Bio Supply Management Alliance Interviews Intel's Jim Kellso on Developing Supply Chain Talent

Sept. 27, 2009 - PRLog -- San Francisco, CA: SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT TALENT DEVELOPMENT:
LEARNING FROM THE BEST OF THE BREED
 
Chat with James Kellso, Senior Supply Chain Master, Intel

“Starting in the 1980s, we began to realize that we were not just a product design company, we were also the world’s largest manufacturer of micro-electronic parts. To be able to compete, having the best technology was no longer good enough. We also needed to be able to build products at the right cost and the right volume, and then deliver them to our customers at the right time.”

“To promote the development of supply chain expertise in its ranks, Intel set up a special career track. Its program later inspired CSCMP’s Supply Chain Management Professional designation.” Jim Kellso, CSCMP Quarterly, 2/2009

The operations executives of the leading biotech companies who constitute the Advisory Board of the Academy have identified " development of supply chain management as the top most priority for the Academy." Consequently, Devendra Mishra, the Co-Founder of the Biotech Supply Chain Academy which organizes the premiere industry conference, sought out Jim Kellso, a pioneer of such an endeavor at Intel Corporation. He had an in-depth interview with Jim Kellso, the Senior Supply Chain Master at Intel, who has over 37 years of supply chain and industrial engineering experience. Jim has worked for 16 years in Industrial Engineering automation and consulting and the last 21 years at Intel in a variety of automation and supply chain positions; He holds an industrial engineering degree from the University of Michigan, has been a licensed professional engineer for over 30 years, and holds the title of Senior Supply Chain Master at Intel and Senior Supply Chain Management Professional from the CSCMP. Last year, Jim co-led the Low Cost Supply Chain program at Intel.

Mishra: How significant is supply chain management for Intel, a world-leader in semiconductors?
Kellso: At Intel Corporation, our success for the past 40-plus years has been built on our ability to design and refine micro-electronic process and product technology. Over two decades ago, we realized we were also the world’s largest manufacturer of micro-electronic parts. Technology was not the panacea for world-wide supremacy, it was vital to build and deliver products at the right cost and the right volume to customers at the right time. Recently the issues of pipeline inventory, customer response and fulfillment have become an indicator of overall health of our company.

Mishra: Considering that supply chain management as a profession is of a recent vintage, why and when did you focus on developing supply chain management?
Kellso: Although developing management has been a focus for Intel for many years, about 4-5 years ago we realized that our supply chain professionals needed attention in the encouragement and development of the technical and business skills specifically pertaining to our profession. The goal became to find ways to encourage individual technical and business expert to become proficient in supply chain management.

Mishra: How would you describe the professional development program for supply chain management professionals and how has it evolved?
Kellso: In spite of the recognition of the importance of SCM, Intel did not have a formal career path for development and advancement of supply chain professionals. Intel had a management career ladder and a technical career ladder but neither of those paths achieved the desired goal to achieve supply chain management competency. The technical job ladder was proved to be a relevant point of reference.
At Intel, the supply chain organization consisted of four different groups of about 4,000 employees but opportunities for advancement and growth were limited to a mid-level job grade. To grow in the organization, one had to climb the management ladder. Consequently, it was difficult to attract and retain people in the supply chain function. Coincidentally, the company was facing difficult and technical supply chain problems.

Mishra: What was the Management response to the challenge to attract and retain supply chain experts in addition?
Kellso: Upper-level management carefully considered the company’s retention history and its practices to hire supply chain professionals. The solution emerged that a distinct supply chain career ladder was required to identify top supply chain talent and motivate them to expand their knowledge of supply chain management. Fortunately, a model for a non-management career path existed in the engineering discipline.
In 2006, we developed the supply chain career ladder based on the technical or engineering ladder model. Candidates who fulfilled certain criteria would receive the title Supply Chain Master who had the same grade as a midlevel manager or technologist. A Senior Supply Chain Master has the same grade as a principle engineer, senior principle engineer, or senior manager (director-level positions). We have a position on the supply chain career ladder that is equivalent to an Intel Fellow on the engineering job ladder or a general manager on the management track (vice president or executive vice president positions). We are hoping that this program will ultimately lead to the kinds of positive impact that would generate a “Supply Chain Fellow.”

Mishra: How did you define the skill set for the rungs of the job ladder?
Kellso: Experts from the Technology Manufacturing Equipment (TME) and Customer Fulfillment, Planning and Logistics Group (CPLG)—sponsored a task force in coordination with Human Resources to create the designation and the nomination process. In the absence of any standard industry definition of supply chain management, the task force discussed the matters of supply chain designation.

Mishra: After the skills were defined, how did you evaluate whether a candidate’s accomplishments were worthy of the Supply Chain Master designation?
Kellso: We determined that candidates would be judged on four key criteria: depth of knowledge in terms of demonstrated leadership and innovations in SCM; internal influence in implementing their ideas; external influence across the industry; and, thought leadership as a role model/mentor. Currently, Intel has approximately 20 supply chain masters and one senior supply chain master.

Mishra: What recognition do the supply chain professionals receive?
Kellso: The selected professionals participate in a “community of practice” (COP) of all supply chain masters to discuss strategic supply chain issues. Supply chain management professionals at Intel can now say, “I have a career here”.

Mishra: What results have been realized over the years?
Kellso: The results have been the articulation of what it takes to be a supply chain expert and the recognition and encouragement to our staff that this is a worthy goal to be achieved and the creation of paths to achieve that goal. We have built deeper skills, driven solid improvement programs for our supply chain and even been recognized by AMR as having one of the top 25 supply chain programs around.

Mishra: Thank you Jim for sharing your insights as the young biotech industry can become proactive for it is supply chain thinking that enables stakeholders of the entire industry to recognize inter-dependence and that optimization can only be achieved through a holistic view. While APICS provides a strong operations management education for entry-level professionals in general, it is the development of mid and upper level management in organizations that would benefit from the program you have pioneered at Intel. The Biotech Supply Chain Academy has been tasked by its Advisors to provide an industry solution.

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About Bio Supply Management Alliance

The Bio Supply Management Alliance was born of the need to create a worldwide community of operations and supply chain management leaders and professionals in the biotech, biopharma, and biomedical device industries. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, home to more than 600 bio firms, the Alliance provides a forum for collaboration, learning and best practice sharing of practitioners, executives and thought leaders in these uniquely demanding industry sectors.

Founders Tim Salaver and Devendra Mishra have forged relationships with key industry leaders and defined initiatives with a vision to create process, people, and policy improvements in this vital sector.

Because life depends on us, the Bio Supply Management Alliance supports continuous learning and improvement of bio supply management professionals.

For more information about the Bio Supply Management Alliance, go to www.biosupplyalliance.org.