What does a supply chain manager do?

What is a Supply Chain Manager?

Are you a detail-oriented and organized person? Do you like working in a logistical and structured environment? You may want to consider a career as a supply chain manager!

A supply chain manager is responsible for the management of equipment, hardware, and other logistical details of a company, or a company’s division. It is their job to manage all of the steps needed to purchase raw materials, deliver it to various points throughout the business, ensure that the company makes enough of its product to meet customer demand, and deliver the output to the right destinations on time.

What does a Supply Chain Manager do?

Supply chain managers oversee the import or creation of raw materials to be used by a company. They track the materials as they are combined, shaped, and altered to form new products, and monitor these items all throughout the product development process. This ensures that adequate supplies are on hand. Lastly, they develop a delivery system that will ensure maximum product creation and optimal shipments to customers or other manufacturers for further use.

A supply chain manager needs to be well-versed in process management and development to have an adequate understanding of how the company functions.

Ideally, the manager will be able to bring in fresh ideas that allow the company to deliver its products at higher quantities or at a faster rate to the market. These ideas might be as simple as reallocating employees within certain areas, to bringing in advanced technology so as to do a better job of tracking hundreds or even thousands of materials and parts.

What is the workplace of a Supply Chain Manager like?

The typical setting for a supply chain manager is an office environment, in which the manager can oversee and analyze the day-to-day activities of the company. Managers may be located in a business setting, with other offices and cubicles, or they may be situated just off a manufacturing or engineering floor. They typically need to maintain close proximity to the production or manufacturing areas that they oversee.

Supply chain managers may be called upon to travel to other manufacturing sites if it they work for a company that has multiple locations. They may also need to visit new vendors or partners to find new means of production or management, whether that means finding new sources of raw materials, developing new production floors, or engaging new manufacturers who can further work with finished products.