When it comes to setting priorities for managing the modern-day supply chain, executives can’t have it all.

Cost isn’t everything. Supply chain executives today are grappling with a host of often contradictory priorities that are causing them to de-emphasize what was once their primary mission. The shift is evident in a new executive survey by global management consultancy Bain & Company, which concludes that “cost is no longer paramount.” Considerations on the ascendant include increasing flexibility, resilience and speed; embedding digital systems and other forms of technology, and promoting sustainability. Also decreasing as priorities for the next three years are improving customer service and quality. But that doesn’t mean those elements are unimportant or can be ignored. The trick is balancing all of those imperatives to achieve the strongest possible supply chain. On this episode, we discuss how that’s being done with Hernan Saenz, global head of performance improvement and a member of the board of Bain & Company. Supply chains, he says, “are now a CEO-level problem.” Hosted by Bob Bowman, Editor-in-Chief of SupplyChainBrain.

Show notes:

A brief by Bain on “How CEOs Can Balance the New Supply Chain Equation.”