What is Industry 4.0? Supply Chain Management 4.0? Digitization? AI? $100K+ by 30: simecurkovic.com

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What is Industry 4.0? What is Supply Chain Management 4.0? What is Supply Chain Digitization? 2021+
Ready to make over $70K/yr. upon graduation & over $100K by age 30 (& change the world)?
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WMU Top 10: Western Michigan University Integrated Supply Management (ISM)...Nation's best undergrad SCM program (Gartner 2014) wmich.edu/supp...
Notice in the video that I repeatedly said a huge part of Industry 4.0 will be taking all the "manual" processes that exist and "automating" them using "technology" so that they get done better, faster, and cheaper. That to a large extent has already happened and will continue to happen, but for mostly "tactical" stuff (not "strategic" stuff). For example, my first job in SCM 30 years ago was making sure the right stuff was at the right place, at the right time, in the right quantities, and at the right price. OK, first, that job was super "tactical" and you did not need a college degree to do it. Second, that job was a manually driven process that has since been "automated" using technology and the technology actually does it better, faster, and cheaper than a human. In fact, the technology can learn from itself using machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI).
What is ML and AI? Keep it simple. If you get emails that automatically get sent to your junk folder, then that is AI technology. If you go to your junk mail folder and start opening up junk email from the same sender, then ML is when it stops sending it to your junk folder. The software has figured out through ML that that junk mail is not junk to you (you want to read it).
Another example would be Amazon, who I think is at the forefront of ML and AI. When you buy stuff on Amazon and Amazon gives you ideas on what you might also like, that is ML and AI. In fact, Amazon will use data and ML to actually ship you something before you actually place the order (and they rarely get it wrong).
Have you heard of Robotic Process Automation (RPA)? That is basically software that makes use of ML and AI to do routine manual SCM activities like process a Purchase Order. The process is manual, tactical, and clerically driven. However, that RPA software is learning from itself on how to do things better, faster, and cheaper. For example, RPA could start saying things like: I think we are paying too much, I think we should be using a different supplier, I think we are ordering in the wrong quantities, etc. The RPA software might actually decide to reopen the contract and have suppliers rebid on the business and the RPA might actually pick the new supplier. Yes, there will likely be human intervention for any activities that are "strategic".
For me, tactical means all the day to day operational grunt work. Strategic to me means the decisions that have to be made with longer term implications and consequences. For example, if the RPA wants to switch suppliers, that to me is strategic because it has long term consequences. Maybe one day the RPA will change suppliers without human intervention and actually negotiate the terms and conditions of the contract with a new supplier. Well, for non strategic stuff like office supplies it is already happening.
So back to the video. Simply become "data scientists" because the next few years will likely double, triple, etc., the amount of data that SCM organizations will have because of Industry 4.0. Think about that. By the time you graduate, SCM orgs will have 2-3 times more data at their disposal. The SCM professionals that will flourish will be the ones that can make sense of that data to do their jobs better, faster, and cheaper. The Business Analytics minor sets you up for success so that Industry 4.0 becomes your friend and not your replacement. Do you feel like you will be ready? Thank you. Sime
Program Major Credit Hours (twice most other programs):
Integrated Supply Management, Western Michigan University 43
Supply Chain Management, Arizona State University 21
Supply Chain Management, Michigan State University 18
Supply Chain Management, Penn State University 24
Supply Chain Management, University of Texas, Austin 21

[@razalmuhammed6750]

I recently found your KZbin channel while doing research on Supply Chain Management programs in Canada. I am really thankful to you for uploading such quality content.

[@simecurkovic]

Hi Razal, see below if you find this helpful (some of the material on the website is free). simecurkovic.com I hope all is well. FYI, I just created a website with a subscription service ($25/year). It gives you access to hundreds of my blogs, job postings, hours of lecture videos, and class/research material. Also, there is a Q & A and contact section. You can contact me for any purpose any time and I will get back to you quickly. You are under no obligation to join, but I think the investment would pay for itself. Also, even if you do not join, you can of course still reach out any time. I would be grateful if you considered joining. My goal is to create an endowed scholarship fund for future supply chain students so I can retire on a very high note. Free sample view of one blog (see Elon’s resume and get resume ideas): www.simecurkovic.com/2021/04/30/does-your-resume-make-it-obvious-that-you-know-how-to-solve-problems/ Please join at: www.simecurkovic.com/membership/ Thank you again! Sime

[@simecurkovic]

Reads… How should companies use competitive bidding? lnkd.in/gS9vCRQ6 Assume a supplier estimates the following costs on an RFQ lnkd.in/gxFBz3_U ROI and Your Core Competency (i.e., SCM?) lnkd.in/euh2rFdU To stay competitive, companies are forced to outsource commodities and focus on their core competency lnkd.in/g-DHtt8X The primary elements for sourcing a supply partner lnkd.in/ga2xtDsi What does it mean to be hollow? Sourcing Strategy matters! lnkd.in/gHB-nzeJ The most reprinted article in the Harvard Business Review: The “Core Competence” Article lnkd.in/gDsHme-r You have every legal right to say you want a “cost breakdown” lnkd.in/gygd5bzs Procurement 101: Explanation on Commodities lnkd.in/g_nEgvhJ How do companies outsource strategically? lnkd.in/gevbRKEq POs & Advanced Contract Mgmt: lnkd.in/gcpHEEvw How SCM managers “prepare” to negotiate price increases. lnkd.in/gVrdpuer Hundreds of SCM Blogs… lnkd.in/e5zG6sZ lnkd.in/g9_XQdaG

[@simecurkovic]

Join: simecurkovic.com I just created a website and it gives you access to hundreds of my blogs, job postings, hours of lecture videos, and class/research material. Also, there is a Q & A and contact section. You can contact me for any purpose any time and I will get back to you quickly. The subscription is only $25 for an entire year. You are under no obligation to join, but I think the investment would pay for itself. Also, even if you do not join, you can of course still reach out any time. I would be grateful if you considered joining. Free sample view of one blog (see Elon’s resume and get resume ideas): www.simecurkovic.com/2021/04/30/does-your-resume-make-it-obvious-that-you-know-how-to-solve-problems/ Please join at: www.simecurkovic.com/membership/ Thank you again! Sime

[@simecurkovic]

Another thought: For digitization to work, the manual process has to be digitized and eventually analyzed. Converting manual to digitized version requires someone with a good knowledge on systems analysis and design, data storage and information retrieval. These are the topics usually covered in IT majors. A lot of companies have gone past this stage, but they are facing the next problem - data analysis. Data are collected, but no one knows what to do with it. That’s where the Business Analytics minor comes in and trying to become a supply chain data scientist.

[@simecurkovic]

The following CIS courses develop your Business Analytic skills: CIS 1020 (Business Computing), CIS 2640 (Business Analysis and Reporting), CIS 2650 (Programming for Data Analytics), CIS 3640 (Business Analytics), and CIS 4640 (Business Data Mining). The trend line is very positive for this skill set. As of 2020, close to half of ISM majors are Business Analytics Minors(e.g., big data/predictive analytics, database management, data mining, project management, SQL, Python, PMO, Tableau, Power BI, etc.)

[@simecurkovic]

New lectures/career advice can be found at: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGLSo36YfKl4mK8 kzbin.info/www/bejne/iWrGqndvrsl6adk kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZmykHyqrat6pqc

[@mbenghahmirabeau4472]

thanks very much Sime for that great content and professional advise

[@simecurkovic]

Any time! Be well. Sime

[@simecurkovic]

Notice they were kind of "off" and kind of "on" for 2023. Here are their predictions for 2024: lnkd.in/evMrMUvP. Future of jobs: These are the most in-demand skills now - and beyond: lnkd.in/e5UGNK4K. Prediction Consensus: What the Experts See Coming in 2023 www.visualcapitalist.com/predictions-2023/ In case you want to see what we cover in our AI course, see screenshot at: lnkd.in/gvD75haK. We are expanding this list in spring. Our analytics faculty are on top of this AI wave. They have already built an AI course in our business college (CIS 5550) to cover all kinds of AI for business applications. After this course, AI embedded modules in existing courses will be added. lnkd.in/gvD75haK 2024 Top 10 SCM Trends…Common theme: BIG DATA is not going away (agreed), BUT one must understand why/when certain data formats create more value. Many of our supply chain students get a minor in Business Analytics & we actually teach a variant of Wide/Small data called Association Analysis (our Business Data Mining class). My thoughts: lnkd.in/g5UizdeN. hashtag#bigdata hashtag#ai hashtag#artificialintelligence hashtag#supplychainmanagement

[@simecurkovic]

Dr. xxxxxx- Following up on our conversation from earlier, I wanted to say again how much CIS 2640 has already helped me with my career. I took the class this past spring with Dan Miller, and the timing could not have worked out any better. I went right into a summer internship at xxxxx Systems (a third party logistics provider) as a logistics analyst intern. My excel skills coming out of CIS 1020 were rudimentary, and I would have struggled if that had been my only excel experience. With 2640, I was able to immediately begin cost savings analysis of freight pay data by using pivot tables, vlookups (I’m excited to begin using xlookups), index match, paste values, text formulas and other general excel workflow best practices that are taught. I spent a lot of my time this summer cleaning data, and the industry experience stacked really well on top of the classroom experience to help me use my time as efficiently as possible. The curriculum was spot on. I can’t imagine not taking this class, as it would be much more difficult to stand out in interviews and the workplace. I recommend the Business Analytics minor to everyone I know because of it. This semester I am tutoring for 2640 at the Dallas Rauker Center, and feel very confident after my combination of classroom success and workplace application. I’d appreciate if you could let the CIS team know that in my opinion, the content is spot on, and that we should to as much as we can to offer the class to as many students as possible. Best, xxxxxxx Western Michigan University Integrated Supply Management | May 202x ______ Where do you stand on a minor? Job saving technology (you should read these): lnkd.in/g9Crpn9T lnkd.in/e6Rmzpw lnkd.in/eK7yQiRD lnkd.in/epHAQNDF lnkd.in/gX8vcRNa lnkd.in/gv2KD3uV FYI, couldn't you differentiate yourself from all other students if you had these skills sets on your resume? See: 1. Advanced Excel (power query & pivot) & macros; 2. Data visualization (Tableau, Power BI & python w/ seaborn & matplotlib); 3. Data mining/RapidMiner, machine learning & data science; 4. Python & Jupyter notebook (data analytics & statistical libraries such as pandas, numpy); 5. Relational data models (Excel data model); 6. Graphic & statistical libraries (Seaborn, Matplotlib, Pandas, & Plotly). The Business Analytics Minor gets you there and it is these 4 classes: Our Business Data Analytics Minor: CIS 2640 - Applied Analytics Foundations (Excel on steroids) Emphasis will be placed on uncovering insights through visualization, basic business analytics techniques, report solutions, queries & database manipulation. CIS 2650 - Programming for Data Analytics Introduces programming for predictive analytics utilizing popular software languages. Programming concepts of, data structures, input-output, & flow control will be covered, as well as techniques applied by analysts to organize & interpret data that varies in type, volume, & rate of change. CIS 3640 - Visual Analytics This course is designed to give students w/ foundational analytics experience comprehensive skills, and in-depth knowledge in analytical problem-solving w/ particular focus on visualizing analyses. Students will learn visual representation techniques to transform data into insights. Tools, techniques, & theories w/i the realm of BI & data visualization will be explored, utilizing productivity/specialized software. CIS 4640 - Business Data Mining Students are introduced to the state-of-the-art data mining applications software such as SAS Enterprise Miner or SPSS Clementine for their class assignments and term project. Do not be afraid of Industry 4.0 (use it to your advantage): kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJzRaGSBgtaBra8  What is Industry 4.0? Supply Chain Management 4.0? Digitization? AI? $100K+ by 30: simecurkovic.com Follow me at: medium.com/@sime.curkovic. Starting salaries at $70K per year & over $100K by age 30! Visit: simecurkovic.com I just created a website and it gives you access to hundreds of my blogs, job postings, hours of lecture videos, and class/research material. Also, there is a Q & A and contact section. You can contact me ... www.youtube.com FYI: I literally just got this message from a former student very recently (2023)... Hi Sime, I just want to let you know that what you guys are doing over at WMU is great! Please keep encouraging business/data analytics as a minor for supply chain students. It's so needed in the industry today. With my time at Target HQ, and since 2021 when I joined Stryker, it's probably my biggest regret not minoring in it while I was in school. I had to learn a majority of it online and on the job and I am still learning more. Data analytics is big in the industry and it's only getting bigger. Just wanted to share. It's also a great way for students to climb the corporate ladder. Many older employees at companies may have experience in supply chain management, but those who are skilled with working with data often get promoted quickly and are well-liked by their colleagues. You tend to make a lot of friends at work quick haha. Thank you. XXXXX ___ Is AI your next threat and do you believe this?... “American college students are behind in using AI in their studies compared to their foreign counterparts.” wwmt.com/news/nation-world/american-college-students-lag-behind-in-ai-use-expert-calls-for-perspective-shift-in-education-chegg-anthology-survey-genai-chatgpt-openai-professors-kenya-canada-saudi-arabia-spain-united-kingdom-dr-lisa-palmer-mirko-widenhorn# American college students lag behind in AI use, expert calls for perspective shift in education | WWMT American college students are behind in using AI in their studies compared to their foreign counterparts. wwmt.com From me: Maybe not...This is the whole reason that we created our new WMU HCOB AI course (CIS 5550) - to create AI awareness and skills, and it is designed for non-technical majors. We will be offering that course again in spring 2024 semester. Per conversations with our CIS faculty… www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_american-college-students-lag-behind-in-ai-activity-7133960873169059840-U6_o? Note, the U.S. is ranked #1 in AI investment: www.visualcapitalist.com/sp/global-ai-investment/ Thank you. Sime

[@simecurkovic]

Mapped: What You Need to Earn to Own a Home in 50 American Cities www.visualcapitalist.com/what-you-need-to-earn-to-own-a-home-in-50-american-cities/ My students in Silicon Valley say making $200K+/yr feels like making $90K/yr in Metro Detroit. They also pay around $6K/month for rent (so they need roommates). Owning a home will be tough. The 10 fastest-growing jobs in the U.S. right now-many pay over $100,000 a year: lnkd.in/g7TNMeja. From Gartner 2022 (2 yrs ago data): Starting salaries for students in supply chain roles also increased. In terms of compensation, U.S. undergraduates finding their first jobs in supply chain roles are earning about $1,600 more per year than in 2020. While the average starting salary is $61,769, graduates from the top 10 programs can expect around $65,000. The highest salary from the ranked schools was $80,000. Well, that avg now is closer to $70K. Also, we just had a student get offered $87K, no job rotation (straight into a full time role as she is already loaded with work experience), $8,700 signing bonus, and immediately bonus eligible at 9%. I talked to one student in the Fall that was given a job offer in Sept. (one month to decide) & he accepted. Yes, he had a summer internship with them. He is a SCM major w/ a Data Analytics minor. $72K base, $14K in relocation, 20% of base bonus eligibility, 4 weeks paid vacation, & a 3 year job rotation (3 jobs in 3 years, and he gets to choose the locations - further, they encouraged him to pick areas outside of his major such as Finance, Engineering, etc., so that he could learn new things & become more cross-functional). Under most circumstances I would encourage my students to negotiate something, but what is there to negotiate lnkd.in/gkmB6BQa. The jobs paying six figure salaries to help lead supply chain disruptions: lnkd.in/gU9VhJEG. lnkd.in/g8n-dCz2

[@simecurkovic]

In case you want to see what we cover in our AI course, see the screenshot below. We are expanding this list in spring. Our analytics faculty are on top of this AI wave. They have already built an AI course in our business college (CIS 5550) to cover all kinds of AI for business applications. After this course, AI embedded modules in existing courses will be added. www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_supplychain-dataanalytics-bigdata-activity-7136678828566872064-sdI9? Hmm...“American college students are behind in using AI in their studies compared to their foreign counterparts.” lnkd.in/gngZxKry. Maybe not...This is the whole reason that we created our new AI course - to create AI awareness and skills, and it is designed for non-technical majors. We will be offering our AI course again in spring 2024 semester. Per conversations with our CIS faculty… Generative AI is just a small set of AI. Comparing the use of it across countries might not give you a whole picture of AI use by students. Our faculty have been very clear that WMU’s education strategy should not be just about ChatGPT or generative AI. There is a whole lot more AI coming our way. The key to our educational survival is to master the symbiotic relationships with AI, especially the kind of symbiosis that gives you a lasting competitive edge. Buying an AI program as a cheap way to get that “edge” might not last long. The entry barrier is too low. Anyone buying that program will be as good or even better than you. WMU also offers new course on the intersection of AI and writing: lnkd.in/g476QVTS. How will AI impact your future? lnkd.in/g4cci-tA AI @ WMU: A Deep Dive into the Resources: lnkd.in/g2EZvtPz. lnkd.in/gDRwA3iA lnkd.in/gtwzctNi WMU-Facing the future: AI is evolving at warp speed-but at what cost? lnkd.in/ggVYhDPV. Will AI really kill the tools we teach like Excel? Would you trust the developer who built your software with a 3rd party code generation tool? Maybe. We are not going to stop teaching Excel in very sophisticated ways. All of our supply chain majors are required to take: CIS 2640 Predictive Data Analytics (Excel on steroids): lnkd.in/dQABdsXc. So, Excel + AI = more SCM success. We all agree there is nothing wrong w/ using these code generators as long as you understand the generated code & know how to fix it when needed. Rarely will the generated code be enough to suit your needs. The more realistic scenario is to use the tool to generate the base code & modify it manually for the intended problems. Many orgs PROBABLY do not want their employees to use AI for any calculations like this. So, in all of the above scenarios, skills in our Adv Excel class (& all of our Data Analytics classes) are still relevant.

[@simecurkovic]

Artificial intelligence will have the greatest impact on the supply chain industry through 2025. I agree with Gartner (in general) & I think most SCM managers would agree (in general). One thing often not mentioned is the attitude of the hiring managers. In talking w/ a colleague, we both agreed that many hiring managers do not have a full understanding of the AI skill sets associated w/ our graduating students. Our SCM students told us many times that their hiring managers valued only the traditional Excel capabilities (lookup functions, pivot tables, etc.), & they greatly overlooked the opportunities from other analytical solutions (skill sets that our students have). This makes it a bit difficult to sell the analytical techniques taught in classes that go BEYOND our CIS 2640 (Excel on steroids) - Applied Analytics Foundations course. For example, our data mining class is essentially a machine learning class for business, which is the core of AI. The course is designed to solve the problems that Excel falls short on. Hopefully we do a better job of training our students to “sell” the AI skills & managers (SCM Leaders) become more open to embracing the benefits (which might require a culture change). Great reads from Fortune & Accenture. Very important takeaways for me: lnkd.in/gdiQ-GTW In a recent report on A.I. adoption from Accenture: lnkd.in/gx996a8n *Only 12% of 1,200 orgs it looked at globally have advanced their A.I. maturity to the stage where they are seeing superior growth & business transformation. *Another 25% are somewhat advanced in their deployment of A.I., while the rest are still just running pilot projects if anything. What sets that 12% apart?... 1) they have “industrialized” A.I. tools & processes, and that they have created a strong A.I. core team. 2) Other key factors are organizational too: they have top executives who champion A.I. as a strategic priority; they invest heavily in A.I. talent; they design A.I. responsibly from the start; & they prioritize both long- & short-term A.I. projects. Top 12 Skills You Need To Become a Data Scientist. lnkd.in/gwrjksAa. There are ONLY 500K unfilled SCM Data Science jobs on LI. Note, “data scientist” is one of the fastest growing career paths w/ escalating salaries & SCM needs more. The majority of the data in the world was created in the last 2 years! lnkd.in/gGk58g8V. Artificial intelligence can help manage the supply chain. So what’s the delay? lnkd.in/gD3rA8JB The needed technology exists, but it’s not being used. 40% of employees at a company across all industries are using the data science & machine learning platforms their company provides. However, this number dips to 21% when filtered for companies in the "logistics" industry. lnkd.in/gi_mFCpt FYI, you can download the Gartner report at: gtnr.it/3bnVVVa. www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_supplychaintechnology-artificialintelligence-activity-6959931394311536641-jNfa? #SupplyChainTechnology #artificialintelligence #supplychain

[@simecurkovic]

In talking w/ a colleague, we both agreed that many hiring managers do not have a full understanding of the AI skill sets associated w/ our graduating students. Our SCM students told us many times that their hiring managers valued only the traditional Excel capabilities (lookup functions, pivot tables, etc. - that is NOT AI), & they greatly overlooked the opportunities from other analytical solutions (skill sets that our students have). This makes it a bit difficult to sell the analytical techniques taught in classes that go BEYOND our CIS 2640 (Excel on steroids) - Applied Analytics Foundations. For example, our data mining class is essentially a machine learning class for business, which is the core of AI. The course is designed to solve the problems that Excel falls short on. Hopefully we do a better job of training our students to “sell” the AI skills & managers (SCM Leaders) become more open to embracing the benefits (which might require a culture change). Top Skills You Need To Become a Data Scientist (every job has data). lnkd.in/gk7pgtQZ. There are ONLY 500K unfilled SCM Data Science jobs on LI. Do not be a victim of technology! See salary report below. I am fascinated by the $ opportunities w/ Data Science skills. You could make the case that every Business major should minor (or double major) in Data Analytics. These skill sets would perhaps include: Employers place a premium on - 1. Advanced Excel (power query & pivot) & macros; 2. Data visualization (Tableau, Power BI & python w/ seaborn & matplotlib); 3. Data mining/RapidMiner, machine learning & data science; 4. Python & Jupyter notebook (data analytics & statistical libraries such as pandas, numpy); 5. Relational data models (Excel data model); 6. Graphic & statistical libraries (Seaborn, Matplotlib, Pandas, & Plotly). Business analytics addresses an increasing demand in orgs of all types to understand data related to their operations. Investments in information systems throughout the enterprise over the last 10-15 years are generating tremendous amounts of data, & orgs will spend at least the next 10 years developing processes that generate insight from those data. In addition to data generated internally, many orgs are exploring the effects of external data, primarily present in social media, web search, manufacturing, & the SUPPLY CHAIN. The ability to manage data to support business projects are the key to success in many disciplines. Business analytics will provide a comprehensive skill set for SCM professionals & future grads to analyze, VISUALIZE (Tableau & Power BI!), & report data. This has become a bare minimum: CIS 2640 Predictive Data Analytics (Excel on steroids): I get this kind of feedback often…lnkd.in/dQABdsXc - You will be glad to hear that (Anaconda + Jupyter Notebook + Python + visualization libraries) is what we have been teaching in CIS 2650 since the course was created. #supplychain #bigdata #dataanalytics #datavisualization

[@simecurkovic]

www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_i-have-had-several-students-ask-me-about-activity-6885560467666862080-yYNf I have had several people ask me about “Industry 4.0” or “Supply Chain 4.0” or “Digitization” of the Supply Chain. lnkd.in/eZfHNqy Most simply want to know what it means & how it will impact SCM. For a quick commentary on why employers now also expect you to be a Data Scientist, see: lnkd.in/eqs3qwG Notice in the video that I repeatedly said a huge part of Industry 4.0 will be taking all the “manual” processes that exist & “automating” them using “technology” so that they get done better, faster, & cheaper. That to a large extent has already happened & will continue to happen, but for mostly “tactical” stuff (not “strategic” stuff). For example, my first job in SCM 30 years ago was making sure the right stuff was at the right place, at the right time, in the right quantities, & at the right price. OK, first, that job was super “tactical” & you did not need a college degree to do it. Second, that job was a manually driven process that has since been “automated” using technology & the technology actually does it better, faster, & cheaper than a human. In fact, the technology can learn from itself using machine learning (ML) & artificial intelligence (AI). For example, have you heard of Robotic Process Automation (RPA)? That is basically software that makes use of ML & AI to do routine manual SCM activities like process a Purchase Order. The process is manual, tactical, and clerically driven. However, that RPA software is learning from itself on how to do things better, faster, & cheaper. For example, RPA could start saying things like: I think we are paying too much, I think we should be using a different supplier, I think we are ordering in the wrong quantities, etc. The RPA software might actually decide to reopen the contract & have suppliers rebid on the business & the RPA might actually pick the new supplier. Yes, there will likely be human intervention for any activities that are “strategic”. RPA: lnkd.in/eQYrHUM Simply become “data scientists” because the next few years will likely double, triple, etc., the amount of data that SCM organizations will have because of Industry 4.0. Think about that. By the time you graduate, SCM orgs will have 2-3 times more data at their disposal. The SCM professionals that will flourish will be the ones that can make sense of that data to do their jobs better, faster, and cheaper. The Business Analytics minor sets you up for success so that Industry 4.0 becomes your friend & not your replacement. Do you feel like you will be ready? Here are some points on how to approach a new technology investment: lnkd.in/ewgT3tum Will technology replace supply chain jobs? lnkd.in/eu7ANq6 Do you know how to use Power BI or Tableau? Do not be a victim of technology. lnkd.in/eKEaPGq lnkd.in/e5zG6sZ Here is a good read on how SCM 4.0 does not have to be super expensive: lnkd.in/eyebnSct

[@simecurkovic]

Tips/advice from this college professor (aka, educated idiot): 1. Read. People that read a lot make more $ (2.3 times more?!) lnkd.in/ggBDzJrp 2. Learn the job saving technology. lnkd.in/eu7ANq6 3. Learn to interview well. lnkd.in/ePzz3NG and lnkd.in/eZgTxWc How to prep for virtual career fairs: lnkd.in/evKd-VzQ Being job ready… lnkd.in/ed-ZfanD 4. Learn to negotiate ($). lnkd.in/gMJYNJkh and lnkd.in/guTUcvdu 5. Learn to network & use LinkedIn. lnkd.in/gPZPQtqR lnkd.in/dAwyTUy For details on how to build your brand: lnkd.in/dSAA6wF www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6941349368335654912?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_feedUpdate%3A%28V2%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A6941349368335654912%29 6. Delay graduation for experience. lnkd.in/ewKu7b_X 7. Learn to problem solve - lnkd.in/eWaJ8q2 8. Double Major? lnkd.in/gAViGTVG 9. Get a grad degree? Earn $3M more than someone w/ only a bachelor’s degree. lnkd.in/g5FY5aty 10. Job rotations? lnkd.in/ervskG5 11. 10 college majors that earn the most money: lnkd.in/gEXGmFfU 12. Free tool for calculating degree ROI: lnkd.in/gEPwNSTJ

[@simecurkovic]

"Supply Chain" + "Data Analytics" = jobs and $$$$. In our CIS 3640 class we focus on three major areas: (1) Advanced excel functions, Power Query, Power Pivot , & Data Models, (2) Excel Macros, & (3) Visualization. lnkd.in/gXYSQKc7 We do our best to go in-depth in all these three areas. Based on the feedback we received from students, they are interested in learning about all three areas & found them helpful during their job search. However, it is not possible to talk about both Tableau & Power BI visualization because of the time limitation. Therefore, we decided to cover Power BI in one section & Tableau & Tableau data prep in the other section. As you know, ETL is one of the most important skills they need for visualization. Therefore, we always teach Power Pivot a & Query, which are foundations for Power BI in both sections. There are 8 assignments in the class. At least two are about Power Query & Power Pivot and two about Visualization in Tableau or Power BI. I personally would encourage students to have an open mind on tool usage. The whole reason of teaching both Tableau and Power BI in our curriculum is backed by industry evidence, rather than by one or two individual companies. Both visualization tools have been in the best quadrant (i.e., leaders-visionaries quadrant) of Gartner’s “magic quadrant” survey for analytics and business intelligence platforms for years. So, it is not true that Tableau is not used at many companies. Kellogg’s, for example, is basically a Tableau shop. The bottom line is that it really doesn’t matter which tool students learned (as long as there is industry evidence to support the tool selection). The two tools share so many similarities. Usually one should be able to transition from one tool to another with minimal learning. I think one way going forward is probably this: If ISM students already know what tools they are going to be using at the internship or job, they might want to talk to us first before taking CIS 3640. This will help them pick the desired course section. Otherwise, it is hard for us to predict what analytics & visualization tools each student will be using and which company they will end up working. What if you are a student that wishes to learn both Power BI and Tableau, but your instructor only covers one? Unfortunately covering both in one single class will not give either one a fair coverage. In the end, students won’t have good skills in visualization. This is the reason we offer two sections, one for each tool. The good news is that Power BI is a free download. Here is what I recommend students do: 1. Download Power BI 2. Go through the video tutorials of Power BI online (e.g., lnkd.in/gEYERYay) 3. Work on class exercises and assignments in both Tableau and Power BI. Many things are available in both tools. That makes it possible to replicate certain parts of class exercises and assignments in Power BI.

[@simecurkovic]

I get this kind of email over and over and over... Subject: That darn CIS 2640 class!!! Hello Sime, I'm one of your former students I just graduated in August and I just wanted to let you know I just got hired at a company called Topco. They're a privately member-owned large distribution center and I will be doing supply chain analysis for them. Just wanted to make sure you keep encouraging ISM students to take CIS 2640 if it wasn't for that class I would not have got the job. Thanks for everything you're doing for the program and I hope you have a great day! Neil xxxxx ____ Another one (from several years ago)... Hi Sime, I wanted to reach out to let you know that I have received a couple job offers! One that I really am leaning toward taking is a Inventory Analyst role with xxxxx in Minneapolis. They have offered me $58,000 a year and $3,000 to help me relocate. I think it is a great offer but do you think I should negotiate the pay at all? Also for any ISM students thinking about the business analytics minor please stress to them the importance of it. In every interview I have had they are very impressed with it and really want new hires to be comfortable with Excel. For xxxx they told me it was one of the things that helped me stand out against other candidates and they think it will help me be able to do anything within the position. Thank you! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ____ Another one... Hello Dr. Chen and Dr. Curkovic, I would like to thank you for a wonderful semester! I learned a great amount and it's already transitioning into the business world! I just got done with a Skype call with Steelcase that was strictly focused on excel skills you taught me this year! Its exciting to see such a quick turnaround and application of the knowledge from your class! I hope that the rest of finals week goes well, and that you have a relaxing summer! Regards and Bronco Pride, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ___ Another one...this was an article on the HCOB website...it made Nathan famous... Gamifying Travel at Intuit Supply chain professionals, expert at improving processes and reducing costs, fill roles in a variety of areas leading and supporting initiatives that help the bottom line. As a new analyst at business and financial software giant Intuit, Nathan Henckel, B.B.A.’17, teamed up with three other Intuit employees to pitch a way to reduce employee travel costs that would benefit both the company and the employee. The team created a gamification process where employees earn rewards with the “Price to Beat” plan. “In order to pitch a program like this, we had to the have the data and a program to back our idea,” says Henckel. “This was my part of the project. I created an algorithm using Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications programing language that analyzes Intuit’s historic and real-time travel data and generates a price to beat for the specific route the user was seeking.” Using the company’s travel booking system, employees can “Beat the Price” generated by Henckel’s algorithm and receive half of any savings in their next paycheck. In order to deploy a program where Intuit provides cash incentives to employees, the group presented their invention and explained the algorithm to Intuit’s chief marketing officer. “Following our presentation, he advocated to senior management for the deployment of this program as a pilot to approximately 1,000 intuit employees,” says Henckel, who credits his time in the Haworth College of Business with sharpening his knowledge of data analytics as well as his communication skills so that he could effectively present information and data about the project in a way that is meaningful. “The business analytics skills and effective communication techniques I learned as a WMU student are put to use every day,” says Henckel. “As a sourcing analyst, my day-to-day responsibilities include deriving insights from data and effectively communicating those insights to our leaders. While a student at WMU, I took multiple courses that prepared me for the role that I am in now.” To date, the travel game has generated $40,000 in savings and has been received very well by Intuit employees. “The primary goal of this project and pilot was to show savings for the company as a result of the incentive based travel program, and we accomplished that.” The team is now looking at expanding the pilot. Excited about his position at Intuit and the opportunity to develop his skills for the future, Henckel anticipates his chosen field will change often. “In today’s world, more and more roles and tasks are being completed programmatically and with artificial intelligence and machine learning,” he says. “As a result, the roles of traditional sourcing professionals and analysts could be quickly changing directions. At Intuit, we employ the top software engineers in the world, which makes it the perfect place to further develop skills such as Python and other programming languages. I have already seen my skills pay off with the creation of our travel gamification algorithm using visual basic.” Henckel’s path to Intuit began as a sophomore student participating in the introductory integrated supply management course taught by Dr. Sime Curkovic, professor of management. “I think back to that course and how much passion and thought went into that class,” says Henckel. “After being exposed to the excitement and rigor of the course and the ISM program, I knew this was the field I wanted to pursue.” Henckel went on to participate in the ISM program’s Bronco Force initiative where he helped develop a scorecard for a manufacturing firm in southwest Michigan. “This hands on experience, as well as the fact that students earned a LSS Green Belt as part of Bronco Force, helped me land my first summer internship at Brunswick Corporation in Chicago.” As an indirect sourcing co-op at Brunswick, Henckel performed heavy data analytics and assisted in corporate travel and ocean freight bids. He later landed a co-op with GAST Manufacturing “where I finally got to put the manufacturing engineering knowledge ISM students gain to good use. This experience was substantial for developing my business acumen in a fast-paced setting and honed my ability to effectively communicate and negotiate.” When Henckel was approaching graduation, Curkovic talked about the business and culture of Intuit, and Henckel was intrigued. After some research, he applied for a position in San Diego. After several phone interviews, he was invited to a case interview, and the next day had the job. “The opportunity to move out to San Diego and work for such a progressive company was a career-defining move, and I couldn’t have done it without Western’s ISM program,” adds Henckel.

[@simecurkovic]

Notice in the video that I repeatedly said a huge part of Industry 4.0 will be taking all the "manual" processes that exist and "automating" them using "technology" so that they get done better, faster, and cheaper. That to a large extent has already happened and will continue to happen, but for mostly "tactical" stuff (not "strategic" stuff). For example, my first job in SCM 30 years ago was making sure the right stuff was at the right place, at the right time, in the right quantities, and at the right price. OK, first, that job was super "tactical" and you did not need a college degree to do it. Second, that job was a manually driven process that has since been "automated" using technology and the technology actually does it better, faster, and cheaper than a human. In fact, the technology can learn from itself using machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI). What is ML and AI? Keep it simple. If you get emails that automatically get sent to your junk folder, then that is AI technology. If you go to your junk mail folder and start opening up junk email from the same sender, then ML is when it stops sending it to your junk folder. The software has figured out through ML that that junk mail is not junk to you (you want to read it). Another example would be Amazon, who I think is at the forefront of ML and AI. When you buy stuff on Amazon and Amazon gives you ideas on what you might also like, that is ML and AI. In fact, Amazon will use data and ML to actually ship you something before you actually place the order (and they rarely get it wrong). Have you heard of Robotic Process Automation (RPA)? That is basically software that makes use of ML and AI to do routine manual SCM activities like process a Purchase Order. The process is manual, tactical, and clerically driven. However, that RPA software is learning from itself on how to do things better, faster, and cheaper. For example, RPA could start saying things like: I think we are paying too much, I think we should be using a different supplier, I think we are ordering in the wrong quantities, etc. The RPA software might actually decide to reopen the contract and have suppliers rebid on the business and the RPA might actually pick the new supplier. Yes, there will likely be human intervention for any activities that are "strategic". For me, tactical means all the day to day operational grunt work. Strategic to me means the decisions that have to be made with longer term implications and consequences. For example, if the RPA wants to switch suppliers, that to me is strategic because it has long term consequences. Maybe one day the RPA will change suppliers without human intervention and actually negotiate the terms and conditions of the contract with a new supplier. Well, for non strategic stuff like office supplies it is already happening. So back to the video. Simply become "data scientists" because the next few years will likely double, triple, etc., the amount of data that SCM organizations will have because of Industry 4.0. Think about that. By the time you graduate, SCM orgs will have 2-3 times more data at their disposal. The SCM professionals that will flourish will be the ones that can make sense of that data to do their jobs better, faster, and cheaper. The Business Analytics minor sets you up for success so that Industry 4.0 becomes your friend and not your replacement. Do you feel like you will be ready? Thank you. Sime

[@simecurkovic]

Some 2022 WMU SCM student success stories…1. Dylan Sing is a team player as a student athlete on the WMU men's soccer team & as a SCM major. lnkd.in/ggqPmMyw. 2. SCM student wins prestigious scholarship. Madison Dober excels as a woman in the supply chain field, winning a scholarship from the Transportation Club of Detroit. lnkd.in/d5UEQVJV 3. Pursuing career in supply chain management is a slam dunk for Megan Wagner. Junior Bronco basketball player and integrated supply management major Megan Wagner is making the most of her time in college. lnkd.in/dBiNSWbC 4. Women in supply chain receive expert professional development from one of their own. This summer a group of women majoring in supply chain management participated in a 6-week professional development class facilitated by WMU supply chain graduate, Trisha Terns. lnkd.in/gKu9XcVy 5. Leading the way with Lean Six Sigma: WMU students earn certification. Students in several process management courses earned their Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certifications, demonstrating their commitment to continuous improvement and ability to become business leaders before graduation. lnkd.in/g2VDbEPx 6. Supply chain spotlight: Industry insight and problem solving put to the test. lnkd.in/gxm-T4Xz 7. WMU supply chain program named top program for 13th straight year. lnkd.in/g4Ch_qxY 8. Jessy Mutombo: Going the extra mile. lnkd.in/gU_Mag6i 9. Presidential Scholar, MIRANDA MCNIVEN. lnkd.in/gFG75HSJ 10. Two WMU ISM students, Madison Dober and Alexandra Henson, have been honored with a scholarship from Achieving Women’s Excellence in Supply Chain Operations, Management and Education (AWESOME). lnkd.in/g4VyPcUq #supplychain #careeradvice #career #supplychainmanagement

[@simecurkovic]

Common theme in the WEF report: BIG DATA is not going away, BUT one must understand why/when certain data formats create more value. Many of our supply chain students get a minor in Business Analytics & we actually teach a variant of Wide/Small data called Association Analysis (our Business Data Mining class). Notice #5: A Shift From Big Data To Small And Wide Data... 8 Trends Predicted To Define Data Analytics: lnkd.in/gi-iZ-Gb Wide data is data collected from different sources about individual objects (e.g., products, items, customers, etc.). Let’s say you would like to collect info about customers. Traditionally, you would build a table of customers with a fixed # of columns to capture mostly about demographic data & contact info. Today, it is usually not enough to just do that. People want to capture other things about customers, such as how many times they have called customer service, what they have said about the product in product reviews, etc. As you can see, a few things emerge from this need. That’s what characterizes wide data. 1. Traditional data tables w/ a fixed # of columns won’t work too well, because not all customers have the same number of service calls, have posted the same # of product reviews, etc. 2. Data comes from different sources (demographic, service logs, product reviews on web pages, etc.) 3. Not all data values are structured data (e.g., product reviews). Small data is easily conceived as the opposite of big data, but there is more to it. Small data concerns about a “deeper” view of individual objects. Let’s say you want to know more about why product X is not selling well. Traditionally, people look at factors, such as seasons, locations, competition, environment, etc. That’s what all competitors do. However, if you could look at when/why product X drops out of a potential customer’s short list, that would give the manufacturer a lot of opportunities to exercise influence in the pre-purchase stage. To put it differently, if a supplier knows about who the competing products are in the same short list, there is a lot of last-minute influence that they can do (e.g., competitive priming, differential pricing, instant coupon, differentiation, etc.). In short, the reason small data works well in some cases as opposed to big data is that certain data points of interest show unique characteristics different from the rest of the data. Therefore, generalizations derived from big data may not work too well in this case. Our Analytics MAJOR covers more. In the major, we talk about unstructured data, streaming data, AI powered extraction of insights, cloud-based analytics, etc. These are the things that enable the analysis of not just wide & small data, but also big data. There is also streaming. That is data that keeps on growing. Analytical techniques based only on static data can get dated quickly. We cover a simple technique to work w/ that in the minor, & we have a full treatment in the major. From Gartner: "By 2025, 70% of orgs will need to shift their focus from big data to small and wide data in order to take full advantage of their available data sources ✅" We deep dive into all you need to know on data and analytics here 👉 gtnr.it/3T5wVDy www.linkedin.com/posts/gartner_gartnerda-data-analytics-activity-7040353885835718656-XC6D? www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_gartnerda-data-analytics-activity-7041070491041742848-dImZ? #bigdata

[@simecurkovic]

If you want to specialize in data & become a Supply Chain Analyst (25,000 jobs on LinkedIn) / Supply Chain Data Scientist (171,000 jobs on LinkedIn - that's all), Python is a must-have skill. A while back, I made these points about our CIS 2650 class (Programming for Data Analytics) and our Business Data Analytics minor in general. Do these points still largely apply?… CIS 2650 is not just a Python class, but instead a Python class for analytics. There is a difference there. In a traditional Python class, people teach Python straight for the whole semester with so much of syntax, data structure, software development, etc. That type of class is mostly designed for CIS and CS. What we do is different. It is Python in a popular analytics platform (more technically speaking, it is Python in Jupyter, which is an analytics platform that data science and business analytics programs do). · We studied the top skills in analytics jobs & Python was among the top skills. · The visualization libraries in Python can produce the kind of visualizations not available in Tableau & Power BI. Students will be able to differentiate themselves from other schools. · Tableau & Power BI recently added Python or Python+Jupyter because certain Python analytics & visualization are not available in Tableau and Power BI. Using them together makes it a powerful analytics solution (e.g., the ability to transform visualization into implementable actions). · All data scientists stress the importance of Python in analytics programs. Note, “data scientist” is one of the fastest growing career paths with escalating salaries because not enough people are good at this stuff. · Python are “R” are both number one & two in analytics, but Python is easier to learn compared to R. · Past experience in our SCM program (3+ semesters of experience in CIS 2650) shows that non-technical students (SCM, marketing, accounting, etc.) are able to handle the content that we designed. · Python + Jupyter (or its variant) are used in Big Data (Hadoop, Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, etc.). It can also be used with/on SAP HANA, IoT, AI, Blockchain, and smart contracts to implement supply chain visibility, and other SC related solutions, etc. We believe the above points are still valid. Here are some evidences: · We studied the top skills in analytics jobs & Python was among the top skills. · Python is among the top skills for data analysts (Skill number 4 in the list): lnkd.in/e6r8_KBy · lnkd.in/e7xyUYGs · The visualization libraries in Python can produce the kind of visualizations not available in Tableau & Power BI. Students will be able to differentiate themselves from other schools. How much Python do I need to know in order to excel in SCM? lnkd.in/e6Rmzpw Will technology replace supply chain jobs? lnkd.in/eu7ANq6

[@simecurkovic]

FYI: International Students majoring in Business Analytics at WMU can get a 3-year visa extension for their OPTs. Why is the U.S. doing this? Answer: we need more people with data analytics skills... The US government has added data science and financial analytics to the list of degrees where international students can get a three-year visa extension after graduating instead of the standard one year. lnkd.in/gTDtDavD Actually, at WMU, Business Analytics is in its own STEM category, see: lnkd.in/g8KAs_Wb International students majoring in our Business Analytics degree can get a 3-year visa extension for their OPTs. The WMU Business Analytics degree was already a STEM major under a different CIP code before this change. It is nice to see that it now has its own CIP code. Business Analytics Major at WMU (see comments for more info): lnkd.in/gGxyZsBW If you want to specialize in data & become a Supply Chain Analyst, Python is a must-have skill. *Supply Chain Data Scientist (>171,000 jobs on LinkedIn - that's all) >35,000 jobs not filled w/ these words- “supply chain” & “analyst” & “data analytics” on LinkedIn A while back, I made these points about our CIS 2650 class (Programming for Data Analytics) and our Business Data Analytics minor in general. Do these points still largely apply? lnkd.in/gf_UWz5x I have had several people ask me about “Industry 4.0” or “Supply Chain 4.0” or “Digitization” of the Supply Chain. lnkd.in/gsCfphyg "Supply Chain" + "Data Analytics" = jobs and $$$$. In our CIS 3640 class we focus on three major areas: (1) Advanced excel functions, Power Query, Power Pivot , & Data Models, (2) Excel Macros, & (3) Visualization. lnkd.in/gKV4dw2z "Supply Chain" + "Data Analytics" = jobs and $$$$. There are > 35,000 jobs on LinkedIn not filled which have these words in the job title and/or job description - “supply chain” and “analyst” and “data analytics”. There are >10M jobs not filled in the U.S., many of which are in SCM. In fact, if you loosely define SCM, around half these jobs are in the supply chain. lnkd.in/gX8vcRNa This great student got this great job. He majored in “Supply Chain” & minored in “Business Data Analytics” & “Accounting”. Note, college accounting to me is SCM Finance (a hugely important skill set for your long term advancement opportunities lnkd.in/e2TztjY). lnkd.in/gv2KD3uV Business analytics addresses an increasing demand in organizations of all types. Does your school teach this? lnkd.in/efCCBQ5s

[@simecurkovic]

Top Skills You Need To Become a Data Scientist (every job has data). lnkd.in/gk7pgtQZ. Do not be a victim of technology! You could make the case that every Business major should minor (or double major) in Data Analytics. These skill sets would perhaps include: Employers place a premium on - 1. Advanced Excel (power query & pivot) & macros; 2. Data visualization (Tableau, Power BI & python w/ seaborn & matplotlib); 3. Data mining/RapidMiner, machine learning & data science; 4. Python & Jupyter notebook (data analytics & statistical libraries such as pandas, numpy); 5. Relational data models (Excel data model); 6. Graphic & statistical libraries (Seaborn, Matplotlib, Pandas, & Plotly). Business analytics addresses an increasing demand in orgs of all types to understand data related to their operations. Investments in information systems throughout the enterprise over the last 10-15 years are generating tremendous amounts of data, & orgs will spend at least the next 10 years developing processes that generate insight from those data. In addition to data generated internally, many orgs are exploring the effects of external data, primarily present in social media, web search, manufacturing, & the SUPPLY CHAIN. The ability to manage data to support business projects are the key to success in many disciplines. Business analytics will provide a comprehensive skill set for SCM professionals & future grads to analyze, VISUALIZE (Tableau & Power BI!), & report data. This has become a bare minimum: CIS 2640 Predictive Data Analytics (Excel on steroids): I get this kind of feedback often…lnkd.in/dQABdsXc - You will be glad to hear that (Anaconda + Jupyter Notebook + Python + visualization libraries) is what we have been teaching in CIS 2650 since the course was created. In talking w/ a colleague, we both agreed that many hiring managers do not have a full understanding of the AI skill sets associated w/ our graduating students. Our SCM students told us many times that their hiring managers valued only the traditional Excel capabilities (lookup functions, pivot tables, etc. - that is NOT AI), & they greatly overlooked the opportunities from other analytical solutions (skill sets that our students have). This makes it a bit difficult to sell the analytical techniques taught in classes that go BEYOND our CIS 2640 (Excel on steroids) - Applied Analytics Foundations. For example, our data mining class is essentially a machine learning class for business, which is the core of AI. The course is designed to solve the problems that Excel falls short on. Hopefully we do a better job of training our students to “sell” the AI skills & managers (SCM Leaders) become more open to embracing the benefits (which might require a culture change). #supplychain #bigdata #dataanalytics #datavisualization

[@simecurkovic]

#3 was AI and Big Data. www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_wef24-activity-7152788314901614592-TAlr? Thoughts: lnkd.in/g5UizdeN. Also, from ASCM: 2024 Top 10 SCM Trends…Common theme: BIG DATA is not going away (agreed), BUT one must understand why/when certain data formats create more value. Many of our supply chain students get a minor in Business Analytics & we actually teach a variant of Wide/Small data called Association Analysis (our Business Data Mining class). In case you want to see what we cover in our AI course, see screenshot at: lnkd.in/gvD75haK. We are expanding this list in spring. Our analytics faculty are on top of this AI wave. They have already built an AI course in our business college (CIS 5550) to cover all kinds of AI for business applications. After this course, AI embedded modules in existing courses will be added. Hmm...“American college students are behind in using AI in their studies compared to their foreign counterparts.” lnkd.in/gngZxKry. Maybe not...This is the whole reason that we created our new AI course - to create AI awareness and skills, and it is designed for non-technical majors. We will be offering our AI course again in spring 2024 semester. Per conversations with our CIS faculty… Generative AI is just a small set of AI. Comparing the use of it across countries might not give you a whole picture of AI use by students. Our faculty have been very clear that WMU’s education strategy should not be just about ChatGPT or generative AI. There is a whole lot more AI coming our way. The key to our educational survival is to master the symbiotic relationships with AI, especially the kind of symbiosis that gives you a lasting competitive edge. Buying an AI program as a cheap way to get that “edge” might not last long. The entry barrier is too low. Anyone buying that program will be as good or even better than you. WMU also offers new course on the intersection of AI and writing: lnkd.in/g476QVTS. How will AI impact your future? lnkd.in/g4cci-tA AI @ WMU: A Deep Dive into the Resources: lnkd.in/g2EZvtPz. lnkd.in/gDRwA3iA lnkd.in/gtwzctNi WMU-Facing the future: AI is evolving at warp speed-but at what cost? lnkd.in/ggVYhDPV. Will AI really kill the tools we teach like Excel? Would you trust the developer who built your software with a 3rd party code generation tool? Maybe. We are not going to stop teaching Excel in very sophisticated ways. All of our supply chain majors are required to take: CIS 2640 Predictive Data Analytics (Excel on steroids): lnkd.in/dQABdsXc. So, Excel + AI = more SCM success. We all agree there is nothing wrong w/ using these code generators as long as you understand the generated code & know how to fix it when needed. Rarely will the generated code be enough to suit your needs. www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_wef24-activity-7152788314901614592-TAlr? hashtag#ai hashtag#bigdata hashtag#supplychainmanagement

[@simecurkovic]

Anaconda + Jupyter Notebook + Python + visualization libraries Business Analytics, > 1/2 of our Supply Chain majors are BA minors, why? lnkd.in/eqiqSMRb The following CIS courses in BA minor:: CIS 1020 (Business Computing), CIS 2640 (Business Analysis & Reporting), CIS 2650 (Programming for Data Analytics), CIS 3640 (Business Analytics), & CIS 4640 (Business Data Mining). First, CIS 2650 is not just a “Python” class, but instead a Python class for analytics (big difference). In a traditional Python class, people teach Python straight for the whole semester with tons of syntax, data structure, software development, etc. That type of class is mostly designed for CIS majors. What we do is different. It is Python in a popular analytics platform (more technically speaking, it is Python in Jupyter, which is an analytics platform that data science & business analytics programs do). You will be glad to hear that (Anaconda+Jupyter Notebook+Python+visualization libraries) is what we have been teaching in CIS 2650 since the course was created. We have no plan to change it unless industry tells us otherwise. Agreed? The reason for this design is the following: · We studied the top skills in analytics jobs & Python was among the top skills. lnkd.in/e6r8_KBy lnkd.in/e7xyUYGs · The visualization libraries in Python can produce the kind of visualizations not available in Tableau & Power BI. Students will be able to differentiate themselves from other schools. · Tableau & Power BI recently added Python or Python+Jupyter because certain Python analytics & visualization are not available in Tableau and Power BI. Using them together makes it a powerful analytics solution (e.g., the ability to transform visualization into implementable actions). Here are some examples: TabPy makes it possible to use Python scripts in Tableau calculated fields.: lnkd.in/eF67p-Jp PyCaret makes it possible to use machine learning in Tableau: lnkd.in/ebA9f3EH Python can create machine learning modules and create the visualization based on the predicated result. lnkd.in/esFizKPA lnkd.in/etTtk74H · All data scientists stress the importance of Python in analytics programs. Note, “data scientist” is one of the fastest growing career paths w/ escalating salaries because not enough people are good at this stuff. lnkd.in/e_22MKuC · Python are “R” are both number one & two in analytics, but Python is easier to learn compared to R. · Past experience in our SCM program shows that non-technical students are able to handle the content that we designed. · Python + Jupyter (or its variant) are used in Big Data (Hadoop, Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, etc.). It can also be used with/on SAP HANA, IoT, AI, Blockchain, & smart contracts to implement supply chain visibility, & other SC related solutions. lnkd.in/e4rmEJqF lnkd.in/e6Rmzpw

[@simecurkovic]

I had a SCM professional ask: “I don’t even know basic python yet . I want to get to the more advance items but I am not ready yet . I’ve done research into different courses but there are so many basic courses, I’m not sure which one is actually useful for someone looking to do supply chain analysis.” Some options: You could try one of those intro python classes at coursera or udemy. Just a word of warning, the lack of interactivity and support at those MOOCs usually causes a super low retention rate (9% - 16%). The person needs quite a bit of dedication to successfully finish it. After that, look for a second course in analytics, data science or machine learning using python. This assumes that he/she is interested in using python for those. Otherwise, invest time in pre-built specialized software packages (e.g., Rapidminer, XLminer, Knime, SAS, SPSS, etc.). I kind of like these bootcamp (such as at MSU) but it seems to be an aggressive design. Each of the topics listed under their “Market-Driven Skills” is usually a semester-long course. I am not sure if they are targeting people with some experience in these areas. But, yes, it seems to be an interesting program. The same thing applies to analytics certificates offered through MOOCs, such as Coursera, EdX and others. One caveat that SCM grads should know is that many of these online programs lack the required hand-holding experience. This is why the retention rates of MOOCs are usually in single digits. We find that this hand-holding experience is essential to motivate students to complete the training. bootcamp.msu.edu/data/landing/?msg_cv_scta=4&msg_cv_stbn=1&msg_cv_fcta=1&fqvar1=3&Data&DGPAdvanceUpskiller01_DGPAudTest1_rfullg&SponsoredContent&MSU47_SCI&L2067A_SponsoredContent-Image_Data_Detroit_DGPAdvanceUpskiller01_rfullg_DGPAudTest1_BrandedModel1_CPC&li_fat_id=e627c4e1-d133-41a6-86ec-57fd4b25a952 MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course. It is an online course that is designed to be open and accessible to a large number of participants. MOOCs offer a flexible learning environment, allowing participants to learn at their own pace and from anywhere in the world. MOOCs are typically delivered through an online platform that provides access to course materials, videos, quizzes, and discussion forums. MOOCs are usually free and open to anyone who wants to enroll. Some MOOCs may also offer a paid option to receive a verified certificate of completion or academic credit. MOOCs are offered by a variety of institutions, including universities, educational organizations, and private companies. MOOCs have gained popularity in recent years because they offer a convenient and cost-effective way to learn new skills and advance your career. They cover a wide range of topics, from computer science and engineering to business and the humanities. www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_will-i-have-to-learn-and-do-a-lot-of-coding-activity-7029050409201668096-Srar?

[@simecurkovic]

The majority of the data in the world was created in the last 2 years! Top 12 Skills You Need To Become a Data Scientist. lnkd.in/gwrjksAa. There are ONLY 500,000 unfilled SCM Data Science jobs on LI. Note, “data scientist” is one of the fastest growing career paths w/ escalating salaries & SCM needs more. lnkd.in/gGk58g8V. Artificial intelligence can help manage the supply chain. So what’s the delay? www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_5-megatrends-fueling-the-rise-of-data-storytelling-activity-6993978504686039040-4IQe? The needed technology exists, but it’s not being used. 40% of employees at a company across all industries are using the data science & machine learning platforms their company provides. However, this number dips down to 21% when filtered for companies in the "logistics" industry. lnkd.in/gi_mFCpt This reluctance to use available technology is evidenced in G2 review data for the Analytics Platforms category, as only 2.7% of reviews came from professionals working in the supply chain industry. In addition, only 1.7% of reviews about data science and machine learning platforms came from professionals in the supply chain industries. From Sime: In talking with a colleague, we both agreed there is a prevalent problematic attitude of hiring managers (i.e., SCM Leadership). Our SCM students told us many times that their hiring managers valued only the traditional Excel capabilities/skill sets (lookup functions, pivot tables, etc.), & they greatly overlooked the opportunities from other analytical solutions. This makes it a bit difficult to sell the analytical techniques taught in classes that go beyond our CIS 2640 - Applied Analytics Foundations course. For example, our data mining class is essentially a machine learning class for business, which is the core of AI. The course is designed to solve the problems that Excel falls short on. With articles like the one written by Mr. Orso, hopefully more and more students will see the benefits (along with the hiring managers, i.e., SCM Leadership!). __ SCM sage says stakeholders are wishing for return to normal that won’t happen. Notice the solution - “Digitized Supply Chains”. Can we get all the VP’s of SCM in one room & figure this out? lnkd.in/gn4PeqYs That is why the WMU SCM program teaches Big Data w/ skill sets such as: 1. Advanced Excel (power query & pivot) & macros; 2. Data visualization (Tableau, Power BI & python w/ seaborn & matplotlib); 3. Data mining/RapidMiner, machine learning & data science; 4. Python & Jupyter notebook (data analytics & statistical libraries such as pandas, numpy); 5. Relational data models (Excel data model); 6. Graphic & statistical libraries (Seaborn, Matplotlib, Pandas, & Plotly). #supplychain #supplychainmanagement #dataanalytics #saas #datavisualization #tableau #powerbi #python #datascience #bigdata #digitization #industry4 #logistics

[@simecurkovic]

AI will have a great impact on SCM. However, one thing often not mentioned is the attitude of hiring managers, as many do not have a full understanding of the AI skill sets of graduating students. Our SCM students told us many times that their hiring managers valued only the traditional Excel capabilities (lookup functions, pivot tables, etc. - that is NOT AI), & they greatly overlooked the opportunities from other analytical solutions (skill sets that our students have). This makes it a bit difficult to sell the analytical techniques taught in classes that go BEYOND our CIS 2640 (Excel on steroids) - Applied Analytics Foundations. For example, our data mining class is essentially a machine learning class for business, which is the core of AI. The course is designed to solve the problems that Excel falls short on. Hopefully we do a better job of training our students to “sell” the AI skills & managers (SCM Leaders) become more open to embracing the benefits (which might require a culture change). CIS 4640 - Business Data Mining This course focuses on the theoretical understanding & practical applications of data mining as a decision support tool. Specifically, it covers several types of modeling techniques & tools such as prediction, classification, segmentation & association detection algorithms. Students are introduced to the state-of-the-art data mining applications software such as SAS Enterprise Miner or SPSS Clementine for their class assignments & term project. “Consulting firm McKinsey projects a supply-chain shattering event will happen every 3.7 years, on avg. Since the pandemic started approximately 2.5 years ago, the clock is ticking…” *orgs utilizing AI spend less on processing & require 53% fewer transactional FTEs than companies w/o AI. *Contract Analytics: Gartner - by 2024, the current amount of manual effort for contract review will be reduced by 50%. *Estimated 80% of supplier-related data is unstructured or “dark data.” *Gartner: nearly 45% of orgs have either already implemented AI From Dr. Handfield: “These [semiautonomous] processes will draw on supplier rating systems, meeting notes, customer input, social media, legal filings, news feeds, employee & customer data, economic indicators, weather data, & multiple forms of data that can be mined to provide alerts that trigger procurement actions & supplier mgmt activities.” lnkd.in/g3bCXtDF. Learn - 1. Advanced Excel (power query & pivot) & macros; 2. Data visualization (Tableau,Power BI & python w/ seaborn & matplotlib); 3. Data mining/RapidMiner, machine learning & data science; 4. Python & Jupyter notebook (data analytics & statistical libraries such as pandas, numpy); 5. Relational data models (Excel data model); 6. Graphic & statistical libraries (Seaborn,Matplotlib,Pandas, & Plotly). Grad Cert: lnkd.in/gJetuSjB #dataanalytics #supplychain #artificialintelligence #ai

[@simecurkovic]

From Professor Sime: If I was 25 and just came off of a job rotation in a full time role, I would start thinking about a graduate degree (assuming I had an undergrad degree in SCM with already a strong data analytics foundation via a Business Analytics minor). Of course, do what is rewarded in the culture of your organization. Look at your boss’s resume and your boss’ boss’ resume. In general, I would not do a general MBA or even an MBA with a general SCM concentration. I like certifications associated with ISM, APICS/ASCM, CSCMP, etc., but I suspect that I would not actually learn much from the process of getting certified. These certs however would externally validate me a SCM subject matter expert and that is worth a lot in industry. However, I would get a graduate degree in something that is quicker than the traditional 12 classes (i.e., a mini MBA or MS degree). I would also get it in something I am weak in and is likely to be important. So as of 2021, what would I do? I would do something like a mini MBA (9 classes, not 12) at Rutgers (high profile SCM school, great brand) in “Digital” Supply Chain Management. Note, their mini MBA has an entire course dedicated to SCM Finance. Good luck climbing up the corporate ladder if you cannot talk to your CFO. I like SCM Finance so much, I encourage my students to get a graduate degree in Finance if they already have world class technology skills. The “Digital” transformation is getting VERY popular these days. We have heard of Industry 4.0, but in reality it is Supply Chain 4.0, because nothing happens without the supply chain HEAVILY involved. For digitization to work, manual processes have to be digitized/automated and eventually analyzed. That is what companies are doing right now. Converting manual to digitized versions requires someone with a good knowledge on systems analysis and design, data storage and information retrieval. These are the topics usually covered in IT/CIS/CS majors. A lot of companies have gone past this stage, but they are facing the next problem - data analysis. Data are collected, but no one knows what to do with it. That’s where our Business Analytics minor comes in as an undergrad. If you lack these skills, go get your MS in Data Analytics before you miss the boat. These skills would include: big data/analytics, database management, data mining, project management, SQL, Python, PMO, Tableau, Power BI, etc. Fortunately, most of my undergrads walk away with these skills. Just like AI, the boundaries of what is and what is not Industry 4.0 (supply chain 4.0, digital transformation, digitized supply chain, etc.) is quite blurry. These days any product with even a tiny element of AI/ML is claimed to be an AI product. As a new field like supply chain digitization evolves, people are still trying to figure out the essential components that characterize it. This is the reason that people offer certificates in digital supply chain in all kinds of flavor. For example, Rutgers takes a high-level managerial approach, Missouri S&T takes an ERP+BI+PM approach, and NUS takes an analytics+strategic planning approach. One issue with the mini MBA in the Digital Supply Chain at Rutgers is not their high level managerial approach per se, but perhaps the usefulness on what they predict will be super useful. They could be wrong for example on dedicating an entire course to Robotic Process Automation. This reminds me a lot about the Business Process Reengineering or Business Process Automation course that people used to offer years ago. On RPA for example,… • Will there be a continuous or frequent demand for RPA at a company? • Will new RPA need to be created or existing RPA need to be tuned often? • What kind of robots are involved? Consumer robots, manufacturing robots, or a mixture of both? • Will the course need to teach realistic applications or BPR? What technologies? What kind of robots and for what purpose? If the answer is no and no to the first two questions, the skills will likely be taught and then forgotten. This is not to say that there is no environment that needs a constant or frequent RPA design and tuning, but I wonder what kind of environment that would be and how much a company would sustain doing that for long. If the RPA is done once in a few years for example, I am not sure of the utility/usefulness of such a graduate course other than showing people that they are teaching leading-edge topics. In conclusion, get a graduate degree because the data says it will make you more successful (in general). I would do it in something that you are bad at and will be very important. SCM Finance will always be important. In the near term, Industry 4.0, Supply Chain 4.0, and Supply Chain Digitization will transform SCM orgs and the skill sets required of them.

[@simecurkovic]

Our students are going into a job market inundated with outdated processes. Manual and labor-intensive operations will force them to spend hours every week doing repetitive tasks that could be automated for much greater efficiency and accuracy, allowing them to focus on more fulfilling work. The majority of their time will be spent gathering data, while much less will be spent analyzing and providing insights to support strategic decision-making. For example, during these inflationary times, it is time for business faculty to start teaching the lost art of Price Analysis and Strategic Cost Management (in very different ways). I have asked a lot of business managers how they “prepare” to negotiate price increase requests from their suppliers. In particular, I was curious about how and where they get their data from (i.e., Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), Commodity Exchange (COMEX), London Metals Exchange (LME), New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), etc.). Many said their suppliers provide that information. I am not convinced that using data from your suppliers is a form of “Preparation” for the negotiation process. Surprised by price increases? As much as 70% of current contracts have price increase provisions! In the WMU supply chain management program we teach our students to track commodity forward price curves. We now look at raw material market data from multiple sources, visualize and analyze historical pricing scenarios, and simulate planned purchases and what-if scenarios against forward price curves. How do we better prepare our business students to be job ready day one? Procurement organizations need processes and “tools” to mitigate and negotiate on these price increase requests in a strategic, data-driven manner (and academics need to do a better job of teaching it). Traditionally, we have worked very hard to help our students develop very sophisticated data analytics skill sets to manage these very large and complicated forms of information. Employers place a premium on these business analytics skill sets and would include: Advanced Excel (power query & pivot) & macros; 2. Data visualization (Tableau, Power BI & python w/ seaborn & matplotlib); 3. Data mining/RapidMiner, machine learning & data science; 4. Python & Jupyter notebook (data analytics & statistical libraries such as pandas, numpy); 5. Relational data models (Excel data model); 6. Graphic & statistical libraries (Seaborn, Matplotlib, Pandas, & Plotly). See our Business Analytics minor at: wmich.edu/infosystems/academics/analytics However, I would recommend complimenting the above skill sets with bringing in some cloud-based software and technology that gets us beyond manually updating and coding giant colored Excel spreadsheets. For example, I have been collaborating with N-Alpha and they have a cloud platform called materialx that I am bringing into the classroom (n-alpha.com/solutions/decision-support/). It gets us away from manually updating spreadsheets. Further, these technology software companies tend to be very supportive in helping faculty and students as these students will eventually become the future business professionals that actually use the technology (win-win-win, right?). And the technology is out there! We will soon have some white papers from our WMU SCM program based on the following price analysis & strategic cost management research. Some of our alumni are already testing and / or implementing these cloud-based services that allows procurement organizations, finance, and all other organizations that are exposed to raw material pricing changes, to stay on top of market pricing from multiple sources and proactively assess its impact on future raw material purchases. These technologies are also now serving as the basis for addressing price indexing implementations (formulas, alerts, etc.). It can all be done automatically and updated daily, saving hours from manually updating spreadsheets. These tools are quick and easy to use to prepare for price negotiations with suppliers, and often returns its investment (which is minimal to begin with) rapidly. These technologies also allow organizations to replace multiple spreadsheets and email threads with one tool that tracks pricing, facilitates collaborative decisions, revisiting past decisions and what led to them, and capturing organizational knowledge. I have asked many of my former students what are the most prevalent technologies used in your supply chain and business role. The two most common answers are Excel spreadsheets and email. It is 2023 now and we need to move further along. You could make a strong case that using antiquated business tools was a major source of supply chain disruptions the last few years. My former students keep telling me they are the “Excel Spreadsheet” generation. Excel works and they have very advanced spreadsheet skills. They also tell me that it gives them a competitive advantage in the workplace (i.e., people depend on their monthly report outs per se and very important people read them). The older managers have very weak Excel skills and even the younger graduates coming in have to play catch up to the people that are in their 30s and 40s (that have very advanced Excel skills). My former students also feel very comfortable with Excel. Many of these spreadsheets are their own creation and they find it empowering. In general, it works, it works well, it gets the job done, they feel comfortable with this version of technology while most others do not feel comfortable with it, the technology itself is cheap, and it gives them job security. Some said it took years to build up these spreadsheets, and now they are up and running. However, as I teach my current students, there are alternatives rooted in technology that will allow you to do things better, faster, and cheaper. Final Thought In talking with a colleague, we both agreed that many hiring managers do not have a full understanding of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) skill sets associated with our graduating students. Our business students told us many times that their hiring managers valued only the traditional Excel capabilities (i.e., lookup functions, pivot tables, etc. - however, that is NOT AI). Managers also greatly overlook the opportunities from other analytical solutions (skill sets that our students have). This makes it a bit difficult to sell the analytical techniques taught in classes that go beyond our Advances Excel and Predictive Analytics courses. For example, our data mining class is essentially a machine learning class for business, which is the core of AI. The course is designed to solve the problems that Excel falls short on. Hopefully we do a better job of training our students to “sell” the AI skills and managers become more open to embracing the benefits (which might require a culture change). Embracing and trying new technologies requires leadership that is willing to try new things. Otherwise, we keep using spreadsheets and email to manage very large and complicated data sets.

[@simecurkovic]

Supply Chain Management (and Operations) made the list. 43% (SCM)/65% (Ops) large impact - "refers to tasks that will be fully automated or significantly altered by AI technologies." In case you want to see what we cover in our AI course, see the screenshot below. Our analytics faculty have built an AI course in our business college (CIS 5550) to cover all kinds of AI for business applications. AI embedded modules in existing courses will be added. www.visualcapitalist.com/charted-the-jobs-most-impacted-by-ai/ Charted: The Jobs Most Impacted by AI How Global Companies Use AI to Prevent Supply Chain Disruptions: lnkd.in/eZZ_zxb3:. How Machine Learning Will Transform SCM (our data mining class): lnkd.in/evuy-3yZ. Hmm...“American college students are behind in using AI in their studies compared to their foreign counterparts.” lnkd.in/gngZxKry. Maybe not...This is the whole reason that we created our new AI course - to create AI awareness and skills, and it is designed for non-technical majors. Per conversations with our CIS faculty… Generative AI is just a small set of AI. Comparing the use of it across countries might not give you a whole picture of AI use by students. Our faculty have been very clear that WMU’s education strategy should not be just about ChatGPT or generative AI. There is a whole lot more AI coming our way. The key to our educational survival is to master the symbiotic relationships with AI, especially the kind of symbiosis that gives you a lasting competitive edge. Buying an AI program as a cheap way to get that “edge” might not last long. The entry barrier is too low. Anyone buying that program will be as good or even better than you. WMU also offers new course on the intersection of AI and writing: lnkd.in/g476QVTS. How will AI impact your future? lnkd.in/g4cci-tA AI @ WMU: A Deep Dive into the Resources: lnkd.in/g2EZvtPz. lnkd.in/gDRwA3iA lnkd.in/gtwzctNi WMU-Facing the future: AI is evolving at warp speed-but at what cost? lnkd.in/ggVYhDPV. Will AI really kill the tools we teach like Excel? Would you trust the developer who built your software with a 3rd party code generation tool? Maybe. We are not going to stop teaching Excel in very sophisticated ways. All of our supply chain majors are required to take: CIS 2640 Predictive Data Analytics (Excel on steroids): lnkd.in/dQABdsXc. So, Excel + AI = more SCM success. We all agree there is nothing wrong w/ using these code generators as long as you understand the generated code & know how to fix it when needed. Rarely will the generated code be enough to suit your needs. The more realistic scenario is to use the tool to generate the base code & modify it manually for the intended problems. Many orgs PROBABLY do not want their employees to use AI for any calculations like this. So, in all of the above scenarios, skills in our Adv Excel class (& all of our Data Analytics classes) are still relevant. hashtag#ai hashtag#artificialintelligence hashtag#supplychainmanagement hashtag#technology hashtag#bigdata

[@simecurkovic]

Subject: Read: Business Analytics Minor and AI (I think this minor keeps you from ever being a victim of technology). Students (see the end of this from my former students): Is AI your next threat and do you believe the following?... “American college students are behind in using AI in their studies compared to their foreign counterparts.” I disagree, but you have to take the initiative (CIS 5550). More on this at the end. Here is information on the Business (Data) Analytics minor. Every single one of you has what it takes to learn this if you so choose (zero doubt in my mind). Most jobs will require making sense of large amounts of data. The next two years will generate more data than all previous years combined for example. Read the examples below from my former students that say CIS 2640 saved them (this is the Advanced Excel class). Note, we just made CIS 2640 a required SCM major class. Why? Employers said they would not hire our students if they did not take it. Warning: it becomes way easier to get an internship if you have already taken CIS 2640. Why? Most internships require that you look at large data sets. This could be a deal breaker in your professional lives... The following CIS courses develop your Business Analytic skills: The BA Minor: CIS 1020 (Business Computing), CIS 2640 (Business Analysis and Reporting), CIS 2650 (Programming for Data Analytics), CIS 3640 (Business Analytics), and CIS 4640 (Business Data Mining). The trend line is very positive for this skill set. Business Analytics (BA) addresses an increasing demand in organizations of all types to understand data related to their operations. Investments in information systems throughout the enterprise for the last 10-25 years are generating tremendous amounts of data, and companies will spend at least the next 10 years developing processes that generate insight from those data. In addition to data generated internally, many companies are exploring the effects of external data, primarily present in social media or web search. The ability to manage data and conduct business projects are the key to success in many disciplines. BA will provide a comprehensive skill set for students to analyze, visualize and report data. The CIS and ISM/SCM programs have industry advisory boards supporting this skill set. Here is my thought on the BA minor and how to sell CIS 2650 to employers... First of all, CIS 2650 is not just a "Python" class, but instead a Python class for analytics (big difference). In a traditional Python class, people teach Python straight for the whole semester with tons of syntax, data structure, software development, etc. That type of class is mostly designed for CIS and CS majors. What we do is different. It is Python in a popular analytics platform (more technically speaking, it is Python in Jupyter, which is an analytics platform that data science and business analytics programs do). Can you imagine what an employer will think if they see Python in Jupyter on your resume? The reason for this design is the following: We studied the top skills in analytics jobs and Python was among the top skills. The visualization libraries in Python can produce the kind of visualizations not available in Tableau and Power BI. Students will be able to differentiate themselves from other schools. This will be huge in the next Gartner Top 20 Undergrad SCM program rankings. We are ahead of the curve, but only slightly (Penn State is right there with us on this stuff). Tableau and Power BI recently added Python or Python + Jupyter because certain Python analytics and visualization are not available in Tableau and Power BI. Using them together makes it a powerful analytics solution (e.g., the ability to transform visualization into implementable actions). All data scientists stress the importance of Python in analytics programs. Note, "data scientist" is one of the fastest growing career paths with escalating salaries because not enough people are good at this stuff. Python are "R" are both number one and two in analytics, but Python is easier to learn compared to R. Past experience in the ISM program (3+ semesters of experience in CIS 2650) shows that non-technical students (ISM, marketing, accounting, etc.) are able to handle the content that we designed. Python + Jupyter (or its variant) are used in Big Data (Hadoop, Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, etc.). It can also be used with/on SAP HANA, IoT, AI, Blockchain, and smart contracts to implement supply chain visibility, and other SC related solutions, etc. Meeting the needs of today's employers is important, but offering a program that does that plus something that can differentiate our students from other schools sounds even better. Compared to the analytics programs from the schools that we benchmarked, our students can do so much more. By the way, CIS 2650 has been in the minor for several semesters now.

[@simecurkovic]

ASCM/APICS now has a Supply Chain Technology Certificate, $495, 20 hrs of online training (hmm). Topics covered: Blockchain, Adv Analytics & Automation, Internet of Things, Cybersecurity, Demand Planning Technologies, & Additive Mfg (3D Printing). This covers a LOT of ground in 20 hrs. lnkd.in/gbrJJa9v. For example, see their Adv Analytics & Automation…Objectives: 1. Define adv analytics & automation. 2. Compare & contrast descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, prescriptive, & cognitive analytics. 3. Explain the process of data mining & challenges the process can present to a company. 4. Discuss data storage options & cloud computing security concerns. 5. Describe how AI & ML are used in SCM. 6. List some of the skills employees need to work w/ adv analytics & automation. Our Supply Chain students minor in Data Analytics by learning: 1. Advanced Excel (power query & pivot) & macros; 2. Data visualization (Tableau, Power BI & python w/ seaborn & matplotlib); 3. Data mining/RapidMiner, machine learning & data science; 4. Python & Jupyter notebook (data analytics & statistical libraries such as pandas, numpy); 5. Relational data models (Excel data model); 6. Graphic & statistical libraries (Seaborn, Matplotlib, Pandas, & Plotly). lnkd.in/guvjPb_V These analytics skill sets require our SCM students to take an additional 4 classes (so > 500 hrs of class & study time). Also, we teach it face to face because they learn this stuff best via hand holding (not online as we learned during the covid era). Note, the lack of interactivity & support at Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) usually causes a super low retention rate (9% - 16%). I hope the ASCM certificate addresses that many hiring managers do not have a full understanding of the AI skill sets associated w/ a data analytics education. Our SCM students told us many times that their hiring managers valued only the traditional Excel capabilities (lookup functions, pivot tables, etc. - that is NOT AI), & they greatly overlooked the opportunities from other analytical solutions (skill sets that our students & many employees have). This makes it a bit difficult to sell the analytical techniques that go beyond super advanced Excel, which would be our CIS 2640 class (Excel on steroids) - Applied Analytics Foundations. For example, our data mining class is essentially a machine learning class for business, which is the core of AI. The course is designed to solve the problems that Excel falls short on. Hopefully we do a better job of training our students to “sell” the AI skills & managers (SCM Leaders) become more open to embracing the benefits (which might require a culture change). I hope this ASCM cert helps close that gap. Note, I do not see Python in the ASCM cert. Is Python a must-have skill in the supply chain? lnkd.in/dcEJuZJX. How much Python? lnkd.in/e6Rmzpw & lnkd.in/gKFZXX_h. hashtag#supplychain hashtag#bigdata hashtag#dataanalytics

[@simecurkovic]

This describes our Python class (CIS 2650): First of all, CIS 2650 is not just a "Python" class, but instead a Python class for analytics (big difference). In a traditional Python class, people teach Python straight for the whole semester with tons of syntax, data structure, software development, etc. That type of class is mostly designed for CIS and CS majors. What we do is different. It is Python in a popular analytics platform (more technically speaking, it is Python in Jupyter, which is an analytics platform that data science and business analytics programs do). Can you imagine what an employer will think if they see Python in Jupyter on your resume? The reason for this design is the following: We studied the top skills in analytics jobs and Python was among the top skills. The visualization libraries in Python can produce the kind of visualizations not available in Tableau and Power BI. Students will be able to differentiate themselves from other schools. This will be huge in the next Gartner Top 20 Undergrad SCM program rankings. We are ahead of the curve, but only slightly (Penn State is right there with us on this stuff). Tableau and Power BI recently added Python or Python+Jupyter because certain Python analytics and visualization are not available in Tableau and Power BI. Using them together makes it a powerful analytics solution (e.g., the ability to transform visualization into implementable actions). All data scientists stress the importance of Python in analytics programs. Note, "data scientist" is one of the fastest growing career paths with escalating salaries because not enough people are good at this stuff. Python are "R" are both number one and two in analytics, but Python is easier to learn compared to R. Past experience in the ISM program (3+ semesters of experience in CIS 2650) shows that non-technical students (ISM, marketing, accounting, etc.) are able to handle the content that we designed. Python + Jupyter (or its variant) are used in Big Data (Hadoop, Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, etc.). It can also be used with/on SAP HANA, IoT, AI, Blockchain, and smart contracts to implement supply chain visibility, and other SC related solutions, etc. Meeting the needs of today's employers is important, but offering a program that does that plus something that can differentiate our students from other schools sounds even better. Compared to the analytics programs from the schools that we benchmarked, our students can do so much more.

[@simecurkovic]

What CEOs talked about in Q3/2022: Economic slowdown, raw materials, and Industry 4.0 iot-analytics.com/what-ceos-talked-about-q3-2022/ #3 Key upcoming theme: Industry 4.0 On a much smaller scale than the previously mentioned topics, Industry 4.0 was discussed by 0.4% of all CEOs in Q3/2022 (+113% since Q2/2022). By nature, Industry 4.0 primarily applies to the manufacturing industry. The recently published IoT Signals Report-Manufacturing Spotlight (August 2022), jointly published by IoT Analytics, Microsoft, and Intel, shows that 72% of manufacturers have to date partially or fully implemented a smart factory strategy. Despite the prevalence of the pandemic, looming recession, inflation, and global supply chain issues in the past year(s), manufacturers are determined to fast-track their digital transformation projects in the next three years. With some companies having made significant Industry 4.0 investments several years back, implementation success stories are now entering earnings calls, as some of the quotes below show. “We have our factories. Some of them are already at industry 4.0. And all of these investments and strategies are paying off.” Judy Marks - Chief Executive Officer, Otis Worldwide, 27 July 2022 “Factory automation is something that we have been doing for a number of years. I think about the Iver facility we have at Pratt Canada that went online more than five years ago, completely lights out manufacturing. So we have been making investments, I’ll call it, an industry 4.0 across all of our factories. We’ve got the new project down in Dallas, the new factory, automated factory that’s going in down there” Greg Hayes - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Raytheon Technologies, 26 July 2022

[@simecurkovic]

11 trendy things we are doing in the WMU ISM supply chain program… 1. Global Negotiation: The fastest growing class in the WMU ISM program - lnkd.in/guTUcvdu ___ 2. Getting hit with a price increase? We will be looking at raw material market data from multiple sources, we will visualize and analyze historical pricing scenarios, & do some simulating on planned purchases & what-if scenarios against forward price curves. Managers love this cloud platform. lnkd.in/gJnbxSBk ___ 3. We use LLamasoft - which is now part of Coupa. The software, called Supply Chain Guru, is used as a network design software to build, model, & test the “best” supply chain networks based on total cost & customer demand. Additionally, students have access to Coupa’s online learning platform where we use various SCM learning modules to enhance class learning. ___ 4. Through a hands-on ERP/SAP software configuration project, students learn how information tech can help a firm manage its business processes. Mgmt issues associated w/ implementing & managing ERP systems, such as project mgmt, configuration control, training, system testing & change mgmt, are explored. ScrimmageSim is also used & is a simulation that is designed to operate like a real company’s ERP system. ___ 5. Students continue to get professional work experience during covid w/ “A3” & “DMAIC” projects. Problem solving has kept moving up & is now #1 as the most sought after skill set by employers! lnkd.in/g_nGqv-u ___ 6. Fall 2022: We will be offering Lean Six Sigma Continuous Improvement Certifications to undergrad supply chain students in our capstone Applied Process Reengineering class. ___ 7. We teach Indirect Procurement from an industry standard that we helped create. 113,000 unfilled jobs in Indirect Procurement on LinkedIn, & > 4,000 MRO Buyer jobs not filled! lnkd.in/gFrGvpCA ___ 8. We teach ArcGIS Pro technology & other SCM risk tools such as FMEA. lnkd.in/ghC4p2hP and lnkd.in/eGtJhvRy ___ 9. Why do our grads interact so well w/ engineers? We make them take engineering classes. lnkd.in/gf7q_3PF ___ 10. SCM+NPD=Competitive Advantage. WMU has one of the best Product Design Programs in the world & ISM is going to collaborate w/ the program’s transdisciplinary approach to incorporating product design w/ engineering & business principles (i.e., SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT). lnkd.in/gvdUGFvC ___ 11. And of course, Business Data Analytics: *Advanced Excel (power query & power pivot) & macros *Data visualization (Tableau, Power BI and python with seaborn & matplotlib) *Data mining, machine learning & data science *Python & Jupyter notebook (data analytics & statistical libraries such as pandas, numpy) *Relational data models (Excel data model) *Graphic & statistical libraries (Seaborn, Matplotlib, Pandas,& Plotly) lnkd.in/gf_UWz5x lnkd.in/gKV4dw2z lnkd.in/gHnUrVZz lnkd.in/g9pgFErz

[@simecurkovic]

“You can see this in the figure below, which shows data on job postings by non-technology companies tied to skills around artificial intelligence, robotic process automation & data science/analytics.” From Gartner: lnkd.in/gcs-xgxV “Walmart deployed AI-powered negotiations software w/ a text-based interface (i.e., a chatbot) to connect w/ suppliers.” lnkd.in/gF5qT_im How to approach a new technology investment, based on what I have seen in software & professional services: For example, If a company wanted to get started w/ using RPA, where & how should they begin? lnkd.in/eQYrHUM. FYI, a great post on RPA by Mr. Stankovic: lnkd.in/gM6PcT-m. From me: Have you heard of RPA? That is basically software that makes use of ML & AI to do routine manual SCM activities like process a PO. These processes tend to be manually driven. However, that RPA software is learning from itself on how to do things better, faster, & cheaper. For example, RPA could start saying things like: I think we are paying too much, I think we should be using a different supplier, I think we are ordering in the wrong quantities, etc. The RPA software might actually decide to reopen the contract & have suppliers rebid on the business & the RPA might actually pick the new supplier. Yes, there will likely be human intervention for any activities that are “strategic”. I have a former student who went on to become a technology consultant & I asked him: if a company wanted to get started with using RPA, where & how should they begin in general? See his response below. Let’s just say the student has become the teacher. 1. Have a very specific use case for implementing RPA. This requires research on behalf of your company. If you approach it with a general attitude that says, “Let’s have robots do all the work”, you will end up paying a consulting firm loads of money to evaluate your business for RPA opportunities, only to hear them tell you what you could have figured out on your own. 2. It would be better to research industry peers to see what they are doing with RPA, THEN engage a consulting firm to help you implement an RPA solution that is focused on specific business processes. If you are looking for general help w/ where to start on RPA, perhaps do not jump into outsourcing the research to consulting/tech firms. It might be best to engage a consulting firm for the implementation of an RPA solution, but not for general advisement on where to start. Most high-level assessments can be overly priced in my experience & do not always add tons of value. RPA is a cool technology but I have seen limited adoption with the mid-market companies I work with. It seems more popular with the F500 because they can afford the investment. In my opinion...lnkd.in/eQYrHUM. #roboticprocessautomation #rpa #supplychain

[@simecurkovic]

“You can see this in the figure below, which shows data on job postings by non-technology companies tied to skills around artificial intelligence, robotic process automation & data science/analytics.” From Gartner: lnkd.in/gcs-xgxV www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7034859177634107392? “Walmart deployed AI-powered negotiations software w/ a text-based interface (i.e., a chatbot) to connect w/ suppliers.” lnkd.in/gF5qT_im How to approach a new technology investment, based on what I have seen in software & professional services: For example, If a company wanted to get started w/ using RPA, where & how should they begin? lnkd.in/eQYrHUM. FYI, a great post on RPA by Mr. Stankovic: lnkd.in/gM6PcT-m. From me: Have you heard of RPA? That is basically software that makes use of ML & AI to do routine manual SCM activities like process a PO. These processes tend to be manually driven. However, that RPA software is learning from itself on how to do things better, faster, & cheaper. For example, RPA could start saying things like: I think we are paying too much, I think we should be using a different supplier, I think we are ordering in the wrong quantities, etc. The RPA software might actually decide to reopen the contract & have suppliers rebid on the business & the RPA might actually pick the new supplier. Yes, there will likely be human intervention for any activities that are “strategic”. I have a former student who went on to become a technology consultant & I asked him: if a company wanted to get started with using RPA, where & how should they begin in general? See his response below. Let’s just say the student has become the teacher. 1. Have a very specific use case for implementing RPA. This requires research on behalf of your company. If you approach it with a general attitude that says, “Let’s have robots do all the work”, you will end up paying a consulting firm loads of money to evaluate your business for RPA opportunities, only to hear them tell you what you could have figured out on your own. 2. It would be better to research industry peers to see what they are doing with RPA, THEN engage a consulting firm to help you implement an RPA solution that is focused on specific business processes. If you are looking for general help w/ where to start on RPA, perhaps do not jump into outsourcing the research to consulting/tech firms. It might be best to engage a consulting firm for the implementation of an RPA solution, but not for general advisement on where to start. Most high-level assessments can be overly priced in my experience & do not always add tons of value. RPA is a cool technology but I have seen limited adoption with the mid-market companies I work with. It seems more popular with the F500 because they can afford the investment. In my opinion...lnkd.in/eQYrHUM. #roboticprocessautomation #rpa #supplychain

[@simecurkovic]

Is Python a must-have skill in the supply chain? lnkd.in/dcEJuZJX. How much Python do I need? lnkd.in/e6Rmzpw. I had a SCM professional ask: “I don’t even know basic python yet . I want to get to the more advanced items but I am not ready yet . I’ve done research into different courses but there are so many basic courses, I’m not sure which one is actually useful for someone looking to do supply chain analysis.” Some options: You could try one of those intro python classes at Coursera or Udemy. Just a word of warning, the lack of interactivity and support at those MOOCs usually causes a super low retention rate (9% - 16%). The person needs quite a bit of dedication to successfully finish it. After that, look for a second course in analytics, data science or machine learning using python. This assumes they are interested in using python for those. Otherwise, invest time in pre-built specialized software packages (e.g., Rapidminer, XLminer, Knime, SAS, SPSS, etc.). I kind of like these bootcamps from high profile schools but it seems to be an aggressive design. Each of the topics listed under their “Market-Driven Skills” is usually a semester-long course. I am not sure if they are targeting people with some experience in these areas. But, yes, they seem to be interesting programs. The same thing applies to analytics certificates offered through MOOCs, such as Coursera, EdX and others. One caveat that SCM grads should know is that many of these online programs lack the required hand-holding experience. This is why the retention rates of MOOCs are usually in single digits. We find that this hand-holding experience is essential to motivate students to complete the training. MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course. It is an online course that is designed to be open and accessible to a large number of participants. MOOCs offer a flexible learning environment, allowing participants to learn at their own pace and from anywhere in the world. MOOCs are typically delivered through an online platform that provides access to course materials, videos, quizzes, and discussion forums. MOOCs are usually free and open to anyone who wants to enroll. Some MOOCs may also offer a paid option to receive a verified certificate of completion or academic credit. MOOCs are offered by a variety of institutions, including universities, educational organizations, and private companies. MOOCs have gained popularity in recent years because they offer a convenient and cost-effective way to learn new skills and advance your career. They cover a wide range of topics, from computer science and engineering to business and the humanities. #python #supplychain #mooc #dataanalytics #bigdata

[@latrenzoyada1807]

When you mentioned python, what exactly should one learn to do with it? I'm not a fan of coding tbh, but I'm willing to learn what is necessary. Also,, could you list the software you suggest for SCM students to learn (also any you didn't mention in the video)? Finally, thanks for the video, I'm a first year student in the UK and I'm doing my best to prepare for my future

[@simecurkovic]

Hi Latrenzo, this describes our Python class (CIS 2650): CIS 2650 is not just a "Python" class, but instead a Python class for analytics (big difference). In a traditional Python class, people teach Python straight for the whole semester with tons of syntax, data structure, software development, etc. That type of class is mostly designed for CIS and CS majors. What we do is different. It is Python in a popular analytics platform (more technically speaking, it is Python in Jupyter, which is an analytics platform that data science and business analytics programs do). Can you imagine what an employer will think if they see Python in Jupyter on your resume? The reason for this design is the following: We studied the top skills in analytics jobs and Python was among the top skills. The visualization libraries in Python can produce the kind of visualizations not available in Tableau and Power BI. Students will be able to differentiate themselves from other schools. This will be huge in the next Gartner Top 20 Undergrad SCM program rankings. We are ahead of the curve, but only slightly (Penn State is right there with us on this stuff). Tableau and Power BI recently added Python or Python+Jupyter because certain Python analytics and visualization are not available in Tableau and Power BI. Using them together makes it a powerful analytics solution (e.g., the ability to transform visualization into implementable actions). All data scientists stress the importance of Python in analytics programs. Note, "data scientist" is one of the fastest growing career paths with escalating salaries because not enough people are good at this stuff. Python are "R" are both number one and two in analytics, but Python is easier to learn compared to R. Past experience in the ISM program (3+ semesters of experience in CIS 2650) shows that non-technical students (ISM, marketing, accounting, etc.) are able to handle the content that we designed. Python + Jupyter (or its variant) are used in Big Data (Hadoop, Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, etc.). It can also be used with/on SAP HANA, IoT, AI, Blockchain, and smart contracts to implement supply chain visibility, and other SC related solutions, etc. Meeting the needs of today's employers is important, but offering a program that does that plus something that can differentiate our students from other schools sounds even better. Compared to the analytics programs from the schools that we benchmarked, our students can do so much more.

[@simecurkovic]

Latrenzo, also, read my other comments in these comments sections. It might be helpful. Thank you. Sime

[@latrenzoyada1807]

@@simecurkovic thanks for your reply. So obviously I won't be able to join the course you listed as I'm in the UK, but just to confirm, you would say to learn python with a focus on the data analytics side (as well as all the other information you listed)?

[@simecurkovic]

@@latrenzoyada1807 Correct. Python is a nice tool for statistics, machine learning and data mining. Most students that are learning Python for data analysis, they must be learning in the Jupyter environment. This combination offers a wealth of data analysis and visualization tools, which are covered in our CIS 2650 class. This past summer, one of our CIS faculty had a chance to speak with other data analytics faculty at a major conferences and showcase our analytics curriculum. At that time, students from other schools had little exposure to Python + Jupyter. They sure are moving fast in this area. Just make sure the learning you do is rooted in data analytics and not computer/software engineering. A business analytics course taught in a business college by a business college professor is a safe bet.

[@simecurkovic]

I am very comfortable in saying Python and R are the two most popular languages in analytics, but I think Python prevails.

[@simecurkovic]

Great read… hbr.org/2024/03/how-machine-learning-will-transform-supply-chain-management How Machine Learning Will Transform Supply Chain Management Note, we cover this in our CIS 4640 Business Data Mining class which is the capstone class in our Business Analytics minor. The forecast-driven idea is something that our CIS faculty have been selling to SCM students in this course. In fact, more than 70% of the class is about forecasting and predicting. We specifically talk about data quality treatment strategies to reduce forecasting/prediction errors. CIS 4640 - Business Data Mining: This course focuses on the theoretical understanding & practical applications of data mining as a decision support tool. Specifically, it covers several types of modeling techniques & tools such as prediction, classification, segmentation & association detection algorithms. Students are introduced to the state-of-the-art data mining applications software such as SAS Enterprise Miner or SPSS Clementine for their class assignments & term project. Another thought, one thing often not mentioned is the attitude of hiring managers, as many do not have a full understanding of the AI and/or automation skill sets of graduating students. Our SCM students told us many times that their hiring managers valued only the traditional Excel capabilities (lookup functions, pivot tables, etc. - that is NOT AI), & they greatly overlooked the opportunities from other analytical solutions (skill sets that our students have). This makes it a bit difficult to sell the analytical techniques taught in classes that go BEYOND our CIS 2640 (Excel on steroids) - Applied Analytics Foundations. For example, our data mining class is essentially a machine learning class for business, which is the core of AI. The course is designed to solve the problems that Excel falls short on. Hopefully we do a better job of training our students to “sell” the AI skills & managers (SCM Leaders) become more open to embracing the benefits (which might require a culture change). Employers: many SCM students going into the workforce have these skill sets: 1. Advanced Excel (power query & pivot) & macros; 2. Data visualization (Tableau,Power BI & python w/ seaborn & matplotlib); 3. Data mining/RapidMiner, machine learning & data science; 4. Python & Jupyter notebook (data analytics & statistical libraries such as pandas, numpy); 5. Relational data models (Excel data model); 6. Graphic & statistical libraries (Seaborn,Matplotlib,Pandas, & Plotly). lnkd.in/eqiqSMRb You will be glad to hear that (Anaconda+Jupyter Notebook+Python+visualization libraries) is what we have been teaching in CIS 2650 since the course was created. CIS courses in our BA minor: lnkd.in/gxHRzjkE. Is Python a must-have skill in the supply chain? How much Python do I need? lnkd.in/gtmcDtmW. CIS 2640 (Our Predictive Data Analytics class, Excel on steroids): lnkd.in/dQABdsXc. lnkd.in/er3xiWj & lnkd.in/dcEJuZJX. Grad Cert: lnkd.in/gJetuSjB.

[@simecurkovic]

As a new field like supply chain digitization evolves, people are still trying to figure out the essential components that characterize it. This is the reason that people offer certificates in digital supply chain in all kinds of flavor. For example, some schools take a high-level managerial approach, some take an ERP+BI+PM approach, & others take an analytics+strategic planning approach. One issue with the mini MBA in Digital Supply Chain programs is not their high level managerial approach per se, but perhaps the usefulness on what they predict will be super useful. They could be wrong for example on dedicating an entire course to Robotic Process Automation per se (which some Big 10 schools do). The “Digital” transformation is getting VERY popular these days. We have heard of Industry 4.0 (lnkd.in/eZfHNqy), but in reality it is SCM 4.0. For digitization to work, manual processes have to be digitized/automated & eventually analyzed. Converting manual to digitized versions requires someone with a good knowledge on systems analysis & design, data storage & information retrieval. A lot of orgs have gone past this stage, but they are facing the next problem - data analysis. Data are collected, but no one knows what to do with it. That’s where our Business Analytics minor comes in as an undergrad. If you lack these skills, go get your MS in Data Analytics. As a new field like SCM digitization evolves, people are still trying to figure out the essential parts that characterize it. This is the reason that certs/degrees in digital SCM exist in all kinds of flavor. In conclusion, get a grad degree because the data says it will make you more successful. I would do it in something that you are bad at & will be very important. SCM Finance (lnkd.in/e2TztjY) will always be important. In the near term, Industry 4.0 will transform SCM orgs & the skills req'd of them (Big Data).

[@simecurkovic]

Great read from Dr. Handfield as always: lnkd.in/g3bCXtDF. Notice the part that says: “A good example of how AI can improve procurement productivity is the Merlin AI Studio by Zycus. Our research shows that over 35% of a procurement analyst’s time is spent on transactional work,…” From Sime: AI will likely have the greatest impact on SCM through the 2020s. However, one thing often not mentioned is the attitude of the hiring managers. In talking w/ a colleague, we both agreed that many hiring managers do not have a full understanding of the AI skill sets associated w/ our graduating students. Our SCM students told us many times that their hiring managers valued only the traditional Excel capabilities (lookup functions, pivot tables, etc. - that is NOT AI), & they greatly overlooked the opportunities from other analytical solutions (skill sets that our students have). This makes it a bit difficult to sell the analytical techniques taught in classes that go BEYOND our CIS 2640 (Excel on steroids) - Applied Analytics Foundations course. For example, our data mining class is essentially a machine learning class for business, which is the core of AI. The course is designed to solve the problems that Excel falls short on. Hopefully we do a better job of training our students to “sell” the AI skills & managers (SCM Leaders) become more open to embracing the benefits (which might require a culture change). Great reads from Fortune/Accenture. lnkd.in/gdiQ-GTW In a recent report on A.I. adoption from Accenture: lnkd.in/gx996a8n *Only 12% of 1,200 orgs it looked at globally have advanced their A.I. maturity to the stage where they are seeing superior growth & business transformation. 1) they have “industrialized” A.I. tools & processes, & that they have created a strong A.I. core team. 2) Other key factors are organizational too: they have top executives who champion A.I. as a strategic priority; they invest heavily in A.I. talent; they design A.I. responsibly from the start; & they prioritize both long- & short-term A.I. projects. People want more $ & rewarding work (not paperwork, use technology!) - lnkd.in/g7BwX84c lnkd.in/gzpRX6Dd “…most companies’ planning processes are functional, slow & labour-intensive, & that Excel is still the most widely used planning tool.” Predictive Data Analytics (Excel on steroids): lnkd.in/g4byHCqT & lnkd.in/gceUgQw3 Have you heard of RPA? That is basically software that makes use of ML & AI to do routine manual SCM activities like process a PO. lnkd.in/eQYrHUM Top 12 Skills You Need To Become a Data Scientist. lnkd.in/gwrjksAa. There are ONLY 500K unfilled SCM Data Science jobs. The majority of the data in the world was created in the last 2 years! lnkd.in/gGk58g8V. AI can help manage the supply chain. So what’s the delay? lnkd.in/gD3rA8JB #SupplyChainTechnology #artificialintelligence #supplychain

[@simecurkovic]

For more information: www.simecurkovic.com/2022/02/02/i-have-had-several-people-ask-me-about-industry-4-0-or-supply-chain-4-0-or-digitization-of-the-supply-chain/ www.simecurkovic.com/2022/02/10/scm-data-scientist-171k-jobs-on-linkedin-does-your-school-teach-this-we-do/ www.simecurkovic.com/2022/01/14/if-you-want-to-specialize-in-data-become-a-supply-chain-analyst-25000-jobs-on-linkedin-supply-chain-data-scientist-171000-jobs-on-linkedin-thats-all-python-is-a-must-have-skill/ www.simecurkovic.com/2022/02/10/fyi-international-students-majoring-in-business-analytics-at-wmu-can-get-a-3-year-visa-extension-for-their-opts/ www.simecurkovic.com/2022/02/02/even-though-supply-chain-makes-lake-superior-state-universitys-list-of-banned-terms-for-2022/

[@simecurkovic]

Our data mining class (CIS 4640) is essentially a machine learning class for business, which is the core of Artificial Intelligence (agreed?). Our SCM students also told us many times that their hiring managers valued mostly the traditional Excel capabilities (lookup functions, pivot tables, etc.), & they greatly overlooked the opportunities from other analytical solutions (that our students have!). Again, for example, our data mining class is an ML class, the core of AI. Great reads from Fortune & Accenture. Very important takeaways: A.I. adoption from Accenture: lnkd.in/gx996a8n *Only 12% of 1,200 orgs it looked at globally have advanced their A.I. maturity to the stage where they are seeing superior growth & business transformation. *Another 25% are somewhat advanced in their deployment of A.I., while the rest are still just running pilot projects if anything. What sets that 12% apart?... 1) they have “industrialized” A.I. tools & processes, and that they have created a strong A.I. core team. 2) Other key factors are organizational too: they have top executives who champion A.I. as a strategic priority; they invest heavily in A.I. talent; they design A.I. responsibly from the start; & they prioritize both long- & short-term A.I. projects. From Sime: One thing the article did not mention is the attitude of the hiring managers. In talking with a colleague, we both agreed that many hiring managers do not have a full appreciation or understanding of the AI skill sets associated with our graduating students. Our SCM students told us many times that their hiring managers valued only the traditional Excel capabilities/skill sets (lookup functions, pivot tables, etc.), & they greatly overlooked the opportunities from other analytical solutions. This makes it a bit difficult to sell the analytical techniques taught in classes that go beyond our CIS 2640 - Applied Analytics Foundations course. For example, our data mining class is essentially a machine learning class for business, which is the core of AI. The course is designed to solve the problems that Excel falls short on. Hopefully more students will see the benefits (along with the hiring managers, i.e., SCM Leadership!). Top 12 Skills You Need To Become a Data Scientist. lnkd.in/gwrjksAa. There are ONLY 500,000 unfilled SCM Data Science jobs on LI. Note, “data scientist” is one of the fastest growing career paths w/ escalating salaries & SCM needs more. The majority of the data in the world was created in the last 2 years! lnkd.in/gGk58g8V. AI can help manage the supply chain. So what’s the delay? lnkd.in/gD3rA8JB The needed technology exists, but it’s not being used. 40% of employees at a company across all industries are using the data science & ML platforms their company provides. This number dips to 21% when filtered for orgs in the "logistics" industry. lnkd.in/gi_mFCpt #supplychain #ai #artificialintelligence #dataanalytics

[@simecurkovic]

I have a former student who went on to become a technology consultant and I asked him: if a company wanted to get started with using RPA, where and how should they begin in general? See his response below. Let's just say the student has become the teacher. Hi Sime: I do not have hands-on experience with RPA but here are some points on how to approach a new technology investment, based on what I have seen in software and professional services: 1. Have a very specific use case for implementing RPA. This requires research on behalf of your company. If you approach it with a general attitude that says, "Let's have robots do all the work", you will end up paying a consulting firm loads of money to evaluate your business for RPA opportunities, only to hear them tell you what you could have figured out on your own. 2. It would be better to research industry peers to see what they are doing with RPA, THEN engage a consulting firm to help you implement an RPA solution that is focused on specific business processes. If you are looking for general help with where to start on RPA, I would advise against outsourcing the research to consulting/tech firms. It would be best to engage a consulting/tech firm for the implementation of an RPA solution, but not for general advisement on where to start. Most high-level assessments are a rip-off in my experience and do not add much value. RPA is a cool technology but I have seen limited adoption with the mid-market companies I work with. It seems more popular with Fortune 500 because they can afford the investment. In my opinion, companies of ALL sizes would get more value investing in integration solutions rather than RPA. Integrating disparate systems is a problem that all companies face, and I believe it's a problem of greater importance than automating repetitive tasks.

[@simecurkovic]

Advice from this college professor (aka, educated idiot): 1. People that read make 2.3x more: lnkd.in/ggBDzJrp 2. Learn job saving technology. lnkd.in/eu7ANq6 & lnkd.in/gE3wp6JU 3. Learn to interview well. lnkd.in/ePzz3NG and lnkd.in/eZgTxWc How to prep for virtual career fairs: lnkd.in/evKd-VzQ Being job ready… lnkd.in/ed-ZfanD 4. Learn to negotiate ($). lnkd.in/gMJYNJkh & lnkd.in/guTUcvdu 5. Network & use LinkedIn. lnkd.in/gPZPQtqR & lnkd.in/dAwyTUy & lnkd.in/gFa3iCsg. 6. Delay graduation for experience. lnkd.in/ewKu7b_X 7. Learn to problem solve - lnkd.in/eWaJ8q2 & lnkd.in/gSVTKmwC. 8. Double Major? lnkd.in/gAViGTVG & lnkd.in/gqAE9u8W. 9. Get a grad degree? Earn $3M more. lnkd.in/g5FY5aty & lnkd.in/gA9KH-Ff. 10. Job rotations? lnkd.in/ervskG5 11. 10 college majors that earn the most $: lnkd.in/gcSqXwyJ & lnkd.in/gEXGmFfU. 12. Tool for calculating degree ROI: lnkd.in/gEPwNSTJ & lnkd.in/gsKyJ9rn. 13. Get certified as a SME: lnkd.in/g3yfkvQr & lnkd.in/gVbQV2q7. 14. Learn to talk CFO talk: lnkd.in/gtve9xTM.

[@simecurkovic]

Are Supply Chain professionals using ArcGIS Pro technology? Do you think our SCM students should learn this? Have you heard about supply chain risk lately? ArcGIS is a technology that can help companies manage risk. Nationally, almost zero SCM graduates will have this on their resume. Someone recently asked me about taking GEOG 3010 (our ArcGIS Pro class). GEOG 3010 provides you with a skill set that no other SCM student will ever have. GEOG 3010 - Fundamentals of GIS An introductory course that covers the use and application of geographic information systems (GIS). It combines an overview of general principles of GIS and practical experience in map creation and the use of spatial information, including fundamental aspects of measurement, representation and analysis. Intro GIS focuses on the basics of working with both vector and raster data, as well as the societal aspects of GIS (emerging uses, interaction with new technologies, data standards, public access to information). We upgraded the course to ArcGIS Pro, which works better in online environments; we are going to have a dedicated Mac-user office hour period, for Mac users that will have to use remote desktop or some kind of Windows-on-Mac system; AND we are using COVID and racial disparities data through the semester so that students really get a handle on some of this real data without relying on the interpretation of others. Students will also have access to all of the ESRI tutorials on how to build COVID dashboards (and other dashboards of that type). As a SCM professional, ask yourself: Are you getting all the information you need to proactively manage the supply chain? Can you predict where it could fail and can you take preventative measures? Are you using data from existing systems to create real-time predictive intelligence from maps and spatial analysis that improves performance? Have you strengthened visibility into your supply chain to mitigate disruptions & grow new markets? For feedback on ArcGIS from previous students: lnkd.in/eVp6Cww How much Python do I need to know in order to excel in supply chain? lnkd.in/e6Rmzpw I have had several people ask me about “Industry 4.0”. lnkd.in/eK7yQiRD Do you know how to use Power BI or Tableau? Do not be a victim of technology. lnkd.in/epHAQNDF

[@simecurkovic]

Our SCM students told us many times that their hiring managers valued only the traditional Excel capabilities (lookup functions, pivot tables, etc.), & they greatly overlooked the opportunities from other analytical solutions (that our students have!). For example, our data mining class is essentially a machine learning class for business, which is the core of AI. fortune-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/fortune.com/2022/06/21/andrew-ng-data-centric-ai/amp/ Great reads from Fortune and Accenture. Very important takeaways for me: In a recent report on A.I. adoption from Accenture: lnkd.in/gx996a8n *Only 12% of 1,200 orgs it looked at globally have advanced their A.I. maturity to the stage where they are seeing superior growth & business transformation. *Another 25% are somewhat advanced in their deployment of A.I., while the rest are still just running pilot projects if anything. What sets that 12% apart?... 1) they have “industrialized” A.I. tools & processes, and that they have created a strong A.I. core team. 2) Other key factors are organizational too: they have top executives who champion A.I. as a strategic priority; they invest heavily in A.I. talent; they design A.I. responsibly from the start; & they prioritize both long- & short-term A.I. projects. From Sime: One thing the article did not mention is the attitude of the hiring managers. In talking with a colleague, we both agreed that many hiring managers do not have a full appreciation or understanding of the AI skill sets associated with our graduating students. Our SCM students told us many times that their hiring managers valued only the traditional Excel capabilities/skill sets (lookup functions, pivot tables, etc.), & they greatly overlooked the opportunities from other analytical solutions. This makes it a bit difficult to sell the analytical techniques taught in classes that go beyond our CIS 2640 - Applied Analytics Foundations course. For example, our data mining class is essentially a machine learning class for business, which is the core of AI. The course is designed to solve the problems that Excel falls short on. Hopefully more students will see the benefits (along with the hiring managers, i.e., SCM Leadership!). Top 12 Skills You Need To Become a Data Scientist. lnkd.in/gwrjksAa. There are ONLY 500,000 unfilled SCM Data Science jobs on LI. Note, “data scientist” is one of the fastest growing career paths w/ escalating salaries & SCM needs more. The majority of the data in the world was created in the last 2 years! lnkd.in/gGk58g8V. Artificial intelligence can help manage the supply chain. So what’s the delay? lnkd.in/gD3rA8JB The needed technology exists, but it’s not being used. 40% of employees at a company across all industries are using the data science & machine learning platforms their company provides. However, this number dips down to 21% when filtered for companies in the "logistics" industry. lnkd.in/gi_mFCpt #supplychain #ai #artificialintelligence #dataanalytics #industry4

[@simecurkovic]

You can follow me at: medium.com/@sime.curkovic

[@simecurkovic]

Notice how Production and Supply Chain Management are NOT the front runners in AI adoption & also have the lowest demand for AI talent. Safe to say SCM has historically lagged behind other sectors in technology adoption? Note, many SCM hiring managers do not have a full understanding of the AI skill sets associated w/ a data analytics education. www.visualcapitalist.com/sp/ai-adoption-by-industry/ Our SCM students told us many times that their hiring managers valued only the traditional Excel capabilities (lookup functions, pivot tables, etc. - that is NOT AI), & they greatly overlooked the opportunities from other analytical solutions (skill sets that our students & many employees have). This makes it a bit difficult to sell the analytical techniques that go beyond super advanced Excel, which would be our CIS 2640 class (Excel on steroids) - Applied Analytics Foundations. For example, our data mining class is essentially a machine learning class for business, which is the core of AI. The course is designed to solve the problems that Excel falls short on. Hopefully we do a better job of training our students to “sell” the AI skills & managers (SCM Leaders) become more open to embracing the benefits (which might require a culture change). lnkd.in/geBPVWAD. It would benefit SCM managers to seek out the following skill sets from new hires (this is our Business Analytics minor): 1. Advanced Excel (power query & pivot) & macros; 2. Data visualization (Tableau, Power BI & python w/ seaborn & matplotlib); 3. Data mining/RapidMiner, machine learning & data science; 4. Python & Jupyter notebook (data analytics & statistical libraries such as pandas, numpy); 5. Relational data models (Excel data model); 6. Graphic & statistical libraries (Seaborn, Matplotlib, Pandas, & Plotly). lnkd.in/guvjPb_V In case you want to see what we cover in our AI course, see the screenshot below. We are expanding this list in spring. Our analytics faculty are on top of this AI wave. They have already built an AI course in our business college (CIS 5550) to cover all kinds of AI for business applications. After this course, AI embedded modules in existing courses will be added. See: lnkd.in/gvD75haK A report by Gartner highlighted that while 91% of companies have a supply chain strategy, only 33% have a digital supply chain strategy. This suggests that many companies are still relying on traditional, non-digital supply chain processes. “…most companies’ planning processes are functional, slow and labour-intensive, and that Excel is still the most widely used planning tool.” That is VERY consistent w/ the feedback I get from former students. Predictive Data Analytics (Excel on steroids): I get this kind of feedback all the time…lnkd.in/g9wKx9U7. lnkd.in/g2JdgxMu Note (for college teaching), I would caution from combining too many AI “branches” (see screen shot) into specific single courses that are focused on functional disciplines (i.e., Marketing, Finance, etc.). These courses can be a very aggressive approach by combining too many branches of AI into one single course. You have to ask, do you want the course to be a general “overview” or a “skill-building” course? I would encourage all business disciplines to collaborate (rather than go solo) with their CIS/AI faculty. For us, we have multiple courses in the business college covering a variety branches of AI, so far: 1. AI Introduction: CIS 5550 - Artificial Intelligence in Business 2. Machine learning branch: CIS 4640 - Business Data Mining and CIS 6640 - Predictive Analytics and Data Mining 3. Automation and visualization branch: CIS 3640 - Visual Analytics and CIS 6500 - Visual Analytics 4. Big Data branch: CIS 5650 - Big Data Analytics 5. AI in Functional areas: a. CIS 6410: Financial data analytics b. MKTG 5980 - Artificial Intelligence in Food & Marketing www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7148643252374487040?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28activity%3A7148643252374487040%2C7149023377867837440%29&dashCommentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_comment%3A%287149023377867837440%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7148643252374487040%29 hashtag#dataanalytics hashtag#supplychain hashtag#artificialintelligence hashtag#ai

[@simecurkovic]

Is Python a must-have skill in the supply chain? 200K vacant jobs on LinkedIn say yes. If you want to specialize in data & become a Supply Chain Analyst (25K jobs on LI) / Supply Chain Data Scientist (500K jobs on LI - that's all). www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_programming-languages-for-supply-chain-activity-6981294861631049729--tb6? A while back, I made these points about our CIS 2650 class (Programming for Data Analytics) and our Business Data Analytics minor in general. Do these points still largely apply? We think so. CIS 2650 is not just a Python class, but instead a Python class for analytics. There is a difference there. In a traditional Python class, people teach Python straight for the whole semester with so much of syntax, data structure, software development, etc. That type of class is mostly designed for CIS and CS. What we do is different. It is Python in a popular analytics platform (more technically speaking, it is Python in Jupyter, which is an analytics platform that data science and business analytics programs do). · We studied the top skills in analytics jobs & Python was among the top skills. · The visualization libraries in Python can produce the kind of visualizations not available in Tableau & Power BI. Students will be able to differentiate themselves from other schools. · Tableau & Power BI recently added Python or Python+Jupyter because certain Python analytics & visualization are not available in Tableau and Power BI. Using them together makes it a powerful analytics solution (e.g., the ability to transform visualization into implementable actions). · All data scientists stress the importance of Python in analytics programs. Note, “data scientist” is one of the fastest growing career paths with escalating salaries because not enough people are good at this stuff. · Python are “R” are both number one & two in analytics, but Python is easier to learn compared to R. · Past experience in our SCM program (3+ semesters of experience in CIS 2650) shows that non-technical students (SCM, marketing, accounting, etc.) are able to handle the content that we designed. · Python + Jupyter (or its variant) are used in Big Data (Hadoop, Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, etc.). It can also be used with/on SAP HANA, IoT, AI, Blockchain, and smart contracts to implement supply chain visibility, and other SC related solutions, etc. We believe the above points are still valid. Here is some evidence: · We studied the top skills in analytics jobs & Python was among the top skills. · Python is among the top skills for data analysts (Skill number 4 in the list): lnkd.in/e6r8_KBy · lnkd.in/e7xyUYGs · The visualization libraries in Python can produce the kind of visualizations not available in Tableau & Power BI. Students will be able to differentiate themselves from other schools. How much Python do I need? lnkd.in/e6Rmzpw Will technology replace SCM jobs? lnkd.in/eu7ANq6 See comments. #python #dataanalytics

[@simecurkovic]

I chuckled (kind of) at #2 on the list: "Spreadsheets Do Not Yield The Best Decisions. During the pandemic, 94% of supply chain decisions were made based on spreadsheet analysis. The issue? A spreadsheet cannot adequately model supply chain complexity." www.forbes.com/sites/loracecere/2023/02/20/the-talk-the-supply-chain-leader-needs-to-have-with-their-cfo/?sh=44f0d1876e5d 10 Supply Chain Trends to Watch for in 2022 (ASCM) #1. Advanced analytics Adv analytics & automation will continue to accelerate, helping organizations mitigate disruption via digital, agile supply chain management. The implementation of predictive and prescriptive analytics - as well as advances in big data, algorithms & robotics - will have broad-reaching effects. Specifically, the organizations that harness the power of these solutions will benefit from greater visibility, data-driven decision-making, execution efficiency, predictability and profitability. lnkd.in/gUSGGMmW This class is req'd of every WMU supply chain major: CIS 2640 - Applied Analytics Foundations...This course is designed to train undergraduate students with skills to apply scientific and analytical methods to plan for analytics projects, design data collection methods, clean and analyze data, and report findings. The students will also be trained to interpret the findings from data analysis in a meaningful way. Emphasis will be placed on uncovering insights through visualization, basic analytics techniques, data manipulation, and other methods for intellectual inquiry. That is why the WMU SCM program teaches Big Data w/ skill sets such as: 1. Advanced Excel (power query & pivot) & macros; 2. Data visualization (Tableau, Power BI & python w/ seaborn & matplotlib); 3. Data mining/RapidMiner, machine learning & data science; 4. Python & Jupyter notebook (data analytics & statistical libraries such as pandas, numpy); 5. Relational data models (Excel data model); 6. Graphic & statistical libraries (Seaborn, Matplotlib, Pandas, & Plotly). Predictive Data Analytics (Excel on steroids): I get this kind of feedback all the time, see: lnkd.in/dQABdsXc - You will be glad to hear that (Anaconda + Jupyter Notebook + Python + visualization libraries) is what we have been teaching in CIS 2650 since the course was created. We have no plan to change it unless industry tells us otherwise. Agreed? BA Minor At WMU, students develop the capacity to manage data & conduct business projects through our business analytics minor, finding success in many disciplines. Courses cover: Business intelligence Databases Data mining Predictive analytics Project management Spreadsheets Students analyze, visualize & report data, as well as explore processes to manage business projects. The minor can benefit all departments. Competencies in the knowledge domains of business analytics open the doors of opportunity. #dataanalytics #supplychain #careeradvice

[@simecurkovic]

Our data mining class (CIS 4640) is essentially a machine learning class for business, which is the core of Artificial Intelligence (agreed?). Our SCM students also told us many times that their hiring managers valued mostly the traditional Excel capabilities (lookup functions, pivot tables, etc.), & they greatly overlooked the opportunities from other analytical solutions (that our students have!). Again, for example, our data mining class is an ML class, the core of AI. FYI, starting Fall 2023, we will have numerous SCM majors minoring in the Consumer Packaged Goods industry. www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_autonomous-supply-chain-planning-for-consumer-activity-7000827976892248064-yMfv? Deep learning pioneer Andrew Ng says companies should get ‘data-centric’ to achieve A.I. success: lnkd.in/gdiQ-GTW Great reads from Fortune & Accenture. Very important takeaways: A.I. adoption from Accenture...lnkd.in/gx996a8n *Only 12% of 1,200 orgs it looked at globally have advanced their A.I. maturity to the stage where they are seeing superior growth & business transformation. *Another 25% are somewhat advanced in their deployment of A.I., while the rest are still just running pilot projects if anything. What sets that 12% apart?... 1) they have “industrialized” A.I. tools & processes, and that they have created a strong A.I. core team. 2) Other key factors are organizational too: they have top executives who champion A.I. as a strategic priority; they invest heavily in A.I. talent; they design A.I. responsibly from the start; & they prioritize both long- & short-term A.I. projects. From Sime: One thing the article did not mention is the attitude of the hiring managers. In talking with a colleague, we both agreed that many hiring managers do not have a full appreciation or understanding of the AI skill sets associated with our graduating students. Our SCM students told us many times that their hiring managers valued only the traditional Excel capabilities/skill sets (lookup functions, pivot tables, etc.), & they greatly overlooked the opportunities from other analytical solutions. This makes it a bit difficult to sell the analytical techniques taught in classes that go beyond our CIS 2640 - Applied Analytics Foundations course. For example, our data mining class is essentially a machine learning class for business, which is the core of AI. The course is designed to solve the problems that Excel falls short on. Hopefully more students will see the benefits (along with the hiring managers, i.e., SCM Leadership!). Top 12 Skills You Need To Become a Data Scientist. lnkd.in/gwrjksAa. There are ONLY 500,000 unfilled SCM Data Science jobs on LI. Note, “data scientist” is one of the fastest growing career paths w/ escalating salaries & SCM needs more. The majority of the data in the world was created in the last 2 years! lnkd.in/gGk58g8V. AI can help manage the supply chain. So what’s the delay? lnkd.in/gD3rA8JB #supplychain #ai #artificialintelligence #dataanalytics

[@simecurkovic]

Free classes: www.linkedin.com/posts/shruti-mishraa_microsoft-python-ai-activity-7169625280205053954--LSB? Very cool list, but…Just a word of warning, the lack of interactivity (hand-holding) & support at MOOCs causes a super low retention rate (9% - 16%). MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course. I think/hope we have it covered w/ our students. Generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT, Google Bard, CoPilot, etc.) is a major focus in our new CIS 5550 course. lnkd.in/e2ngRKQc. I kind of like these bootcamps from high profile companies & schools but they seem to have aggressive designs. Often, topics listed under their “Market-Driven Skills” is usually a semester-long course. I am not sure if they are targeting people w/ some experience in these areas. But, they seem to be interesting programs. The same thing applies to analytics certificates offered through MOOCs, such as Coursera, EdX & others. One caveat that future college grads should know is that many of these online programs lack the required hand-holding experience. This is why the retention rates of MOOCs are usually in single digits. We find that this hand-holding experience is essential to motivate students to complete the training. MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course. It is an online course that is designed to be open & accessible to a large number of participants. MOOCs offer a flexible learning environment, allowing participants to learn at their own pace & from anywhere in the world. MOOCs are typically delivered through an online platform that provides access to course materials, videos, quizzes, & discussion forums. MOOCs are usually free & open to anyone who wants to enroll. Some MOOCs may also offer a paid option to receive a verified certificate of completion or academic credit. MOOCs are offered by a variety of institutions, including universities, educational organizations, & private companies. Another example… Is Python a must-have skill in the supply chain? lnkd.in/dcEJuZJX. How much Python do I need? lnkd.in/e6Rmzpw. Our CIS 2650 is not just a Python class, but instead a Python class for analytics. lnkd.in/dcEJuZJX. I had a SCM professional ask: “I don’t even know basic python yet . I want to get to the more advanced items but I am not ready yet . I’ve done research into different courses but there are so many basic courses, I’m not sure which 1 is actually useful for someone looking to do supply chain analysis.” Some options: You could try an intro python classes at Coursera or Udemy. Warning, MOOCs, low retention rate (9% - 16%). The person needs quite a bit of dedication to successfully finish it. After that, look for a 2nd course in analytics, data science or machine learning using python. This assumes they are interested in using python for those. Otherwise, invest time in pre-built specialized software packages (e.g., Rapidminer, XLminer, Knime, SAS, SPSS, etc.). hashtag#supplychainmanagement hashtag#ai hashtag#artificialintelligence hashtag#bigdata

[@simecurkovic]

Did you know that 80% of the global goods trade is transported over sea? FYI: COSCO Shipping (#4 on list) is China’s state-owned shipping company. For context, Chinese state-owned enterprises have ownership stakes in terminals at five U.S. ports. See: lnkd.in/g3AfzPAj? I had a student ask me why don’t all those shipping containers have smart technology attached to them? I said I am very certain some do. He asked what %? I was like a deer in headlights, no idea. I guessed & said < 1%. Per this article, I guessed well: lnkd.in/gC8MrgAC … around 3.6% of the global container equipment fleet was fitted with smart technology devices, representing 30% growth from the year prior. BUT… looking at dry containers, only 0.3% of the global fleet is currently considered “smart”. Educated idiots (professors like me) are great guessers. Here is some good news: …the technology so far has been mainly reserved for reefer & intermodal containers, where smart containers represent approximately a third and 40% of the respective global fleets. … Drewry forecasts the number of smart containers in the global fleet to accelerate rapidly and reach over 8.7 million units in 2026, representing as much as 25% of worldwide box inventories. I am still shocked by the lack of technology used to manage the supply chain. The two most used technologies: email & excel (huge color coded spreadsheets)...and back and forth emails about spreadsheets. People want more $ & rewarding work (not paperwork, use technology!) - lnkd.in/g7BwX84c lnkd.in/gzpRX6Dd “…most companies’ planning processes are functional, slow and labour-intensive, and that Excel is still the most widely used planning tool.” That is VERY consistent w/ the feedback I get from former students. Predictive Data Analytics (Excel on steroids): I get this kind of feedback all the time…lnkd.in/dQABdsXc Do you know how to use Power BI or Tableau? Which does your company use? Is it mainstream? Visualization is huge. lnkd.in/gceUgQw3 #1 DISRUPTOR is a SCM technology company (Flexport)! 10 of this year’s Disruptors are from the “logistics” sector! Get ready for the convergence of Logistics + Industry 4.0 + Data Analytics. lnkd.in/gV6hM-2E Do not be a victim of technology. lnkd.in/eKEaPGq and lnkd.in/efCCBQ5s I have repeatedly said a huge part of Industry 4.0 will be taking all the “manual” processes that exist & “automating” them using “technology” so that they get done better, faster, & cheaper. #bigdata #dataanalytics #supplychainmanagement

[@simecurkovic]

Also, see...A Visual Guide to AI Adoption, by Industry at: lnkd.in/gX5jhggY. Notice how Production & Supply Chain Mgmt are NOT the front runners in AI adoption & also have the lowest demand for AI talent. Safe to say SCM has historically lagged behind other sectors in technology adoption? Note, many SCM hiring managers do not have a full understanding of the AI skill sets associated w/ a data analytics education. www.visualcapitalist.com/sp/global-ai-investment/ Our SCM students told us many times that their hiring managers valued only the traditional Excel capabilities (lookup functions, pivot tables, etc. - that is NOT AI), & they greatly overlooked the opportunities from other analytical solutions (skill sets that our students & many employees have). This makes it a bit difficult to sell the analytical techniques that go beyond super advanced Excel, which would be our CIS 2640 class (Excel on steroids) - Applied Analytics Foundations. For example, our data mining class is essentially a machine learning class for business, which is the core of AI. The course is designed to solve the problems that Excel falls short on. Hopefully we do a better job of training our students to “sell” the AI skills & managers (SCM Leaders) become more open to embracing the benefits (which might require a culture change). lnkd.in/geBPVWAD. It would benefit SCM managers to seek out the following skill sets from new hires (this is our Business Analytics minor): 1. Advanced Excel (power query & pivot) & macros; 2. Data visualization (Tableau, Power BI & python w/ seaborn & matplotlib); 3. Data mining/RapidMiner, machine learning & data science; 4. Python & Jupyter notebook (data analytics & statistical libraries such as pandas, numpy); 5. Relational data models (Excel data model); 6. Graphic & statistical libraries (Seaborn, Matplotlib, Pandas, & Plotly). lnkd.in/guvjPb_V A report by Gartner highlighted that while 91% of companies have a supply chain strategy, only 33% have a digital supply chain strategy. This suggests that many companies are still relying on traditional, non-digital supply chain processes. “…most companies’ planning processes are functional, slow and labour-intensive, and that Excel is still the most widely used planning tool.” That is VERY consistent w/ the feedback I get from former students. Predictive Data Analytics (Excel on steroids): I get this kind of feedback all the time…lnkd.in/g9wKx9U7. lnkd.in/g2JdgxMu #dataanalytics #supplychain #artificialintelligence #ai

[@simecurkovic]

ASCM/APICS now has a Supply Chain Technology Certificate, $495, 20 hrs of online training (hmm). Topics covered: Blockchain, Adv Analytics & Automation, Internet of Things, Cybersecurity, Demand Planning Technologies, & Additive Mfg (3D Printing). This covers a LOT of ground in 20 hrs. For example, see their Adv Analytics & Automation…My thoughts: lnkd.in/gCtUu65i. Top 10 SCM Trends…Common theme: BIG DATA is not going away, BUT one must understand why/when certain data formats create more value. Many of our supply chain students get a minor in Business Analytics & we actually teach a variant of Wide/Small data called Association Analysis (our Business Data Mining class). My thoughts: lnkd.in/g5UizdeN. #supplychain #bigdata #dataanalytics

[@simecurkovic]

Here is a good read on how SCM 4.0 does not have to be super expensive: hbr.org/2021/09/a-simpler-way-to-modernize-your-supply-chain

[@simecurkovic]

Anaconda + Jupyter Notebook + Python + visualization libraries, Say what? Business Analytics, > 1/2 of our Supply Chain majors are BA minors, why? lnkd.in/eqiqSMRb CIS courses in our BA minor:: CIS 1020 (Business Computing), CIS 2640 (Business Analysis & Reporting), CIS 2650 (Programming for Data Analytics), CIS 3640 (Business Analytics), & CIS 4640 (Business Data Mining). First, CIS 2650 is not just a “Python” class, but instead a Python class for analytics (big difference). In a traditional Python class, people teach Python straight for the whole semester with tons of syntax, data structure, software development, etc. That type of class is mostly designed for CIS majors. What we do is different. It is Python in a popular analytics platform (more technically speaking, it is Python in Jupyter, which is an analytics platform that data science & business analytics programs do). You will be glad to hear that (Anaconda+Jupyter Notebook+Python+visualization libraries) is what we have been teaching in CIS 2650 since the course was created. We have no plan to change it unless industry tells us otherwise. Agreed? The reason for this design is the following: · We studied the top skills in analytics jobs & Python was among the top skills. lnkd.in/e6r8_KBy lnkd.in/e7xyUYGs · The visualization libraries in Python can produce the kind of visualizations not available in Tableau & Power BI. Students will be able to differentiate themselves from other schools. · Tableau & Power BI recently added Python or Python+Jupyter because certain Python analytics & visualization are not available in Tableau and Power BI. Using them together makes it a powerful analytics solution (e.g., the ability to transform visualization into implementable actions). Here are some examples: TabPy makes it possible to use Python scripts in Tableau calculated fields.: lnkd.in/eF67p-Jp PyCaret makes it possible to use machine learning in Tableau: lnkd.in/ebA9f3EH Python can create machine learning modules and create the visualization based on the predicated result. lnkd.in/esFizKPA lnkd.in/etTtk74H · All data scientists stress the importance of Python in analytics programs. Note, “data scientist” is one of the fastest growing career paths w/ escalating salaries because not enough people are good at this stuff. lnkd.in/e_22MKuC · Python are “R” are both number one & two in analytics, but Python is easier to learn compared to R. · Past experience in our SCM program shows that non-technical students are able to handle the content that we designed. · Python + Jupyter (or its variant) are used in Big Data (Hadoop, Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, etc.). It can also be used with SAP HANA, IoT, AI, Blockchain, & smart contracts to implement SCM visibility, & other SC related solutions. lnkd.in/e4rmEJqF lnkd.in/e6Rmzpw www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_scm-data-scientist-170000-unfilled-jobs-activity-6930488884782936064-dJhz? #python #dataanalytics

[@simecurkovic]

“Half our member respondents (50%) said they would take a “Data Analytics” class to continue their growth as supply chain leaders. Second on the list was taking a “Finance” class (33%).” lnkd.in/eEEVhWEX. “Knowledge workers were the hardest positions to fill. With the explosion of data in supply chains and the richness of that data, many companies are starting to understand the value of that information. This is causing tremendous demand for people to analyze the data, and companies aren’t able to fill those roles.” lnkd.in/eGp6xXJG. Do not be a victim of technology. You could make the case that every Business major should minor in Data Analytics. These skill sets would perhaps include: lnkd.in/dQABdsXc Employers place a premium on - 1. Advanced Excel (power query & pivot) & macros; 2. Data visualization (Tableau, Power BI & python w/ seaborn & matplotlib); 3. Data mining/RapidMiner, machine learning & data science; 4. Python & Jupyter notebook (data analytics & statistical libraries such as pandas, numpy); 5. Relational data models (Excel data model); 6. Graphic & statistical libraries (Seaborn, Matplotlib, Pandas, & Plotly). lnkd.in/dtqV-HqE. Note, (I encourage my SCM students to get an Accounting minor): College Accounting to me feels like Supply Chain Finance. The Accounting Minor for SCM Majors seems like a great fit & has grown on me. Long term in your careers, understanding SCM Finance will be critical. lnkd.in/gBPZJsVq lnkd.in/guejd-vi. Two classes in our Accounting minor, good fit for SCM types, right?: 3220: Cost & Managerial Accounting and ACTY 4220: Cost Mgmt & Analytics. FYI, we make EVERY business major take FIN 3200 - Business Finance Decisions. More: lnkd.in/gtUMdsiT. hashtag#supplychain hashtag#finance hashtag#bigdata hashtag#cfo hashtag#dataanalytics

[@simecurkovic]

Top 10 SCM Trends…Common theme: BIG DATA is not going away, BUT one must understand why/when certain data formats create more value. Many of our supply chain students get a minor in Business Analytics & we actually teach a variant of Wide/Small data called Association Analysis (our Business Data Mining class). My thoughts: lnkd.in/g5UizdeN. ASCM/APICS now has a Supply Chain Technology Certificate, $495, 20 hrs of online training (hmm). Topics covered: Blockchain, Adv Analytics & Automation, Internet of Things, Cybersecurity, Demand Planning Technologies, & Additive Mfg (3D Printing). This covers a LOT of ground in 20 hrs. For example, see their Adv Analytics & Automation…My thoughts: lnkd.in/gCtUu65i.

[@simecurkovic]

What if you are a student that wishes to learn both Power BI and Tableau, but your instructor only covers one? Unfortunately covering both in 1 single class will not give either one a fair coverage. In the end, students won’t have good skills in visualization. This is the reason we offer 2 sections, one for each tool. The good news is that Power BI is a free download. Here is what I recommend students do: lnkd.in/ghs2jf_r? www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_which-of-these-two-should-i-learn-power-activity-6993543672600416256-Lt6X? 1. Download Power BI 2. Go through the video tutorials of Power BI online (lnkd.in/gEYERYay) 3. Work on class exercises & assignments in both Tableau & Power BI. Many things are available in both tools. That makes it possible to replicate certain parts of class assignments in Power BI. Should we teach Tableau or Power BI or both? There are ONLY 500K unfilled SCM Data Science jobs on LI. In our CIS 3640 class we focus on three major areas: (1) Advanced excel functions, Power Query, Power Pivot , & Data Models, (2) Excel Macros, & (3) Visualization. lnkd.in/gXYSQKc7 We do our best to go in-depth in all these three areas. Based on the feedback we received from students, they are interested in learning about all three areas & found them helpful during their job search. However, it is not possible to talk about both Tableau & Power BI visualization because of the time limitation. Therefore, we decided to cover Power BI in one section & Tableau & Tableau data prep in the other section. As you know, ETL is one of the most important skills they need for visualization. Therefore, we always teach Power Pivot a & Query, which are foundations for Power BI in both sections. There are 8 assignments in the class. At least 2 are about Power Query & Power Pivot & two about Visualization in Tableau or Power BI. I encourage students to have an open mind on tool usage. The whole reason of teaching both Tableau & Power BI in our curriculum is backed by industry evidence, rather than by one or two individual companies. Both visualization tools have been in the best quadrant (i.e., leaders-visionaries quadrant) of Gartner’s “magic quadrant” survey for analytics & business intelligence platforms for years. So, it is not true that Tableau is not used at many companies. Kellogg’s, for example, is basically a Tableau shop. The bottom line is that it really doesn’t matter which tool students learned (as long as there is industry evidence to support the tool selection). The two tools share so many similarities. Usually 1 should be able to transition from one tool to another with minimal learning. I think one way going forward is probably this: If students already know what tools they are going to be using at the internship or job, they might want to talk to us first before taking CIS 3640. This will help them pick the desired course section. Otherwise, it is hard for us to predict what analytics & visualization tools each student will be using & which org they will end up working. #powerbi #tableau #python

[@simecurkovic]

Automation Good for the Workforce? www.supplychainbrief.com/edition/daily-cargo-transportation-2021-04-15?open-article-id=15926463&article-title=is-robotic-process-automation-good-for-the-workforce-&blog-domain=enterrasolutions.com&blog-title=enterra-insights Stephen DeAngelis April 15, 2021 Two recent headlines capture an ongoing debate about the effects of robotic process automation (RPA) on the workforce. The first headline screamed “Why Robotic Process Automation is Taking Over Your Job” while the second headline countered “Robots Aren’t Stealing Jobs - They’re Making Them Better.” In the first article, Dabo Owen Etela (@DOEtela), a product consultant and co-founder of Qustomar Products, argues, “There have been predictions that Robots will take over our jobs. As of today, that prediction is rapidly coming to pass. Our imagination may tell us these robots are hardware, machines made of metal or carbon fiber. This is not quite the case, as these Robots are software called bots. Bots are programmed to repetitively automate operational and transactional tasks without the need for human input.”[1] In the second article, Boyd Bell, CEO of Useful Rocket Science, counters, “Not that long ago, the process for filling orders or assembling a product involved mind-numbing tasks done over and over again, to the point the worker really didn’t have to think. … Far too many of today’s information workers perform tasks that are the 21st-century equivalent of installing a tire on a new car over and over again. … This rework is monotonous - sending follow-up emails after sales calls, processing invoices from contractors, logging phone calls and hundreds of other small things - and inefficient use of a seasoned workers’ time. They’re living in the information age, but they’re more analogous to early factory workers. The natural progression, then, is to automate those tasks just as the manufacturing industry has done. This is where Robotic Process Automation comes in, and it’s becoming more widely used than ever.”[2] Is robotic process automation good for the workforce? Obviously, whether RPA is beneficial or detrimental on the workforce depends on how RPA affects a person’s job. If employees lose their job to a computer, they obviously don’t see any benefits. On the other hand, if RPA reduces what has been labeled “swivel chair” work (i.e., taking data from one system then swiveling to input it into another system), employees should be thrilled to turn their attention to more invigorating tasks requiring thought and skill. Although Etela worries that jobs will be lost to RPA, he admits, “We cannot underestimate the high-level benefits of RPA, which include cost reduction, elimination of human error, high output, better accuracy and general efficiency and these are fundamental needs of all organizations the world over.” Bell calls swivel chair work “non-value-added” work. He adds, “Believe it or not, plenty of work still requires an immense amount of non-value-added copy and paste or re-entry from one system to another. … An RPA-based system would replace human involvement in this entire process, pulling the correct data elements every time and feeding everything directly into the system for review and next steps.” Bell isn’t too concerned about job loss because, as he writes, “RPA does … have its limitations. As early robotics adopters learned 30+ years ago, these technologies fail when asked to work on complex tasks. It doesn’t work for shades of gray and processes involving a lot of individual decisions, but rather excels on simple tasks or a series of tasks where there is no interpretation required.” That means there is still plenty of meaningful, value-added work for humans to perform in organizations. Bell concludes, “Embracing RPA to streamline the day-to-day work, eliminate human error, and create more time to improve the customer experience will lead to higher quality service, better data to make decisions about productivity and inventory control, and a better bottom line.” What businesses need to know As Bell noted, RPA does have limitations and it is not right for every business process. Joel Snyder (@joelsnyder), a senior IT consultant, writes, “RPA succeeds best when the scope and steps of the process can be tightly defined, and when you take the time to carefully define each step before starting to automate anything. RPA projects should start with the fast, easy wins before moving to more complicated processes that are more difficult to automate.”[3] He adds, “RPA delivers quickly in environments where many disconnected applications are needed to support a process and where human operators act as the glue to bring things together. Any data entry operation that is repetitive and requires a very low level of judgment is an excellent candidate for RPA.” The staff at CIO Applications suggests, “The first step in RPA implementation is to define which processes in your company can and should be automated.”[4] Those tasks don’t include those “that involve strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, and add the most value to your client.” They recommend automating “activities that are manual, repetitive, and error-prone.” That way, humans can focus on value-added activities. The second step, the staff suggests, is to formulate an implementation plan for processes selected for automation. They note, “Pacing implementation helps you to easily monitor acceptance while giving workers the time required to adjust and appreciate how to make the most of the solution’s functions.” Once your automated process is up and running, make sure it functions as desired. The CIO Applications staff advises, “Pause to examine how it works and whether it needs to be changed.” Tech writer John Emmitt cautions, “If you do not pick the right processes to implement with RPA, scaling can become an issue. For a successful RPA journey, identify processes with clear processing instructions based on standardized rules. Consider repetitive processes that are susceptible to error and require a higher degree of manual input. RPA can be used to save time and improve productivity in these cases.”[5] He adds, “RPA tools may be insufficient for very complex processes. In such cases, companies can either break down their processes into simpler tasks that can be automated with RPA or progress to hyperautomation.” Emmitt defines hyperautomation this way: “Hyperautomation brings together artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) tools with RPA to enable the automation of complex business processes. Hyperautomation can lead to real digital transformation of the business. As one of the top 10 strategic trends of 2021 touted by Gartner, the idea of hyperautomation is to automate ‘anything’ that can be automated. Implementing hyperautomation requires streamlining entire processes in an organization, getting rid of legacy applications and enforcing lean, optimized and interconnected processes.” At Enterra Solutions®, we call the step between RPA and hyperautomation (i.e., automating anything that can be automated) Cognitive Process Automation™ (CPA). Cognitive Process Automation goes beyond the accomplishment of routine tasks; however, it’s simply a more sophisticated form of RPA. CPA has the potential not only to automate, but to improve processes by dynamically processing and executing subtle decisions as if they were made by the best human expert. To be clear, not all programmable processes require advanced cognitive technologies. Simple, rule-based processes get along fine with RPA. Concluding thoughts Emmitt concludes, “For automation to be highly beneficial, companies must choose which activities to automate, the level of automation to be implemented and the technologies to adopt based on their business needs.” Snyder adds, “RPA does not require re-engineering and refactoring business processes, but it doesn’t fit well into every process. Before starting, ask how a specific process can be simplified and improved and how it can be optimized when a robot will be doing most of the work.” The old adage “use the right tool for the job” was never more applicable than in the field of business processes. Give employees the right RPA tool and their value-added will be enhanced and the organization’s productivity increased.

[@simecurkovic]

Another great post on RPA: www.linkedin.com/posts/stankovicmilos_banking-procurement-logistics-activity-7037695829867913216-trtF? Robotic process automation (RPA) has been transforming businesses for the past few years, and when done right, it can be a game-changer. 𝗥𝗣𝗔 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗹𝗼𝘄-𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝘀𝗸𝘀, 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗿-𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸. Plus, it reduces data errors, resulting in higher quality and lower overhead. RPA combines programmatic interfaces and user interfaces to automate entire business processes from start to finish, resulting in a broader range of service capabilities. For example, RPA software can streamline invoice handling from start to finish, automatically retrieving invoices from accounting systems, entering data into the invoice processing portal, and routing the invoice for approval. #banking #procurement #logistics The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) further improves the speed and efficiency of automation, promoting the digitization of business processes. According to a report by Fortune Business Insights™, the global RPA market is projected to grow to $𝟰𝟯.𝟱 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟵 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 $𝟭𝟬 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮, 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝟮𝟯.𝟰%. By enabling better automation of costly business operations, RPA is significantly transforming the creative services sector. By implementing an omnichannel automation approach to scaling creative A/B testing, companies have been able to deliver cost reductions along with performance increases. #RPA #automation #digitaltransformation #AI

[@simecurkovic]

www.linkedin.com/posts/jeffreyrwinter_industry40-digitaltransformation-jeffwinterinsights-activity-6947570535501352960-gM0W? The Fourth Industrial Revolution, or what is commonly referred to as “Industry 4.0,” can be thought of as the rapid change to technology, industries, and societal patterns and processes in the 21st century resulting from huge advancements in computing, interconnectivity, automation, and the use of data.” With so many new technologies that fall under the Industry 4.0 umbrella, which do you think will have the biggest of our time? Here are a few options to get you inspired: 1. 3D Printing 2. 5G & Mobile Internet 3. Wi-Fi and networking 4. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning 5. Automation and Robotics 6. Cyber Security Advances 7. Cloud Computing 8. Edge Computing 9. Virtual and Augmented Reality 10. Internet of Things (IoT) 11. Voice-Activated Searches 12. Low-code/No-code 13. Blockchain 14. Digital Twins & Simulation 15. Autonomous Vehicles #Industry40 #DigitalTransformation ********************************************* • Follow #JeffWinterInsights to stay current on Industry 4.0 and other cool tech trends • Ring the 🔔 for notifications!

[@simecurkovic]

So, this article from Forbes is recommending that my students become a jack of all trades, but a master of none? Can you do that & still reap the benefits of being specialized, while also having a variety of career options (w/ advancement opportunities)? Supply Chain Management? www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_why-non-linear-career-paths-are-the-future-activity-7036462992430936064-pRMS? WMU Research: Students who choose to specialize are having better experiences than those who stay generalist (FYI: They also found that professors have the most influence on major). See: lnkd.in/ex89namH This might also be important before they begin their 60 year career… "Students who are able to build strong relationships with professors are far more likely to find engaging work after graduation." lnkd.in/gSuzhcjP -those who believe a professor cared about them as a person, made them excited about learning, & encouraged them to pursue their dreams had more than double the odds of being engaged at work & experiencing a higher degree of well being overall, these studies find. lnkd.in/g-v3-iTk Will future business professionals need to learn to become consultants to their own org? We try to develop strategic skill sets (rather than tactical) combined w/ softer skills (i.e., problem solving, leadership, negotiation, project mgmt, etc.). Skills would include: 1) Gather & organize information about the problem to be solved or the procedure to be improved. 2) Interview personnel & conduct onsite observations to determine the methods, equipment, & personnel that will be needed. 3) Analyze financial & other data, including revenue, expenditure, & employment reports. 4) Develop solutions or alternative practices. 5) Recommend new systems, procedures, or organizational changes 6) Make recommendations to mgmt through presentations or written reports. 7) Confer with managers to ensure changes are working. Also, other skill sets required of pros (especially in SCM): Project mgmt, Technical understanding, Cost accounting skills, Ability to understand financial statements, Understanding of e-procurement systems, Troubleshooting, problem solving, Understanding of cross-cultural / global issues, Business ethics, Understanding of the legal issues involved in managing contracts, etc. Jack of all trades, but a master of none? Here is a list of specialized degrees that also gives you a well rounded business acumen: lnkd.in/dkGr4_uX Do not let technology be a threat (use it to your advantage)... Job saving technology: lnkd.in/g9Crpn9T lnkd.in/e6Rmzpw lnkd.in/eK7yQiRD lnkd.in/epHAQNDF lnkd.in/gX8vcRNa lnkd.in/gv2KD3uV #supplychain #career

[@simecurkovic]

• Why was the WMU ISM supply chain program ranked 2nd in SCM technology by SoftwareAdvice? Answer: Because our students minor in Business Analytics (e.g., big data/predictive analytics, database management, data mining, project management, SQL, Python, PMO, Tableau, Power BI, etc.) CIS 2640 - Applied Analytics Foundations This is the first business analytics course designed to give students comprehensive skills and in- depth knowledge to summarize, filter, present, transform and analyze business data to support business decisions. Emphasis will be placed on uncovering insights through visualization, basic business analytics techniques, report solutions, queries and database manipulation. CIS 2650 - Programming for Data Analytics Introduces programming for predictive analytics utilizing popular software languages. Programming concepts of, data structures, input-output, and flow control will be covered, as well as techniques applied by analysts to organize and interpret data that varies in type, volume, and rate of change. CIS 3640 - Visual Analytics This course is designed to give students with foundational analytics experience comprehensive skills, and in-depth knowledge in analytical problem solving through business examples with particular focus on visualizing analyses. Students will learn visual representation techniques to transform data into insights. Tools, techniques, and theories within the realm of business intelligence and data visualization will be explored, utilizing both productivity and specialized software. CIS 4640 - Business Data Mining This course focuses on the theoretical understanding and practical applications of data mining as a decision support tool. Specifically, it covers several types of modeling techniques and tools such as prediction, classification, segmentation and association detection algorithms. Students are introduced to the state-of-the-art data mining applications software such as SAS Enterprise Miner or SPSS Clementine for their class assignments and term project.

[@simecurkovic]

The U.S. supply chain accounts for 37% of all domestic jobs, according to the Harvard Business Review. From me: it is actually higher if you loosely define SCM since every product and/or service comes from & has a supply chain. Note, this is all pre-covid data (so add more to the dollar signs)…Source: lnkd.in/gPqvNwG5 Logistician, $74,750 Logistics analyst, $58,713 Supply chain planner, $64,844 Purchasing agent, $69,600 Purchasing manager, $121,110 Logistics manager, $114,670 Distribution manager, $94,775 Operations manager, $100,780 Business and supply chain competencies make up 80% of the fastest-growing skills in this industry; basic technical skills make up the remaining 20%. Top two: Microsoft Office and productivity tools Advanced Microsoft Excel Technical skills Among the top and fastest-growing technical skills are: Data science Supply chain knowledge Supply chain management Project management Many of our SCM students get a Business Analytics minor, what does that mean? See: 1. Advanced Excel (power query & pivot) & macros; 2. Data visualization (Tableau,Power BI & python w/ seaborn & matplotlib); 3. Data mining/RapidMiner, machine learning & data science; 4. Python & Jupyter notebook (data analytics & statistical libraries such as pandas, numpy); 5. Relational data models (Excel data model); 6. Graphic & statistical libraries (Seaborn,Matplotlib,Pandas, & Plotly). lnkd.in/gxRayD3j From me: AI will have a great impact on SCM. However, one thing often not mentioned is the attitude of hiring managers, as many do not have a full understanding of the AI skill sets of graduating students. Our SCM students told us many times that their hiring managers valued only the traditional Excel capabilities (lookup functions, pivot tables, etc. - that is NOT AI), & they greatly overlooked the opportunities from other analytical solutions (skill sets that our students have). This makes it a bit difficult to sell the analytical techniques taught in classes that go BEYOND our CIS 2640 (Excel on steroids) - Applied Analytics Foundations. For example, our data mining class is essentially a machine learning class for business, which is the core of AI. The course is designed to solve the problems that Excel falls short on. Hopefully we do a better job of training our students to “sell” the AI skills & managers (SCM Leaders) become more open to embracing the benefits (which might require a culture change). #supplychain #dataanalytics #datascience #python #artificialintelligence #ai

[@simecurkovic]

What if you are a student that wishes to learn both Power BI and Tableau, www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_power-bi-vs-tableau-whats-the-best-data-activity-6977783836428423169--dAC? but your instructor only covers one? Unfortunately covering both in 1 single class will not give either one a fair coverage. In the end, students won’t have good skills in visualization. This is the reason we offer 2 sections, one for each tool. The good news is that Power BI is a free download. Here is what I recommend students do: lnkd.in/ghs2jf_r? 1. Download Power BI 2. Go through the video tutorials of Power BI online (lnkd.in/gEYERYay) 3. Work on class exercises & assignments in both Tableau & Power BI. Many things are available in both tools. That makes it possible to replicate certain parts of class assignments in Power BI. Should we teach Tableau or Power BI or both? There are ONLY 500K unfilled SCM Data Science jobs on LI. In our CIS 3640 class we focus on three major areas: (1) Advanced excel functions, Power Query, Power Pivot , & Data Models, (2) Excel Macros, & (3) Visualization. lnkd.in/gXYSQKc7 We do our best to go in-depth in all these three areas. Based on the feedback we received from students, they are interested in learning about all three areas & found them helpful during their job search. However, it is not possible to talk about both Tableau & Power BI visualization because of the time limitation. Therefore, we decided to cover Power BI in one section & Tableau & Tableau data prep in the other section. As you know, ETL is one of the most important skills they need for visualization. Therefore, we always teach Power Pivot a & Query, which are foundations for Power BI in both sections. There are 8 assignments in the class. At least 2 are about Power Query & Power Pivot & two about Visualization in Tableau or Power BI. I encourage students to have an open mind on tool usage. The whole reason of teaching both Tableau & Power BI in our curriculum is backed by industry evidence, rather than by one or two individual companies. Both visualization tools have been in the best quadrant (i.e., leaders-visionaries quadrant) of Gartner’s “magic quadrant” survey for analytics & business intelligence platforms for years. So, it is not true that Tableau is not used at many companies. Kellogg’s, for example, is basically a Tableau shop. The bottom line is that it really doesn’t matter which tool students learned (as long as there is industry evidence to support the tool selection). The two tools share so many similarities. Usually 1 should be able to transition from one tool to another with minimal learning. I think one way going forward is probably this: If students already know what tools they are going to be using at the internship or job, they might want to talk to us first before taking CIS 3640. This will help them pick the desired course section. Otherwise, it is hard for us to predict what analytics & visualization tools each student will be using & which org they will end up working. #powerbi #tableau

[@simecurkovic]

“…most companies’ planning processes are functional, slow and labour-intensive, and that Excel is still the most widely used planning tool.” www.supplychainmovement.com/the-digital-planning-gap-between-vision-and-reality/ That is VERY consistent w/ the feedback I get from former students. Predictive Data Analytics (Excel on steroids): I get this kind of feedback all the time…lnkd.in/dQABdsXc Do you know how to use Power BI or Tableau? Which does your company use? Is it mainstream? Visualization is huge. lnkd.in/gceUgQw3 Do not be a victim of technology. lnkd.in/eKEaPGq and lnkd.in/efCCBQ5s I have had several people ask me about “Industry 4.0” or “Supply Chain 4.0” or “Digitization” of the Supply Chain. lnkd.in/eK7yQiRD lnkd.in/eZfHNqy lnkd.in/eu7ANq6 lnkd.in/eKEaPGq Notice in the video that I repeatedly said a huge part of Industry 4.0 will be taking all the “manual” processes that exist & “automating” them using “technology” so that they get done better, faster, & cheaper. That to a large extent has already happened & will continue to happen, but for mostly “tactical” stuff (not “strategic” stuff). For example, my first job in SCM 30 years ago was making sure the right stuff was at the right place, at the right time, in the right quantities, & at the right price. OK, first, that job was super “tactical” & you did not need a college degree to do it. Second, that job was a manually driven process that has since been “automated” using technology & the technology actually does it better, faster, & cheaper than a human. In fact, the technology can learn from itself using machine learning (ML) & artificial intelligence (AI). Here is a good read on how SCM 4.0 does not have to be super expensive: lnkd.in/eyebnSct Predictive Data Analytics (Excel on steroids): I get this kind of feedback all the time…lnkd.in/dQABdsXc - You will be glad to hear that (Anaconda + Jupyter Notebook + Python + visualization libraries) is what we have been teaching in CIS 2650 since the course was created. We have no plan to change it unless industry tells us otherwise. Agreed? See comments. lnkd.in/gsiBnXxi How much Python do I need to know in order to excel in supply chain data analytics? lnkd.in/eQSY2Gb I am very comfortable in saying Python and R are the two most popular languages in analytics, but I think Python prevails. lnkd.in/ggF5XbEJ Here are some points on how to approach a new technology investment, based on what I have seen in software & professional services: For example, If a company wanted to get started with using Robotic Process Automation (RPA), where & how should they begin? lnkd.in/eQYrHUM lnkd.in/gGT_M7qf In the Fall, we will be looking at raw material market data from multiple sources & we will visualize & analyze historical pricing scenarios. It beats updating color coded spreadsheets. lnkd.in/gMuhMNf6 lnkd.in/gQZ7HfWb #dataanalytics #supplychain #careeradvice

[@simecurkovic]

Python is coming to Excel?!…Wow, as a supply chain professor that pushes data analytics on our students, I am trying to make sense of this. I suspect this is going to be a VERY big deal for our CIS faculty and students as they have been waiting for this kind of support for…2 decades? While Excel is powerful, it hasn’t provided “native” tools for adv analytics like ML. By integrating Python - a language known for its rich libraries in data science - Excel could be considerably enhanced. If they bring in scikit-learn, statsmodels, etc., this will become a reality, as they both are popular Python libraries used extensively in the fields of data analysis, statistics, and machine learning. Announcing Python in Excel: Combining the power of Python and the flexibility of Excel: techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/excel-blog/announcing-python-in-excel-combining-the-power-of-python-and-the/ba-p/3893439 I do wonder, if the Python code is going to be run in the Microsoft cloud, what will the pricing structure look like? By integrating cloud-run features, MSFT could introduce new pricing structures, potentially influencing the adoption rate of these new features. The way MSFT structures its pricing for cloud-run Python code will be a significant factor in the adoption rate. Orgs might be cautious if the costs are perceived to be high. The next milestone we should be watching for is whether the Python code can be run on-premise or a local machine. The ability to run Python code locally vs. on the cloud would influence the adoption and usage of these features. Running code on-premises can often be essential for businesses w/ data security concerns. Technically, it is possible since the partnership is with Anaconda. Anaconda is a popular Python distribution platform that provides tools for data science and machine learning. The mention of a partnership with Anaconda suggests that the integration will not just be basic Python scripting but may offer more advanced features. It is just whether Microsoft is willing to do that at the expense of sabotaging their existing market of their decades old VBScripting language. There is a potential conflict of interest for Microsoft. VBScript (and more broadly, VBA) has been the primary scripting language in Excel for decades. By integrating Python, Microsoft may be shifting away from its longstanding support for VBA, which might not sit well with longtime users. However, it’s also possible that Microsoft might maintain dual support for both languages for a while to ease the transition. More thoughts at: www.simecurkovic.com/2023/08/23/python-is-coming-to-excel/

[@simecurkovic]

Very well explained: Industry 4.0 & Smart Factory ? www.linkedin.com/pulse/industry-40-smart-factory-digital-elearning/ May 31, 2023 Industry 4.0, also known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, refers to the integration of advanced technologies and digital systems into industrial processes and manufacturing. It represents a significant shift in how industries operate and involves the convergence of various technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), big data analytics, robotics, cloud computing, and automation. Industry 4.0 aims to create "smart factories" that are highly interconnected and can make autonomous decisions based on real-time data and analytics. The key principles of Industry 4.0 include: Interconnectivity: Machines, devices, and systems are connected and communicate with each other through the IoT. This allows for seamless data sharing and collaboration. Information Transparency: Real-time data is collected from various sources within the production process and made available to all relevant stakeholders. This enables better decision-making and optimization. Technical Assistance: Advanced technologies such as AI, machine learning, and robotics provide assistance and support to human workers, enhancing productivity and efficiency. Decentralized Decision-making: Smart systems and algorithms enable autonomous decision-making at various levels of the production process, reducing the need for manual intervention. 🎥 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐓𝐮𝐛𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥 : kzbin.info The key technologies driving Industry 4.0 include: Internet of Things (IoT): Connecting physical devices and objects to the internet, allowing them to collect and exchange data. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML): Using algorithms and models to analyze large amounts of data and make predictions or decisions. Big Data Analytics: Processing and analyzing vast amounts of data generated by various sources to derive insights and drive informed decision-making. Cloud Computing: Providing scalable and on-demand access to computing resources and storage for data processing and storage. Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS): Integrating physical systems with digital components and technologies to enable real-time monitoring, control, and coordination. Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing): Creating objects layer by layer based on digital designs, allowing for customization and rapid prototyping. Quality 4.0, on the other hand, refers to the application of Industry 4.0 technologies and concepts to improve the quality management systems in manufacturing. It involves leveraging data analytics, IoT, AI, and automation to enhance quality control processes, reduce defects, and ensure product consistency. Quality 4.0 integrates real-time data from various sources within the production process to monitor and analyze quality-related parameters. This allows for early detection of issues, predictive maintenance, and continuous improvement. By combining advanced technologies with traditional quality management principles, Quality 4.0 aims to drive operational excellence and customer satisfaction. A smart factory is a key component of Industry 4.0. It is a highly digitized and connected production facility that utilizes advanced technologies to streamline operations, increase efficiency, and optimize resource utilization. In a smart factory, machines, devices, and systems are interconnected and communicate with each other, enabling real-time data exchange and coordination. Smart factories leverage technologies such as IoT sensors, AI-powered analytics, robotics, automation, and cloud computing to enable autonomous and intelligent decision-making. They can adapt to changes in demand, optimize production schedules, predict maintenance requirements, and monitor product quality in real-time. The goal of a smart factory is to create a flexible, efficient, and agile manufacturing environment that can quickly respond to market demands while maintaining high-quality standards. Smart factories, a core component of Industry 4.0, are manufacturing facilities that leverage these technologies to automate processes, enhance productivity, and improve quality. They are characterized by interconnected systems, real-time data monitoring, and intelligent decision-making capabilities. In a smart factory, machines, equipment, and systems are connected and communicate with each other, allowing for autonomous operations, predictive maintenance, and optimized production.

[@simecurkovic]

A great read on the…”the importance of including location analytics in the standard business school curriculum-especially in the field of supply chain management.” Access via: ow.ly/kMci50PWU1K. Are Supply Chain professionals using ArcGIS Pro technology? Do you think our SCM students should learn this? ArcGIS is a technology that can help companies manage risk. I recently had a GIS analyst reach out to me & ask: Is there a business geography specialty group that addresses supply chain issues? Where could people find GIS supply chain problem sets? I reached out to a GIS geography colleague & the feedback was…There is a Business Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers (AAG). lnkd.in/gS98FvHC There are a lot of interesting examples of SCM issues & GIS at the ESRI website. lnkd.in/ge9FqbKH Some of the interesting best practices involve dashboard type views of interruptions: lnkd.in/gMrb-pfy There are also advanced operations in ArcGIS Enterprise: lnkd.in/g3ZBxhxV As for problem sets, there are often interesting datasets and suggestions for solving complex problems on GitHub. A quick looks shows a lot of Python type modeling for SCM on GitHub. In terms of teaching, most of these topics are beyond our intro level GIS course. However, we also teach GEOG 5690: GIS Workflows, where students learn more about dashboards & origin-destination analysis, & work on 4 mini-projects w/ a data type of their choosing. We will teach a Project Mgmt & Programming course (GEOG 4670/6670) that could also be useful to SCM students. Here are some entries in the GIScience Body of Knowledge/encyclopedia that might be helpful to have students read: lnkd.in/gsPEeBYt lnkd.in/gKsXcT_X lnkd.in/g5M-B88t Also, if you want to find where the business geographers publish, they typically aim for 'applied geography' journals: lnkd.in/gMxzs3UX lnkd.in/gaUAszSX _ Our Intro GEOG 3010 - Fundamentals of GIS An intro course that covers the use and application of geographic information systems (GIS). It combines an overview of general principles of GIS & practical experience in map creation & the use of spatial information, including fundamental aspects of measurement, representation & analysis. Intro GIS focuses on the basics of working w/ both vector & raster data, as well as the societal aspects of GIS (emerging uses, interaction w/ new technologies, data standards, public access to information). We upgraded the course to ArcGIS Pro, which works better in online environments; we are going to have a dedicated Mac-user office hour period, for Mac users that will have to use remote desktop or some kind of Windows-on-Mac system; AND we are using COVID and racial disparities data through the semester so that students really get a handle on some of this real data w/o relying on the interpretation of others. See comments: lnkd.in/g4Nk4ddz

[@simecurkovic]

See salary report below. www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_skills-you-need-to-become-a-data-scientist-activity-6981296213866295297-waXl? I am fascinated by the $ opportunities w/ Data Science skills. Business data analytics addresses an increasing demand in orgs of all types to understand data related to their operations. Investments in information systems throughout the enterprise over the last 10-15 years are generating tremendous amounts of data, & companies will spend at least the next 10 years developing processes that generate insight from those data (visualization is huge, think Tableau and Power BI). In addition to data generated internally, many companies are exploring the effects of external data, primarily present in social media, web search, manufacturing, & the SUPPLY CHAIN. The ability to manage data to support business projects are the key to success in many disciplines. Business analytics will provide a comprehensive skill set for SCM professionals & future SCM graduates to analyze, VISUALIZE (Tableau & Power BI!), & report data. You could make the case that every Business major should minor (or double major) in Data Analytics. These skill sets would perhaps include: Employers place a premium on - 1. Advanced Excel (power query & pivot) & macros; 2. Data visualization (Tableau, Power BI & python w/ seaborn & matplotlib); 3. Data mining/RapidMiner, machine learning & data science; 4. Python & Jupyter notebook (data analytics & statistical libraries such as pandas, numpy); 5. Relational data models (Excel data model); 6. Graphic & statistical libraries (Seaborn, Matplotlib, Pandas, & Plotly). Recessions tend to be very bad for college grads. However... The number of job openings fell for the 3rd straight month to 10.698M in June which is the lowest since 10.629M in August 2021 (off the record high of 11.855 million in March). That means there are only (sarcasm) around 11,000,000 unfilled jobs. That’s a recession?! College grads, worry not (for now, not even close). For students going into SCM, the prospects are great, but do not be a victim of technology! Top 12 Skills You Need To Become a Data Scientist. lnkd.in/gwrjksAa. There are ONLY 500,000 unfilled SCM Data Science jobs on LI. This has become a bare minimum: CIS 2640 Predictive Data Analytics (Excel on steroids): I get this kind of feedback all the time…lnkd.in/dQABdsXc - You will be glad to hear that (Anaconda + Jupyter Notebook + Python + visualization libraries) is what we have been teaching in CIS 2650 since the course was created. Why was the WMU SCM program ranked 2nd in SCM technology Because our students minor in business data analytics - lnkd.in/er3xiWj. #supplychain #bigdata #dataanalytics #datavisualization #python

[@simecurkovic]

“Walmart deployed AI-powered negotiations software w/ a text-based interface (i.e., a chatbot) to connect w/ suppliers.” www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_how-walmart-automated-supplier-negotiations-activity-6999420792002281472-KCxF? How to approach a new technology investment, based on what I have seen in software & professional services: For example... If a company wanted to get started with using Robotic Process Automation (RPA), where & how should they begin? lnkd.in/eQYrHUM. FYI, a great post on RPA by Mr. Stankovic: lnkd.in/gM6PcT-m. From me: Have you heard of RPA? That is basically software that makes use of ML & AI to do routine manual SCM activities like process a Purchase Order. These processes tend to be manual, tactical, & clerically driven. However, that RPA software is learning from itself on how to do things better, faster, & cheaper. For example, RPA could start saying things like: I think we are paying too much, I think we should be using a different supplier, I think we are ordering in the wrong quantities, etc. The RPA software might actually decide to reopen the contract & have suppliers rebid on the business & the RPA might actually pick the new supplier. Yes, there will likely be human intervention for any activities that are “strategic”. For me, tactical means all the day to day operational grunt work. Strategic to me means the decisions that have to be made with longer term implications & consequences. I have a former student who went on to become a technology consultant & I asked him: if a company wanted to get started with using RPA, where & how should they begin in general? See his response below. Let’s just say the student has become the teacher. 1. Have a very specific use case for implementing RPA. This requires research on behalf of your company. If you approach it with a general attitude that says, “Let’s have robots do all the work”, you will end up paying a consulting firm loads of money to evaluate your business for RPA opportunities, only to hear them tell you what you could have figured out on your own. 2. It would be better to research industry peers to see what they are doing with RPA, THEN engage a consulting firm to help you implement an RPA solution that is focused on specific business processes. If you are looking for general help with where to start on RPA, I would advise against outsourcing the research to consulting/tech firms. It would be best to engage a consulting/tech firm for the implementation of an RPA solution, but not for general advisement on where to start. Most high-level assessments are overly priced in my experience & do not add much value. RPA is a cool technology but I have seen limited adoption with the mid-market companies I work with. It seems more popular with the Fortune 500 because they can afford the investment. In my opinion...lnkd.in/eQYrHUM. #roboticprocessautomation #rpa #supplychain

[@simecurkovic]

14%?!...“Only 14% of procurement leaders express confidence in their talent’s ability to meet the future needs of the function, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc. The finding comes as business acumen and technology/data competencies have rapidly grown in importance over more traditional procurement skills.” www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_gartner-says-only-14-of-procurement-leaders-activity-7135983119236567041-aI_U? This is one reason that we created our new AI course - to create AI awareness and skills, and it is designed for non-technical majors. We will be offering that course again in spring 2024 semester. Per conversations with our CIS faculty…lnkd.in/gJ-YjJKD. Do not be a victim of technology! You could make the case that every Business major should minor (or double major) in Data Analytics. These skill sets would perhaps include: Employers place a premium on - 1. Advanced Excel (power query & pivot) & macros; 2. Data visualization (Tableau, Power BI & python w/ seaborn & matplotlib); 3. Data mining/RapidMiner, machine learning & data science; 4. Python & Jupyter notebook (data analytics & statistical libraries such as pandas, numpy); 5. Relational data models (Excel data model); 6. Graphic & statistical libraries (Seaborn, Matplotlib, Pandas, & Plotly). lnkd.in/guvjPb_V Common theme: BIG DATA is not going away: lnkd.in/g5UizdeN. In our CIS 3640 class we focus on three major areas: (1) Advanced excel functions, Power Query, Power Pivot , & Data Models, (2) Excel Macros, & (3) Visualization. lnkd.in/gxHRzjkE lnkd.in/eqiqSMRb & lnkd.in/gXYSQKc7. CIS 4640 - Business Data Mining This course focuses on the theoretical understanding & practical applications of data mining as a decision support tool. lnkd.in/geBPVWAD.

[@simecurkovic]

Very cool list, but… www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_%3F%3F%3F%3F%3F%3F%3F-cs50-introduction-to-computer-activity-7158098759741001728-m8Ck? Just a word of warning, the lack of interactivity (hand-holding) & support at MOOCs causes a super low retention rate (9% - 16%). MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course. I think/hope we have it covered w/ our students. Generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT, Google Bard, CoPilot, etc.) is a major focus in our new CIS 5550 course. lnkd.in/e2ngRKQc. Another example… Is Python a must-have skill in the supply chain? lnkd.in/dcEJuZJX. How much Python do I need? lnkd.in/e6Rmzpw. Our CIS 2650 is not just a Python class, but instead a Python class for analytics. lnkd.in/dcEJuZJX. I had a SCM professional ask: “I don’t even know basic python yet . I want to get to the more advanced items but I am not ready yet . I’ve done research into different courses but there are so many basic courses, I’m not sure which 1 is actually useful for someone looking to do supply chain analysis.” Some options: You could try an intro python classes at Coursera or Udemy. Warning, MOOCs, low retention rate (9% - 16%). The person needs quite a bit of dedication to successfully finish it. After that, look for a 2nd course in analytics, data science or machine learning using python. This assumes they are interested in using python for those. Otherwise, invest time in pre-built specialized software packages (e.g., Rapidminer, XLminer, Knime, SAS, SPSS, etc.). I kind of like these bootcamps from high profile schools but it seems to be an aggressive design. Each of the topics listed under their “Market-Driven Skills” is usually a semester-long course. I am not sure if they are targeting people w/ some experience in these areas. But, they seem to be interesting programs. The same thing applies to analytics certificates offered through MOOCs, such as Coursera, EdX & others. One caveat that SCM grads should know is that many of these online programs lack the required hand-holding experience. This is why the retention rates of MOOCs are usually in single digits. We find that this hand-holding experience is essential to motivate students to complete the training. MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course. It is an online course that is designed to be open & accessible to a large number of participants. MOOCs offer a flexible learning environment, allowing participants to learn at their own pace & from anywhere in the world. MOOCs are typically delivered through an online platform that provides access to course materials, videos, quizzes, & discussion forums. MOOCs are usually free & open to anyone who wants to enroll. Some MOOCs may also offer a paid option to receive a verified certificate of completion or academic credit. MOOCs are offered by a variety of institutions, including universities, educational organizations, & private companies. hashtag#python hashtag#supplychain hashtag#mooc hashtag#dataanalytics hashtag#bigdata

[@simecurkovic]

The digital transformation journey begins by recognizing the importance of data. Supply chain expert Adrian Gonzalez asserts data is the supply chain’s most profitable 4-letter word. He adds, “The lynchpin for any technology is data.” Yossi Sheffi, Director of the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, goes even further. He writes, “The well-worn adage that a company’s most valuable asset is its people needs an update. Today, it’s not people but data that tops the asset value list for companies. What they don’t say is that the value of data must be unlocked through analysis and the key that unlocks that value is artificial intelligence (AI).” www.supplychainbrief.com/edition/weekly-inventory-supply-chain-software-2022-07-30/?open-article-id=22051005&article-title=modernizing-your-supply-chain-is-not-enough&blog-domain=enterrasolutions.com&blog-title=enterra-insights From Sime: AI will likely have the greatest impact on SCM through the 2020s. However, one thing often not mentioned is the attitude of the hiring managers. In talking w/ a colleague, we both agreed that many hiring managers do not have a full understanding of the AI skill sets associated w/ our graduating students. Our SCM students told us many times that their hiring managers valued only the traditional Excel capabilities (lookup functions, pivot tables, etc. - that is NOT AI), & they greatly overlooked the opportunities from other analytical solutions (skill sets that our students have). This makes it a bit difficult to sell the analytical techniques taught in classes that go BEYOND our CIS 2640 (Excel on steroids) - Applied Analytics Foundations course. For example, our data mining class is essentially a machine learning class for business, which is the core of AI. The course is designed to solve the problems that Excel falls short on. Hopefully we do a better job of training our students to “sell” the AI skills & managers (SCM Leaders) become more open to embracing the benefits (which might require a culture change). Great reads from Fortune/Accenture. lnkd.in/gdiQ-GTW In a recent report on A.I. adoption from Accenture: lnkd.in/gx996a8n *Only 12% of 1,200 orgs it looked at globally have advanced their A.I. maturity to the stage where they are seeing superior growth & business transformation. *Another 25% are somewhat advanced in their deployment of A.I., while the rest are still just running pilot projects if anything. What sets that 12% apart?... 1) they have “industrialized” A.I. tools & processes, and that they have created a strong A.I. core team. 2) Other key factors are organizational too: they have top executives who champion A.I. as a strategic priority; they invest heavily in A.I. talent; they design A.I. responsibly from the start; & they prioritize both long- & short-term A.I. projects. Top 12 Skills You Need To Become a Data Scientist. lnkd.in/gwrjksAa. There are ONLY 500K unfilled SCM Data Science jobs. The majority of the data in the world was created in the last 2 years! lnkd.in/gGk58g8V. AI can help manage the supply chain. So what’s the delay? lnkd.in/gD3rA8JB www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_modernizing-your-supply-chain-is-not-enough-activity-6962440838136160257-XLUW? #SupplyChainTechnology #artificialintelligence #supplychain

[@simecurkovic]

Blockchain: Too bad but predictable... Maersk, IBM to shut down blockchain joint venture TradeLens www.supplychaindive.com/news/Maersk-IBM-shut-down-TradeLens/637580/?Sailthru&Issue:%202022-11-30%20Supply%20Chain%20Dive%20%5Bissue:46348%5D&Supply%20Chain%20Dive Maersk, IBM to shut down blockchain joint venture TradeLens www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7003773858243645440-H6pS? As someone who follows Blockchain and the SCM application derivatives closely, the demise of TradeLens has both a Shock factor and a sense of Reality. In the business world, including the SCM domain I reside in, great ideas are only valuable if they are financially sustainable. The TradeLens concept clearly has great value potential in a digitized SCM ecosystem, it's now time for the Failure Analysis to begin including the identification of the positive attributes that deserve to be carried forward.

[@simecurkovic]

Notice #5: A Shift From Big Data To Small And Wide Data. Just remember that big data is not going away, BUT one must understand why/when certain data formats create more value. Many of our supply chain students get a minor in Business Analytics & we actually teach a variant of Wide/Small data called Association Analysis (our Business Data Mining class). I had one of our CIS faculty try to make sense of this for me & he did a great job… www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_council-post-eight-trends-predicted-to-define-activity-7042074144787619841-hbr0? Wide data is data collected from different sources about individual objects (e.g., products, items, customers, etc.). Let’s say you would like to collect info about customers. Traditionally, you would build a table of customers with a fixed # of columns to capture mostly about demographic data & contact info. Today, it is usually not enough to just do that. People want to capture other things about customers, such as how many times they have called customer service, what they have said about the product in product reviews, etc. As you can see, a few things emerge from this need. That’s what characterizes wide data. 1. Traditional data tables w/ a fixed # of columns won’t work too well, because not all customers have the same number of service calls, have posted the same # of product reviews, etc. 2. Data comes from different sources (demographic, service logs, product reviews on web pages, etc.) 3. Not all data values are structured data (e.g., product reviews). Small data is easily conceived as the opposite of big data, but there is more to it. Small data concerns about a “deeper” view of individual objects. Let’s say you want to know more about why product X is not selling well. Traditionally, people look at factors, such as seasons, locations, competition, environment, etc. That’s what all competitors do. However, if you could look at when/why product X drops out of a potential customer’s short list, that would give the manufacturer a lot of opportunities to exercise influence in the pre-purchase stage. To put it differently, if a supplier knows about who the competing products are in the same short list, there is a lot of last-minute influence that they can do (e.g., competitive priming, differential pricing, instant coupon, differentiation, etc.). In short, the reason small data works well in some cases as opposed to big data is that certain data points of interest show unique characteristics different from the rest of the data. Therefore, generalizations derived from big data may not work too well in this case. Our Analytics MAJOR covers more. In the major, we talk about unstructured data, streaming data, AI powered extraction of insights, cloud-based analytics, etc. These are the things that enable the analysis of not just wide & small data, but also big data. There is also streaming. That is data that keeps on growing. Analytical techniques based only on static data can get dated quickly. We cover a simple technique to work w/ that in the minor, & we have a full treatment in the major. #bigdata

[@simecurkovic]

www.softwareadvice.com/resources/top-universities-for-scm-report-2015/ Best Universities for Supply Chain Technology Education Penn State 1st, WMU 2nd for Undergraduate Tech Courses Penn State tops our undergraduate rankings for supply chain technology education. This is primarily due to the strength of its elective offerings, which provide hands-on, in-depth coverage of SCM technology and include courses from both the SCM and Management of Information Systems (MIS) departments. These course offerings are bundled together in the university’s Supply Chain and Information Systems major, which provides a significant emphasis on the role of IT in the field of SCM. In addition to standard, software-heavy SCM course fare, such as demand planning and fulfillment and supply chain analytics, Penn State offers a host of courses in the MIS department. These include database management, information systems management and two courses devoted to learning enterprise resource planning (ERP) software on Oracle’s platform. ERP software is a critical tool for SCM processes. It integrates data from each link within the chain, enabling supply chain professionals to make better, more profitable decisions regarding purchasing, procurement, forecasting and so on. In second place is Western Michigan University (WMU). Though WMU isn’t as well known for SCM as Penn State or its older brother, Michigan State, it ranks highly due to the unique integration of engineering and IT courses in its undergraduate program. As part of WMU’s Integrated Supply Management major, students are not only required to take a class for ERP, but also one on geographic information systems (GIS). According to industry trade publication SupplyChainBrain, GIS is becoming increasingly important in SCM because it assists with strategic planning and risk management and allows users to visualize data on maps. For example, a supply chain professional might use GIS software to assess the risk of sourcing raw materials from a supplier in an area that is prone to natural disasters. WMU’s program also requires students to take at least six manufacturing engineering courses. These courses teach students how to use computer-assisted design software, quality assurance statistical packages and manufacturing resource planning (MRP) platforms, among other things.

[@simecurkovic]

2024 Top 10 SCM Trends…Common theme: BIG DATA is not going away (agreed), BUT one must understand why/when certain data formats create more value. Many of our supply chain students get a minor in Business Analytics & we actually teach a variant of Wide/Small data called Association Analysis (our Business Data Mining class). My thoughts: lnkd.in/g5UizdeN. ASCM/APICS now has a Supply Chain Technology Certificate, $495, 20 hrs of online training (hmm). Topics covered: Blockchain, Adv Analytics & Automation, Internet of Things, Cybersecurity, Demand Planning Technologies, & Additive Mfg (3D Printing). This covers a LOT of ground in 20 hrs. For example, see their Adv Analytics & Automation…My thoughts: lnkd.in/gCtUu65i. hashtag#bigdata hashtag#supplychainmanagement hashtag#technology hashtag#ai

[@simecurkovic]

You could make the case that many business grads should have some of these skills…We studied the top skills in analytics jobs & Python was among the top. The visualization libraries in Python can produce the kind of visualizations not available in Tableau & Power BI. Students will be able to differentiate themselves from other schools. Is Python a must-have skill in the supply chain? 200K vacant jobs on LinkedIn say yes. If you want to specialize in data & become a Supply Chain Analyst (25K jobs on LI) / SCM Data Scientist (500K jobs on LI - that's all). www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_machinelearning-deeplearning-datascience-activity-7036306188229099520-b7rb? A while back, I made these points about our CIS 2650 class (Programming for Data Analytics) and our Business Data Analytics minor in general. We think these points still largely apply. CIS 2650 is not just a Python class, but instead a Python class for analytics. There is a difference there. In a traditional Python class, people teach Python straight for the whole semester with so much of syntax, data structure, software development, etc. That type of class is mostly designed for CIS and CS. What we do is different. It is Python in a popular analytics platform (more technically speaking, it is Python in Jupyter, which is an analytics platform that data science and business analytics programs do). · We studied the top skills in analytics jobs & Python was among the top skills. · The visualization libraries in Python can produce the kind of visualizations not available in Tableau & Power BI. Students will be able to differentiate themselves from other schools. · Tableau & Power BI recently added Python or Python+Jupyter because certain Python analytics & visualization are not available in Tableau & Power BI. Using them together makes it a powerful analytics solution (e.g., the ability to transform visualization into implementable actions). ·All data scientists stress the importance of Python in analytics programs. Note, “data scientist” is one of the fastest growing career paths with escalating salaries because not enough people are good at this stuff. ·Python are “R” are both number one & two in analytics, but Python is easier to learn compared to R. ·Past experience in our SCM program (3+ semesters of experience in CIS 2650) shows that non-technical students (SCM, marketing, accounting, etc.) are able to handle the content that we designed. ·Python + Jupyter (or its variant) are used in Big Data (Hadoop, Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, etc.). It can also be used with/on SAP HANA, IoT, AI, Blockchain, and smart contracts to implement supply chain visibility, and other SC related solutions, etc. We believe the above points are still valid. Here is some evidence: ·We studied the top skills in analytics jobs & Python was among the top skills. ·Python is among the top skills for data analysts (Skill number 4 in the list): lnkd.in/e6r8_KBy ·lnkd.in/e7xyUYGs Will tech replace SCM jobs? lnkd.in/eu7ANq6 See comments. #python #dataanalytics

[@simecurkovic]

Supply chain organizations need data scientists: www.forbes.com/sites/stevebanker/2021/03/10/supply-chain-talent-is-more-important-than-ever/?sh=614539215e19 Here is what Mr. Toornman (WMU Bronco grad) said at the conference. “We need people that are adaptable. We need problem solvers, people that can work with data from a data analytics perspective. People that understand things happen, and that if things don't happen exactly the way the process is laid out, they don't just stop. They are entrepreneurs. They figure it out! They fix it!”

[@simecurkovic]

Should SCM students learn this?…”the importance of including location analytics in the standard business school curriculum-especially in the field of supply chain management.” Access via: ow.ly/kMci50PWU1K. Are Supply Chain professionals using ArcGIS Pro technology? Do you think our SCM students should learn this? ArcGIS is a technology that can help companies manage risk. I recently had a GIS analyst reach out to me & ask: Is there a business geography specialty group that addresses supply chain issues? Where could people find GIS supply chain problem sets? I reached out to a GIS geography colleague & the feedback was…There is a Business Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers (AAG). lnkd.in/gS98FvHC There are a lot of interesting examples of SCM issues & GIS at the ESRI website. lnkd.in/ge9FqbKH Some of the interesting best practices involve dashboard type views of interruptions: lnkd.in/gMrb-pfy There are also advanced operations in ArcGIS Enterprise: lnkd.in/g3ZBxhxV As for problem sets, there are often interesting datasets and suggestions for solving complex problems on GitHub. A quick looks shows a lot of Python type modeling for SCM on GitHub. In terms of teaching, most of these topics are beyond our intro level GIS course. However, we also teach GEOG 5690: GIS Workflows, where students learn more about dashboards & origin-destination analysis, & work on 4 mini-projects w/ a data type of their choosing. We will teach a Project Mgmt & Programming course (GEOG 4670/6670) that could also be useful to SCM students. Here are some entries in the GIScience Body of Knowledge/encyclopedia that might be helpful to have students read: lnkd.in/gsPEeBYt lnkd.in/gKsXcT_X lnkd.in/g5M-B88t Also, if you want to find where the business geographers publish, they typically aim for 'applied geography' journals: lnkd.in/gMxzs3UX lnkd.in/gaUAszSX _ Our Intro GEOG 3010 - Fundamentals of GIS An intro course that covers the use and application of geographic information systems (GIS). It combines an overview of general principles of GIS & practical experience in map creation & the use of spatial information, including fundamental aspects of measurement, representation & analysis. Intro GIS focuses on the basics of working w/ both vector & raster data, as well as the societal aspects of GIS (emerging uses, interaction w/ new technologies, data standards, public access to information). We upgraded the course to ArcGIS Pro, which works better in online environments; we are going to have a dedicated Mac-user office hour period, for Mac users that will have to use remote desktop or some kind of Windows-on-Mac system; AND we are using COVID and racial disparities data through the semester so that students really get a handle on some of this real data w/o relying on the interpretation of others. See comments: lnkd.in/g4Nk4ddz

[@simecurkovic]

14%?!...“Only 14% of procurement leaders express confidence in their talent’s ability to meet the future needs of the function, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc. The finding comes as business acumen and technology/data competencies have rapidly grown in importance over more traditional procurement skills.” www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-11-29-gartner-says-only-14-percent-of-procurement-leaders-have-adequate-talent-to-meet-future-needs-of-their-function?source=BLD-200123&SM_GB_YOY_GTR_SOC_BU1_SM-BA-PR This is one reason that we created our new AI course - to create AI awareness and skills, and it is designed for non-technical majors. We will be offering that course again in spring 2024 semester. Per conversations with our CIS faculty…lnkd.in/gJ-YjJKD. Do not be a victim of technology! You could make the case that every Business major should minor (or double major) in Data Analytics. These skill sets would perhaps include: Employers place a premium on - 1. Advanced Excel (power query & pivot) & macros; 2. Data visualization (Tableau, Power BI & python w/ seaborn & matplotlib); 3. Data mining/RapidMiner, machine learning & data science; 4. Python & Jupyter notebook (data analytics & statistical libraries such as pandas, numpy); 5. Relational data models (Excel data model); 6. Graphic & statistical libraries (Seaborn, Matplotlib, Pandas, & Plotly). lnkd.in/guvjPb_V Common theme: BIG DATA is not going away: lnkd.in/g5UizdeN. In our CIS 3640 class we focus on three major areas: (1) Advanced excel functions, Power Query, Power Pivot , & Data Models, (2) Excel Macros, & (3) Visualization. lnkd.in/gxHRzjkE lnkd.in/eqiqSMRb & lnkd.in/gXYSQKc7. CIS 4640 - Business Data Mining This course focuses on the theoretical understanding & practical applications of data mining as a decision support tool. lnkd.in/geBPVWAD. Top logistics priority is hiring... lnkd.in/gWAxgdaG hashtag#python hashtag#bigdata hashtag#dataanalytics hashtag#technology hashtag#ai

[@simecurkovic]

My students are getting worried about the job market because they are hearing about this recession. Yes, recessions tend to be very bad for college grads. However...Yes, the number of job openings fell for the 3rd straight month to 10.698M in June which is the lowest since 10.629M in Aug 2021 (off the record high of 11.855 million in March). But, that means there are only (sarcasm) around 11M unfilled jobs. National unemployment is 3.7% (near 50 yr low). That’s not a labor recession) College grads, worry not (not even close). Job saving technology: lnkd.in/g9Crpn9T lnkd.in/e6Rmzpw lnkd.in/eK7yQiRD lnkd.in/epHAQNDF lnkd.in/gX8vcRNa lnkd.in/e2TztjY lnkd.in/gv2KD3uV

[@simecurkovic]

This is what happens when Supply Chain professionals get good at Data Analytics: lnkd.in/eu7ANq6 "Gamifying Travel at Intuit" (a WMU SCM grads journey to quick success) Supply chain professionals, expert at improving processes & reducing costs, fill roles in a variety of areas leading & supporting initiatives that help the bottom line. As an analyst at business & financial software giant Intuit, Nathan Henckel, WMU supply chain grad, teamed up with three other Intuit employees to pitch a way to reduce employee travel costs that would benefit both the company and the employee. The team created a gamification process where employees earn rewards with the “Price to Beat” plan. “In order to pitch a program like this, we had to the have the data and a program to back our idea,” says Henckel. “This was my part of the project. I created an algorithm using Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications programing language that analyzes Intuit’s historic & real-time travel data and generates a price to beat for the specific route the user is seeking.” Using the company’s travel booking system, employees can “Beat the Price” generated by Henckel’s algorithm and receive half of any savings in their next paycheck. In order to deploy a program where Intuit provides cash incentives to employees, the group presented their invention & explained the algorithm to Intuit’s chief marketing officer. “Following our presentation, he advocated to senior management for the deployment of this program as a pilot to approximately 1,000 Intuit employees,” says Henckel, who credits his time at WMU with sharpening his knowledge of data analytics as well as his communication skills so that he could effectively present information & data about the project in a way that is meaningful. “The business analytics skills & effective communication techniques I learned as a WMU student are put to use every day,” says Henckel. “As a sourcing analyst, my day-to-day responsibilities include deriving insights from data and effectively communicating those insights to our leaders. While a student at WMU, I took multiple courses that prepared me for the role that I am in now.” The travel game has generated enormous cost savings & has been received very well by Intuit employees. “The primary goal of this project & pilot was to show savings for the company as a result of the incentive-based travel program, and we accomplished that.” “In today’s world, more & more roles and tasks are being completed programmatically and with artificial intelligence & machine learning,” he says. “As a result, the roles of traditional sourcing professionals & analysts could be quickly changing directions. At Intuit, we employ the top software engineers in the world, which makes it the perfect place to further develop skills such as Python & other programming languages. I have already seen my skills pay off with the creation of our travel gamification algorithm using visual basic.”

[@simecurkovic]

www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_leveraging-learning-for-supply-chain-success-activity-6879769032858337280-Ll1N This great student got this great job. He majored in “Supply Chain” & minored in “Business Data Analytics” & “Accounting”. Note, college accounting to me is SCM Finance (a hugely important skill set for your long term advancement opportunities lnkd.in/e2TztjY). Supply Chain Data Scientist (>171,000 jobs on LinkedIn - that's all). Supply Chain Finance (>25,000 jobs on LinkedIn - that's all). __ Leveraging learning for supply chain success (lnkd.in/dBpmWj2j) Senior Brian Guadarrama has found a strong link between WMU’s integrated supply management program and incredible career opportunities. Through his classes, team projects and other hands-on experiences, he has discovered a passion for working with suppliers and customers to solve complex problems in the supply chain field. Brian, who also minors in business analytics and accounting, is ready to bring his ideas and expertise to the field, all while striving to meet customer satisfaction in an evolving industry. He has already landed his ideal job, and after graduating in December 2021, he will begin his career with Steelcase as a supplier quality engineer. “I am especially eager to use my knowledge in data modeling to provide fast solutions,” Brian says. “The variables are always changing. What was right and works today will not necessarily work tomorrow. This daily challenge of meeting customer expectations in a fast-paced environment is what I am most excited about.” Brian has been able to build a robust professional portfolio at Western. The Business Bronco has been an active member in the Supply Chain Management Association and Phi Sigma Pi national honor society and has participated in many events through the Zhang Career Center. In fact, Brian’s favorite experience at WMU Haworth has been the career exploration process, including practice interviews, resume critiquing and career fairs. A valuable part of those experiences was hearing feedback from professionals and discovering roles that would be a great fit for his goals and interests. “I have spoken with the top leadership at Steelcase, and they are moving into a unique space of data modeling to help with decision making,” Brian explains. “During my business analytics courses, we covered topics like data modeling and mining. I am excited to see where I can leverage these skills from the classroom to my career.” Another experience that stands out to Brian is an A3 project that he worked on in Dr. Sime Curkovic’s class. Used by many supply chain professionals, A3 is a continuous-improvement process that applies a strict, simple procedure to problem solving. The assignment allowed him to collaborate on real ideas, plans and goals with an existing company, which was a bonus on his resume for employers. “When I was doing interviews, this A3 course project I worked on was gold. Employers love to see you demonstrate your skills,” Brian says. Brian has some words of advice: lnkd.in/dBpmWj2j

[@simecurkovic]

Notice how a lot of these jobs are in the supply chain. "Most Sought-After Entry-Level Jobs Without a Degree: #1 Inventory Manager. The demand for skilled inventory managers in warehouses and companies post-pandemic has doubled the position’s job share in a year. Note, nearly 65% of the U.S. working population does not have a four-year degree." www.visualcapitalist.com/sought-after-entry-level-jobs-of-2023/ The U.S. supply chain contains 37% of all jobs, employing 44 million people. See: The Harvard Business Review (Delgado & Mills) called this right 5 years ago in 2018 (pre covid), well done. Why are supply chain industries the source of so many high-paying jobs and so much innovation? lnkd.in/grs9FUsw. Degree program fuels supply chain and logistics industry’s workforce of the future: lnkd.in/g65xNd9M. “Its bachelor’s degree gives students the chance to boost their average annual pay in the field to $87,280, compared with $49,689 for a high school graduate.” A Look at the U.S. Supply Chain Economy: lnkd.in/gWuBsbyw. “It’s worth noting that supply chain traded services have the highest wages in the supply chain economy, averaging at $80,800 annually - 3 times higher than traditional “service” jobs.” The supply chain economy: A new industry categorization for understanding innovation in services (Delgado & Mills): lnkd.in/g3XCQvVQ. In 2020-2021, SCM was the 89th most popular major nationwide with 10,986 degrees awarded. lnkd.in/gBA7id7M. Top Degrees in demand, current data (2023) from NACE: lnkd.in/g3kM_sZ6. Great time to be a supply chain student. Deloitte expects U.S. manufacturers to have 2.1M unfilled jobs by 2030, & the BLS is projecting that logistics employment will grow by 7% annually through 2026. lnkd.in/gQ4cTdiy "The number of US job postings for supply chain managers on LinkedIn more than doubled between 2019 & 2022, according to data shared w/ the Financial Times." lnkd.in/gyWH5gxt. Nice SCM salary report summary: lnkd.in/dTneTGgw. #supplychain #jobs #economy

[@simecurkovic]

wmich.edu/news/2015/02/21637 New rankings put WMU supply chain program at No. 2 in nation KALAMAZOO, Mich.-Western Michigan University's celebrated integrated supply management program recently added a new accolade, being named second in the nation for its emphasis on teaching technology, software and quantitative tools in its undergraduate program. The new ranking is by Software Advice, a company that does detailed research on thousands of supply chain software applications as well as system analysis. The firm recently conducted a national study of supply chain programs, selecting that discipline because of the rising demand for supply chain professionals and the key role that information technology plays in this complex field. The goal of the study was to help students gain insight into the curricula of what are commonly regarded as the top programs in the United States. According to the report, the unique, integrated nature of WMU's supply chain program contributed to its spot at the top of the list. WMU's program is second only to Pennsylvania State University and placed ahead of Michigan State University, University of Tennessee and Arizona State University. 'TRULY SPECIAL' "Western Michigan University's integrated supply management program is truly special," says Forrest Burnson, research associate with Software Advice. "It ranked highly on our list due to the emphasis the program places on teaching software and technology in the classroom, in addition to its unique cross-discipline approach that requires students to take specialized engineering courses. WMU is well ahead of the curve in preparing a new generation of supply chain professionals, and other universities should look to the example it has set for what a truly modern supply chain management program looks like." The program is part of WMU's Haworth College of Business. Faculty in the program, college officials say, work diligently to ensure its relevancy for students and for employers who will be seeking talent from the program. Many of the information technology courses have been developed by WMU faculty in close consultation with members of the program's advisory council, which includes representatives from the top supply chain employers in the country. WMU also ranked seventh on the Software Advice list in terms of overall reputation and was one of only four schools possessing both a high technological emphasis and a high reputation rating on the list. "The integration of business and engineering courses has provided a strong foundation for our program, and with our additional emphasis on technology, we are well positioned to prepare students for the future of the supply chain field," says Dr. Robert Reck, professor of marketing and co-founder of the program. "Based on our research and also feedback from employers, we know that supply chain professionals who are fluent in relevant information technologies and their applications within the industry are poised to be the best employees and leaders in the field." WMU's program was also given special recognition for its courses in enterprise resource planning and geographic information systems. In particular, geographic information systems was noted for its value in risk management, a growing area of emphasis in the supply chain field. INTEGRATED SUPPLY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM Ranked No. 5 in undergraduate supply chain education by Gartner, WMU's ISM program has been recognized nationally by several organizations and publications for its leadership in preparing students for careers in supply chain management. WMU's curriculum combines engineering, information technology, logistics, supply chain and business education. The program also includes Bronco Force consulting teams, which give students experience in business consulting with companies on their supply chain challenges. The WMU Center for Integrated Supply Management was established in 2014 by the Haworth College of Business.

[@simecurkovic]

The U.S. supply chain accounts for 37% of all domestic jobs. “The last time the U.S. labor market was this strong was in 1969…Although mfg hasn’t seen the highest gains, the sector has one of the lowest unemployment rates across job sectors, at 2.4%. Yet the industry faces an acute labor shortage-if every skilled unemployed worker were to fill open job vacancies, a third of jobs in durable mfg would remain open.” www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_visualized-the-state-of-the-us-labor-market-activity-7042865244666286080-zkZf? _ WMU supply chain grads from 2022 have a median wage range of $65-$75K. lnkd.in/dkGr4_uX. Good ROI, right? Recently, a student asked if they could earn a great salary in mid-career. I asked what is mid-career & he said by age 30. I smiled, but also told him many of my students are six digits or above by that age. SCM is very opportunistic. lnkd.in/gwfAHdkW lnkd.in/gyRiv9_x Entry-Level Supply Chain Positions | Avg Salary: $69,000 Mid-Level Supply Chain Positions | Avg: $115,000 Senior-Level Supply Chain Positions | Avg: $260,000 Also: Entry Level Mfg Jobs | Salary Range: $66,000 - $78,000 Mid-Level Mfg Jobs | Range: $110,000 - $143,000 Senior-Level Mfg Jobs | Range: $239,000 - $338,000 Source: lnkd.in/ga8Azij7. Students/Parents: Which college majors pay off? Is graduate school a golden goose or a money pit? Are Ivy League degrees usually worth it? From WSJ: lnkd.in/gMy3nwS2. lnkd.in/gH3jSWKt Again, the U.S. supply chain accounts for 37% of all domestic jobs, according to the Harvard Business Review. From me: it is actually higher if you loosely define SCM since every product and/or service comes from & has a supply chain. Note, this is all pre-covid data (so add more to the dollar signs)…Source: lnkd.in/gPqvNwG5 Logistician, $74,750 Logistics analyst, $58,713 Supply chain planner, $64,844 Purchasing agent, $69,600 Purchasing manager, $121,110 Logistics manager, $114,670 Distribution manager, $94,775 Operations manager, $100,780 Business & SCM competencies make up 80% of the fastest-growing skills in this industry; basic technical skills make up the remaining 20%. Top two: Microsoft Office/productivity tools Advanced Microsoft Excel Technical skills Among the top & fastest-growing technical skills: Data science SCM knowledge SCM Project Mgmt Our SCM students get an Analytics minor: lnkd.in/gxRayD3j Salaries per "ASCM/APICS" $: 2022 lnkd.in/gtYC5Cnw vs 2021 lnkd.in/gpMvehY5 vs 2020 lnkd.in/gcsrX6tr. Salaries per "DC Velocity": 2021 lnkd.in/gESQFNZa vs 2020 lnkd.in/gW-U-KHK vs 2019 lnkd.in/gJquYyT4. From "ISM": 2018 $: lnkd.in/gV53aggX. 2020 $ (right before covid): lnkd.in/gz8WQEhr. 2021 $ (deep into covid): lnkd.in/g-SfG93A & lnkd.in/gn5jM9xt. More $: lnkd.in/gSYKjixY. CIPS reveals a 7.4% avg increase & the avg for all SCM pros in N.A. was $111,278. Global: lnkd.in/gxbTMSyx. #supplychain #datascience #dataanalytics #college #bigdata #careeradvice

[@simecurkovic]

“The executives estimate that nearly half (49%) of the skills that exist in their workforce today won’t be relevant in 2025. The same number, 47%, believe their workforces are unprepared for the future workplace.” www.forbes.com/sites/joemckendrick/2023/10/14/half-of-all-skills-will-be-outdated-within-two-years-study-suggests/?sh=34031e052dc2 Notice the short time span and the impact on “entry-level” jobs. College grads? So, Soft skills + Problem-solving skills + AI = job protection? Further, will AI really kill the Business Data Analytics tools we teach? Our analytics faculty are on top of this AI wave. They have already built an AI course in our business college (CIS 5550) to cover all kinds of AI for business applications. The course is designed for non-technical students (a perfect fit for SCM types). After this course, AI embedded modules in existing courses will be added. See: lnkd.in/g_jy4fEs lnkd.in/ggVYhDPV So, Business Analytics + AI = more SCM success. Would you trust the developer who built your software with a 3rd party code generation tool? Per discussions w/ our CIS faculty, we all agree there is nothing wrong w/ using these code generators as long as you understand the generated code & know how to fix it when needed. Rarely will the generated code be enough to suit your needs. The more realistic scenario is to use the tool to generate the base code & modify it manually for the intended problems. Many companies PROBABLY do not want their employees to use AI for any calculations like this. So, in all of the above scenarios, skills in our Adv Excel class (and all of our Business Data Analytics classes) are still relevant. Skills such as: 1. Advanced Excel (power query & pivot) & macros; 2. Data visualization (Tableau,Power BI & python w/ seaborn & matplotlib); 3. Data mining/RapidMiner, machine learning & data science; 4. Python & Jupyter notebook (data analytics & statistical libraries such as pandas, numpy); 5. Relational data models (Excel data model); 6. Graphic & statistical libraries (Seaborn,Matplotlib,Pandas, & Plotly). Business Analytics, many of our SCM majors are BA minors. CIS courses in our BA minor: lnkd.in/eqiqSMRb. lnkd.in/dVTQ5vXy Also, WMU offers new course on the intersection of AI and writing: lnkd.in/g476QVTS. How will AI impact your future? lnkd.in/g4cci-tA AI @ WMU: A Deep Dive into the Resources: lnkd.in/g2EZvtPz If you’re ready to explore how writing can be used to understand the boundaries between human & AI and learn how you can leverage these emerging technologies to your benefit, this course is for you. lnkd.in/g4cci-tA. #ai #python #dataanalytics #datascience #supplychain #artificialintelligence

[@simecurkovic]

Great post, I will be sharing w/ my supply chain students. We have to teach all of the above. CIS 2640 - Applied Analytics Foundations (Excel on steroids). In our CIS 3640 class we focus on three major areas: (1) Advanced excel functions, Power Query, Power Pivot , & Data Models, (2) Excel Macros, & (3) Visualization. lnkd.in/gXYSQKc7 www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_excel-vs-powerbi-which-one-should-you-use-activity-7047176004171169792-IWsa? We do our best to go in-depth in all these 3 areas. Based on the feedback received from students, they are interested in learning about all 3 areas & found them helpful during their job search. However, it is not possible to talk about both Tableau & Power BI visualization because of the time limitation. Therefore, we decided to cover Power BI in 1 section & Tableau & Tableau data prep in the other section. As you know, ETL is one of the most important skills they need for visualization. Therefore, we always teach Power Pivot a & Query, which are foundations for Power BI in both sections. There are 8 assignments in the class. At least 2 are about Power Query & Power Pivot & two about Visualization in Tableau or Power BI. I personally would encourage students to have an open mind on tool usage. The whole reason of teaching both Tableau & Power BI in our curriculum is backed by industry evidence, rather than by 1 or 2 individual companies. Both visualization tools have been in the best quadrant (i.e., leaders-visionaries quadrant) of Gartner’s “magic quadrant” survey for analytics & business intelligence platforms for years. So, it is not true that Tableau is not used at many companies. Kellogg’s, for example, is basically a Tableau shop. The bottom line is that it really doesn’t matter which tool students learned (as long as there is industry evidence to support the tool selection). The two tools share similarities. Usually one should be able to transition from one tool to another w/ minimal learning. I think one way going forward is probably this: If students already know what tools they are going to be using at the internship or job, they might want to talk to us first before taking CIS 3640. This will help them pick the desired course section. Otherwise, it is hard for us to predict what analytics & visualization tools each student will be using and which company they will end up working. What if you are a student that wishes to learn both Power BI & Tableau, but your instructor only covers 1? Unfortunately covering both in 1 single class will not give either one a fair coverage. In the end, students won’t have good skills in visualization. This is the reason we offer 2 sections, one for each tool. The good news is that Power BI is a free download. Here is what I recommend students do: 1. Download Power BI 2. Go through the video tutorials of Power BI online (e.g., lnkd.in/gEYERYay) 3. Work on class assignments in both Tableau & Power BI. Many things are available in both tools. That makes it possible to replicate certain parts of class assignments in Power BI. #powerbi #tableau #bigdata

[@simecurkovic]

An AI just negotiated a contract for the first time ever - and no human was involved www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/11/07/ai-negotiates-legal-contract-without-humans-involved-for-first-time.html Also: “Walmart deployed AI-powered negotiations software w/ a text-based interface (i.e., a chatbot) to connect w/ suppliers.” lnkd.in/gF5qT_im. “Walmart, like most organizations with large procurement operations, can’t possibly conduct focused negotiations with all of its 100,000-plus suppliers. As a result, around 20% of its suppliers have signed agreements with cookie-cutter terms that are often not negotiated. It’s not the optimal way to engage with these “tail-end suppliers.” But the cost of hiring more human buyers to negotiate with them would exceed any additional value.” …data on job postings by non-technology companies tied to skills around artificial intelligence, robotic process automation & data science/analytics…From Gartner: lnkd.in/gcs-xgxV. How to approach a new technology investment, based on what I have seen in software & professional services: For example, If a company wanted to get started w/ using RPA, where & how should they begin? lnkd.in/eQYrHUM. FYI, a great post on RPA by Mr. Stankovic: lnkd.in/gM6PcT-m. From me: lnkd.in/gy5Y6iD8 lnkd.in/g4TJMBAw Supplier Cost Breakdowns and How To Negotiate Price Increases: lnkd.in/g-rBER5h lnkd.in/ggsngSk6

[@simecurkovic]

Why won’t the supply chain just adopt AI & data analytics software? AI helps manage the supply chain. So what’s the delay? Great read. They keep quoting this Curkovic guy. lnkd.in/gdkFhRST. OK, I am no sage, but notice the common themes with sages such as Mr. Jim Tomkins: www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_barriers-toward-adopting-ai-and-analytics-activity-6955927174734364673--p_v? www.g2.com/articles/ai-and-analytics-in-the-supply-chain "There has also been a lack of urgency in embracing digital supply networks, which is the only way to deal with perpetual disruption. End-to-end digital supply networks use artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics to bring visibility and actionability to every enterprise in a supply chain from raw material to finished product. This offers true optionality." "The supply chain task at hand is not an enterprise problem; it is an end-to-end network problem involving multiple enterprises. The solution does not lie with fixing one link in the chain but in devising an ecosystem where all the links of the chain work together with a real-time single version of the truth, using artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to beget an autonomous digital supply network." lnkd.in/gjhWUtUH ___ I wish more high rollers were doing this (& then made it cheap & easy to use for all the mom & pops): Bosch & AWS enter into collaboration to digitalize logistics lnkd.in/ghpyp5wW ___ I recently attended the Tableau Conference, where I indulged my nerdiness for four days. As a self-described data science evangelist, I was thrilled to see autoML, natural language generation, and other advanced automation features be added to Tableau, one of the world’s leading data visualization and business intelligence platforms. While there, I met people who have also bought into the data revolution and are seeing immediate impacts on their businesses’ productivity and performance. As a tech worker, exposure to data science and analytics is an everyday part of the job, but it is certainly not in the industry I research: the supply chain. So I continue to ask myself, “Why won’t the supply chain just adopt artificial intelligence and data analytics software?” In this article, I will break down the cultural and logistical barriers the supply chain faces in meeting the data analysis demands the pandemic brought on. I’ll also talk about steps that are being taken to address this and how G2 helps businesses create a modernized supply chain. lnkd.in/gi_mFCpt #supplychain #supplychainmanagement #dataanalytics #saas #datavisualization #tableau #powerbi #python #datascience #bigdata #digitization #industry4 #logistics

[@simecurkovic]

SCM Data Scientist (171K jobs on LinkedIn!), Does your school teach this (we do)? Employers place a premium on - 1. Advanced Excel (power query & pivot) & macros; 2. Data visualization (Tableau, Power BI & python w/ seaborn & matplotlib); 3. Data mining/RapidMiner, machine learning & data science; 4. Python & Jupyter notebook (data analytics & statistical libraries such as pandas, numpy); 5. Relational data models (Excel data model); 6. Graphic & statistical libraries (Seaborn, Matplotlib, Pandas, & Plotly). Employers require these skill sets from their SCM professionals. Do you know...big data/predictive analytics, database mgmt, data mining, project mgmt, SQL, Python, PMO, Tableau, Power BI, etc.? Business analytics addresses an increasing demand in orgs of all types to understand data related to their operations. Investments in information systems throughout the enterprise over the last 10+ years are generating huge amounts of data, & orgs will spend at least the next 10 years developing processes that generate insight from those data. In addition to data generated internally, many orgs are exploring the effects of external data, primarily present in social media, web search, mfg, & SUPPLY CHAIN. The ability to manage data to support business projects are the key to success in many disciplines. Business analytics will provide a comprehensive skill set for SCM professionals & future SCM graduates to analyze, VISUALIZE (Tableau & Power BI), & report data. Job Trend Data analytics plays an important role in the second decade of the 21st century. Tools supporting business analytics are exploding. Software designed to obtain data from multiple sources & transform them into actionable intelligence is a multi billion dollar business growing at 14 to 18 percent per year. The higher demand of analytics skills in business provides solid support for employers to demand this from future SCM graduates. Academic Offerings (does your school teach this?) Academic institutions are responding to the business analytics demand trend. In a recent study, more than 390 courses containing analytics content were taught in higher education. · At WMU, over half of their supply chain majors are picking up the business analytics minor per employer interest. These students are commanding a premium in the job marketplace as a result with starting salaries for well over $60K (many are in the 70s). See link below for a partial list of universities offering concentrations/minors. lnkd.in/eMPTFCd ____ Python is a must-have skill. lnkd.in/gf_UWz5x (1) Advanced excel functions, Power Query, Power Pivot , & Data Models, (2) Excel Macros, & (3) Visualization. lnkd.in/gKV4dw2z Anaconda +Jupyter Notebook + Python + visualization libraries lnkd.in/gHnUrVZz Do you know how to use Power BI or Tableau? lnkd.in/g9pgFErz

[@simecurkovic]

Are Supply Chain professionals using ArcGIS Pro technology? Do you think our SCM students should learn this? ArcGIS is a technology that can help companies manage risk. Nationally, almost zero SCM graduates will have this on their resume. I recently had a GIS analyst reach out to me & ask: Is there a business geography specialty group that addresses supply chain issues? Where could people find GIS supply chain problem sets? I think he sees GIS+SCM as being very timely. I reached out to a GIS geography colleague & the feedback was…There is a Business Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers (AAG). lnkd.in/gS98FvHC There are a lot of interesting examples of Supply Chain issues & GIS at the ESRI website. lnkd.in/ge9FqbKH Some of the interesting best practices involve dashboard type views of interruptions: lnkd.in/gMrb-pfy There are also advanced operations in ArcGIS Enterprise: lnkd.in/g3ZBxhxV As for problem sets, there are often interesting datasets and suggestions for solving complex problems on GitHub. A quick looks shows a lot of Python type modeling for Supply Chain on GitHub. In terms of teaching, most of these topics are beyond our intro level GIS course. However, we also teach GEOG 5690: GIS Workflows, where students learn more about dashboards & origin-destination analysis, & work on 4 mini-projects w/ a data type of their choosing. We will teach a Project Mgmt & Programming course (GEOG 4670/6670) that could also be useful to SCM students. Here are some entries in the GIScience Body of Knowledge/encyclopedia that might be helpful to have students read: lnkd.in/gsPEeBYt lnkd.in/gKsXcT_X lnkd.in/g5M-B88t Also, if you want to find where the business geographers publish, they typically aim for 'applied geography' journals: lnkd.in/gMxzs3UX lnkd.in/gaUAszSX _ Our Intro GEOG 3010 - Fundamentals of GIS An intro course that covers the use and application of geographic information systems (GIS). It combines an overview of general principles of GIS & practical experience in map creation & the use of spatial information, including fundamental aspects of measurement, representation & analysis. Intro GIS focuses on the basics of working w/ both vector & raster data, as well as the societal aspects of GIS (emerging uses, interaction w/ new technologies, data standards, public access to information). We upgraded the course to ArcGIS Pro, which works better in online environments; we are going to have a dedicated Mac-user office hour period, for Mac users that will have to use remote desktop or some kind of Windows-on-Mac system; AND we are using COVID and racial disparities data through the semester so that students really get a handle on some of this real data w/o relying on the interpretation of others. Students will also have access to all of the ESRI tutorials on how to build COVID dashboards (& other dashboards of that type). See comments: www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_can-gis-help-ease-supply-chain-problems-and-activity-6971445299403788288-LcT5?

[@simecurkovic]

Great post, I will be sharing w/ my students. Should we teach Tableau or Power BI or both? There are ONLY 500K unfilled SCM Data Science jobs on LI. In our CIS 3640 class we focus on three major areas: (1) Advanced excel functions, Power Query, Power Pivot , & Data Models, (2) Excel Macros, & (3) Visualization. lnkd.in/gXYSQKc7 www.linkedin.com/posts/sime-curkovic-61617a115_tableau-visual-guidebook-activity-7041770787183222784-Om6L? We do our best to go in-depth in all these 3 areas. Based on the feedback received from students, they are interested in learning about all 3 areas & found them helpful during their job search. However, it is not possible to talk about both Tableau & Power BI visualization because of the time limitation. Therefore, we decided to cover Power BI in 1 section & Tableau & Tableau data prep in the other section. As you know, ETL is one of the most important skills they need for visualization. Therefore, we always teach Power Pivot a & Query, which are foundations for Power BI in both sections. There are 8 assignments in the class. At least 2 are about Power Query & Power Pivot & two about Visualization in Tableau or Power BI. I personally would encourage students to have an open mind on tool usage. The whole reason of teaching both Tableau & Power BI in our curriculum is backed by industry evidence, rather than by 1 or 2 individual companies. Both visualization tools have been in the best quadrant (i.e., leaders-visionaries quadrant) of Gartner’s “magic quadrant” survey for analytics & business intelligence platforms for years. So, it is not true that Tableau is not used at many companies. Kellogg’s, for example, is basically a Tableau shop. The bottom line is that it really doesn’t matter which tool students learned (as long as there is industry evidence to support the tool selection). The two tools share similarities. Usually one should be able to transition from one tool to another w/ minimal learning. I think one way going forward is probably this: If students already know what tools they are going to be using at the internship or job, they might want to talk to us first before taking CIS 3640. This will help them pick the desired course section. Otherwise, it is hard for us to predict what analytics & visualization tools each student will be using and which company they will end up working. What if you are a student that wishes to learn both Power BI & Tableau, but your instructor only covers 1? Unfortunately covering both in 1 single class will not give either one a fair coverage. In the end, students won’t have good skills in visualization. This is the reason we offer 2 sections, one for each tool. The good news is that Power BI is a free download. Here is what I recommend students do: 1. Download Power BI 2. Go through the video tutorials of Power BI online (e.g., lnkd.in/gEYERYay) 3. Work on class assignments in both Tableau & Power BI. Many things are available in both tools. That makes it possible to replicate certain parts of class assignments in Power BI. #powerbi #tableau #bigdata