Rodney Apple

“Nightly Business Report” produced by CNBC and aired on TV December 7th, 2018.

Companies across the country are seeking workers to bolster their supply chains—and these aren’t just temp jobs to feed the holiday rush.

“It’s all of your processes, your systems, your people and organizations that connect your suppliers to your customers — getting all your products from raw material to manufacturing to your distribution all the way through to the end customer,” says Rodney Apple, managing partner at SCM Talent Group. “And so the goal is to create, enable and sustain… Show more

Companies across the country are seeking workers to bolster their supply chains—and these aren’t just temp jobs to feed the holiday rush.

“It’s all of your processes, your systems, your people and organizations that connect your suppliers to your customers — getting all your products from raw material to manufacturing to your distribution all the way through to the end customer,” says Rodney Apple, managing partner at SCM Talent Group. “And so the goal is to create, enable and sustain value.” Apple has been recruiting talent in the industry for nearly 20 years and says the current shortage of workers to fill certain roles is acute. Show less

Referenced in The Wall Street Journal “Business” section in an article on hiring talent on July 29th, 2018.

APICS magazine is pleased to introduce the department “Professional Development.” Here, APICS Career Coach Rodney Apple will share insightful career tips and advice designed specifically for supply chain management professionals.

"Think about where you were with your career and related goals at this time last year. Did you achieve your objectives and reach your full potential? Are you satisfied with your situation today? If the answer to any of these questions is no, it’s time to develop… Show more

APICS magazine is pleased to introduce the department “Professional Development.” Here, APICS Career Coach Rodney Apple will share insightful career tips and advice designed specifically for supply chain management professionals.

"Think about where you were with your career and related goals at this time last year. Did you achieve your objectives and reach your full potential? Are you satisfied with your situation today? If the answer to any of these questions is no, it’s time to develop a new course of action—one that enables you to take control and shift from idle to pedal-to-the-floor mode. Here are seven steps to formulating a career-growth strategy that puts you at the steering wheel." Show less

The 10 most popular talent posts of 2016 (I made the list for #1 and #9)
The start of a new year generally brings with it a host of resolutions. For individuals finding and landing a new job, or advancing in their current job are common resolutions. For companies, identifying talent, hiring, and retaining great talent are typical goals for the new year. We’ve assembled our top 10 talent posts of 2016. We hope these posts help you and/or your company overcome challenges, and your achieve… Show more

The 10 most popular talent posts of 2016 (I made the list for #1 and #9)
The start of a new year generally brings with it a host of resolutions. For individuals finding and landing a new job, or advancing in their current job are common resolutions. For companies, identifying talent, hiring, and retaining great talent are typical goals for the new year. We’ve assembled our top 10 talent posts of 2016. We hope these posts help you and/or your company overcome challenges, and your achieve goals. Show less

I receive many queries through Email/LinkedIn asking for advice on supply chain career development. However, the most common query that I receive is: “I want to build a career / shift my career in Supply Chain Consulting, how should I go about doing so?”.So, in order to answer these queries, I thought it’s best to create a comprehensive guide on careers in supply chain consulting. And for this important topic, I had to bring in help from some of the best experts in supply chain industry. So, 4… Show more

I receive many queries through Email/LinkedIn asking for advice on supply chain career development. However, the most common query that I receive is: “I want to build a career / shift my career in Supply Chain Consulting, how should I go about doing so?”.So, in order to answer these queries, I thought it’s best to create a comprehensive guide on careers in supply chain consulting. And for this important topic, I had to bring in help from some of the best experts in supply chain industry. So, 4 foremost experts from the industry will share their wisdom and guide you on various aspects of pursuing a career as a supply chain consultant. Show less

Audio Interview Detailing How Companies Can Up Their Game When It Comes to Recruiting Top Supply Chain Talent.

A recent report on the supply chain talent gap draws a sobering conclusion: The supply chain management profession finds itself in crisis. Unless you do it right, attracting and hiring skilled professionals can be challenging.

Deloitte's third annual Supply Chain Survey, released last year, also states: "...many organizations are confronting critical shortfalls of talent. Years of headcount reduction, training-budget cuts, and the retirement of highly skilled individuals have hollowed… Show more

A recent report on the supply chain talent gap draws a sobering conclusion: The supply chain management profession finds itself in crisis. Unless you do it right, attracting and hiring skilled professionals can be challenging.

Deloitte's third annual Supply Chain Survey, released last year, also states: "...many organizations are confronting critical shortfalls of talent. Years of headcount reduction, training-budget cuts, and the retirement of highly skilled individuals have hollowed out the ranks of veteran professionals."

The Deloitte findings are echoed in another report by the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee. While the driver shortage is well known, the report maintains the talent gap encompasses every level of supply chain management and is likely to grow worse as baby boomers retire.

So what is an organization to do? How can you become better prepared and make your search for talent more effective?

Few people are better positioned to answer these questions than Rodney Apple, founder and president of SCM Talent Group. With almost 20 years of experience as a supply chain recruiter, he has filled more than 1,000 supply chain positions ranging from executive-level at Fortune 500 companies to leadership and staff-level roles across large networks of manufacturing and distribution facilities within the United States.

We sat down with Apple to get his thoughts on the realities of the supply chain talent drought. Show less

Rodney Apple, founder of the SCM Talent Group, shared that there are companies who are out there – right now – finding and hiring great talent. How are these companies succeeding where others fail? Apple:

“Many companies haven’t taken the initiative to develop best-in-class talent acquisition resources and programs. Companies that perform the best are the ones that treat the recruiting department like a strategic, value-added program versus a low-level, tactical HR cost center.”

The supply chain industry has a talent crisis. The question is: how can we solve this crisis? To answer this question I turned to Rodney Apple, founder of the SCM Talent Group. Apple has worked as a supply chain recruiter for the majority of his 19+ year career within the staffing industry and he has filled more than 1,000 positions within the industry ranging from executive-level in Fortune 500 headquarters settings to leadership and staff-level roles across large networks of manufacturing… Show more

The supply chain industry has a talent crisis. The question is: how can we solve this crisis? To answer this question I turned to Rodney Apple, founder of the SCM Talent Group. Apple has worked as a supply chain recruiter for the majority of his 19+ year career within the staffing industry and he has filled more than 1,000 positions within the industry ranging from executive-level in Fortune 500 headquarters settings to leadership and staff-level roles across large networks of manufacturing and distribution facilities within North America. Apple’s role affords him the ability to witness the talent crisis from the perspective of the industry, the company, and the job seeker. Show less

“If you ask a CEO what one of the most important strategic business units are, I’m quite confident supply chain would rank very highly these days, compared to 10 or 15 years ago,” said Rodney Apple, president of the SCM Talent Group. Apple’s executive search firm places supply chain professionals in end-to-end fields, from purchasing and sourcing raw materials from suppliers, all the way through manufacturing components.

Apple said he has not seen the demand for workers slow down during… Show more

“If you ask a CEO what one of the most important strategic business units are, I’m quite confident supply chain would rank very highly these days, compared to 10 or 15 years ago,” said Rodney Apple, president of the SCM Talent Group. Apple’s executive search firm places supply chain professionals in end-to-end fields, from purchasing and sourcing raw materials from suppliers, all the way through manufacturing components.

Apple said he has not seen the demand for workers slow down during his 13 years in the field, even during the heart of the recession. He added that the discipline is finally getting the recognition that it deserves after years of damaging misconceptions.

“A lot of people in the past have looked at supply chain as a kind of a blue collar field,” he said. “They didn’t even know what supply chain really means and [educators] haven’t been teaching it to the lower grades, so people are drawn to the ‘sexier’ areas like the ‘Facebooks’ and the ‘Googles,’ instead of supply chain management fields.”

Apple and other industry leaders say that the reputation of the industry is improving due to the uptick in colleges and universities that offer innovative undergraduate and graduate programs supply chain studies. Show less

Video: Rodney L. Apple, President of SCM Talent Group, discusses the growing shortage of qualified supply chain professionals and offers advice to companies on how to recruit and retain top-flight workers. [Run Time (Min.): 9:20]