years which of the skills will be more in demand for logistics and supply chain professionals?
The most desired skills in demand will be the area of applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to forecast the demand, optimize the inventory, route planning, strategic sourcing, warehouse management and process improvement in the near future. Soon we will be seeing digitization of manufacturing facilities, transportation fleets, material handling equipment and other physical assets on a large scale. In their recent book titled “Fusion Strategy’ by Harvard Business School Professor Vijay Govindrajan and Boston University Professor Venkat Venkatraman discuss how real-time data and AI will power the industrial future.
What difficulties do students with qualifications in logistics and supply chain courses face while searching for a job?
If the students have acquired desired skillset as required by the industry, they should not face difficulties in finding good jobs in the area of logistics and supply chain management. In fact, the manufacturing, services, e-Commerce and consulting organizations are reporting a talent gap to bridge their requirements.
